Performance of Railway Bridges during the 2011 Tōhoku Earthquake
Publication: Journal of Performance of Constructed Facilities
Volume 28, Issue 1
Abstract
Damage and performance of railway bridge structures during the 2011 Tōhoku Earthquake are reported. Although the scale of the earthquake was historically the largest known, seismic damage to structures was smaller and less time was required for recovery of service compared with an earlier major earthquake. Upgrading of seismic code and planned seismic retrofits performed after the 1995 Kobe Earthquake were found effective for reducing seismic damage to bridges and civil structures; damage to bridge superstructure, with complex geometry and damage to secondary structural systems such as electric-power poles, now became the prominent type. Enormous structural damage observed for areas affected by severe tsunami forces (which had offered great challenge to structural engineering) is also reported. Following this, bridge performance (under the force of the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and subsequent tsunami) is studied using data recorded by monitoring systems installed on bridges that were located in strong motion areas. Based on this experience, advantages of and challenges to the structural health monitoring system are also discussed.
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Acknowledgments
The authors are grateful to Professors Kenji Ishihara and Wei F. Lee for recommending the writing of this article.
References
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Information
Published In
Journal of Performance of Constructed Facilities
Volume 28 • Issue 1 • February 2014
Pages: 13 - 23
Copyright
© 2014 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Jan 19, 2012
Accepted: Jul 23, 2012
Published online: Aug 8, 2012
Published in print: Feb 1, 2014
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