Foundation Studies in a Fault Zone and a Steep Valley Slope
This paper presents two case histories which illustrate unique problems in defining the character of rock for support of structures. The first case study concerns a conventional building...
Structural Aesthetics
When the design and construction of a building was the responsibility of a single individual, interaction between the aesthetics of architecture and the demands of structure did not exist...
Flawed Assumptions: Why Bridge Deck Joints Fail
Engineers should continually examine, evaluate and improve their representations of reality to avoid basing their beliefs, decisions, practices and policies on flawed assumptions. Such...
A New Look at Galvanized Bridges
Engineers are rediscovering that galvanizing is one of the longest lasting methods of imparting corrosion protection to steel bridges. It also avoids the stringent new EPA regulations...
Plastic Highway Bridges
For highway bridges, composites are most effective in cables and decks. Researchers have developed and tested cables and deck sections for strength and fatigue resistance. Link-type cables...
Caring for a Covered Bridge
Today the quaint Cornish-Windsor covered bridge (winner of this year's Outstanding Civil Engineering Merit Award) doesn't look much different than it did when...
Recent Advances in Seismic Design and Retrofit of California Bridges
This paper describes the damage and lessons learned from the most recent major earthquakes, the resulting bridge seismic design and detailing changes and the seismic retrofit program implemented...
Seismic Design and Performance of Railroad Bridges
Damage to railroad bridges during earthquakes in the United States and Japan is summarized. Research tasks are outlined to develop seismic design and retrofit criteria for railroad bridges....
Seismic Retrofit of Highway Bridge Structures
The California Division of Structures began its column retrofit program in 1986. This program is a supplement to the earlier superstructure retrofit program. Analysis and design concepts...
Retrofitting Northwest Connector for Seismic Forces
Many pre-1971 bridges in California have inadequate seismic resistance due to non-ductile components or poor connectivity of superstructure elements. Caltrans has finished the first retrofit...
Lifeline Design of Bridges
An analysis and design procedure is presented for retrofitting steel girder bridges that may experience the loss of a pier or column. Multispan and continuous grider bridges are treated....
Bridge Seismic Retrofit Prioritization
This paper describes a mathematical model developed to produce an index by which bridges in a network can be prioritized systematically for seismic retrofitting. The model incorporates...
Screening Procedures for the Retrofit of Bridges
Since the October 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake in Northern California, interest has revived in seismic criteria for both new design and the retrofit of existing highway bridges. This interest...
Reliability of Highway Bridge Columns Under Earthquake Loading
Seismic design procedure for highway bridges normally specify that any inelastic action be confined to the columns. Concrete bridge columns are usually designed to resist an elastic force...
Seismic Vulnerability Assessment of Bridges on Earthquake Priority Routes in Western Kentucky
This paper discusses the current conditions of 203 bridges on the priority routes in Western Kentucky and their vulnerabilities to earthquakes. A span-loss type of bridge collapse due...
Post Earthquake Investigation Team
The CALTRANS Post Earthquake Investigation Team (PEQIT) has been in existence since 1971. It is an emergency response team which mobilizes quickly following a major earthquake to gather...
Evaluation of Techniques for the Seismic Modeling of Elevated Freeway Bridges
Following the October 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake in Northern California, a number of seismic parametric studies were performed for both two-level elevated freeways and single-column bridge...
The Design and Construction Aspects of the Structure Research Tests at Cypress Viaduct
A research program is described whose task was to gather information about the inherent strengths and weaknesses of the existing Cypress bridge structure and to evaluate the effectiveness...
Collapse of the Cypress Street Viaduct
This paper is being presented by the Division of Structures, Post EarthQuake Investigation Team (PEQIT) on the collapse of the Cypress Street Viaduct in the City of Oakland, California,...
Earthquake Response of the San Francisco Freeway Structures During the October 17, 1989 Earthquake
In terms of strong motion shaking, San Francisco experienced a minor earth- quake on October 17, 1989. However, the San Francisco freeway structures (designed in the 1950s and 1960s) suffered...
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