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SEISMIC RETROFIT OF CONCRETE

BRIDGES USING ISOLATION DEVICES
Anbal Tafur
BSc in Civil Engineering, PUCP, Per
MSc in Structural Engineering, The University of Manchester, UK

SEISMIC RETROFIT OF CONCRETE BRIDGES USING ISOLATION DEVICES ANBAL TAFUR

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OBJECTIVE
Assess the effectiveness of isolation devices
for the seismic retrofitting of Peruvian bridges,
that were constructed long time ago with
obsolete seismic provisions.

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SEISMIC RISK IN PERU

Peru is a country seismically high active due to
its location on the Pacific Ring of Fire,
suffering from disastrous seismic events in the
past years such as the 1970 Ancash
Earthquake (7.9 Mw; 70,000 deaths), the 2001
Arequipa Earthquake (8.4 Mw; 145 deaths);
and more recently the 2007 Pisco Earthquake
(8.0 Mw, 519 deaths). These events caused
high personal and material losses.

SEISMIC RETROFIT OF CONCRETE BRIDGES USING ISOLATION DEVICES ANBAL TAFUR

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SEISMIC RISK IN PERU

FIGURE 2.6. Distribution of earthquakes in Peru during 1513 and 1959, with intensity higher than VIII MM Silgado (1978).
FIGURE 2.7. Seismic zones as defined by the Peruvian Building Seismic Code (NTP E0.30 Code, 2016)

SEISMIC RETROFIT OF CONCRETE BRIDGES USING ISOLATION DEVICES ANBAL TAFUR

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SEISMIC RISK IN BRIDGES

Bridges are crucial for the deployment of
assistance during earthquake emergencies. Their
failure may produce delays that put lives in risk.
This was observed in recent earthquake events in
Peru, such as the Arequipa (2001), Pisco (2007),
among others.
Failure of a bridge may render a whole highway
network unusable, thus isolating towns.

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SEISMIC RISK IN BRIDGES

FIGURE 2.5. Deck failure in the San Francisco-Oakland Bridge during the
1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake (AFP, 2010)

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HOW TO MITIGATE THE RISK?

Build a new bridge with the appropriate seismic
provisions, or study the possibility of retrofitting the
existing bridge to meet the current seismic
performance requirements.
For the seismic retrofitting, two basic approaches exist:

Increase the resistance Decrease the

of the structure solicitations i.e. forces
(strengthening of the applied by the EQ
elements using (isolations devices and
encasing, carbon FRP, dampers)
etc.)

SEISMIC RETROFIT OF CONCRETE BRIDGES USING ISOLATION DEVICES ANBAL TAFUR

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SEISMIC RETROFIT USING ISOLATION

Damage in
the sub-
structure

THE ISOLATORS
WORK AS FUSES

The reduction of forces comes with a price. The deck will move considerably, so special
attention should be put into the design of anchorage of support elements.

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TYPES OF ISOLATION SYSTEMS

ELASTOMERIC FRICTION
ISOLATORS ISOLATORS

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RETROFIT EXAMPLES WITH ISOLATION

GOLDEN GATE KODIAK-NEAR ISLAND BRIDGE, ALASKA

Source: www.goldengate.org Source: www.earthquakeprotection.com

ANTIOCH BRIDGE, CALIFORNIA MOTORWAY VIADUCTS IN BOLU, TURKEY

Source: www.earthquakeprotection.com Source: www.earthquakeprotection.com

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CASE STUDY THE HUAMANI BRIDGE

The Huamani Bridge is a reinforced concrete continuous bridge that
spans over the Pisco River, in the Ica Department of Peru.
It was built around 1950 and suffered from considerable damage
during the 2007 Pisco Earthquake (it had to be temporarily closed).
The seismic design criteria used for this bridge was to apply as base
shear force equivalent to 4-8% of the weight, with no ductile
provisions (Tang & Johansson, 2010).

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CASE STUDY THE HUAMANI BRIDGE

Steel fixed bearings (which are
currently severely corroded)
The shear keys prevented the
deck from falling off during the
EQ.

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CASE STUDY THE HUAMANI BRIDGE

ELEVATION

TYPICAL CROSS SECTION

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DAMAGE OBSERVED IN THE BRIDGE

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DAMAGE OBSERVED IN THE BRIDGE

TRANSVERSE BEAMS PIERS

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MODELLING
Two cases are analyzed: AS-BUILT and ISOLATED
models.
Main features:
The models were defined using finite elements (FEM)
Link elements were used to represent the bearings.
In the AS-BUILT model, this links are infinitely stiff,
whereas in the ISOLATED model, this links have the
stiffness properties of the isolators (flexible).
Elastomeric isolators were considered for this
analysis.

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MODELLING
The ground motion was represented using
two methods. The AASHTO Design Spectrum,
and the Time-History acceleration signal of
the actual Pisco Earthquake, registered very
close to the bridge site.
Both models are applied with the same
seismic ground motions. Their responses are
then compared (period, damping,
displacements and internal forces).

SEISMIC RETROFIT OF CONCRETE BRIDGES USING ISOLATION DEVICES ANBAL TAFUR

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MODELLING

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DYNAMICS RESULTS
As expected, the difference observed in the
dynamic behavior is remarkable.

AS-BUILT ISOLATED

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INCREASED PARAMETERS
As-built Isolated Ratio
Parameter Units Isol
Result Result
As-built

Period X-X s 0.148 2.206 15

Period Y-Y s 0.222 2.213 10
Damping Ratio of Structure % 5% 16% 3.2
Super-Structure Displacement X-X mm 3.91 240.00 60
Super-Structure Displacement Y-Y mm 16.90 240.00 14

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REDUCED PARAMETERS
As-built Isolated Difference As-built Isolated Difference
Parameter Units Isol - As-built Parameter Units Isol - As-built
Result Result As-built
Result Result As-built

Pier 1 Displacement X-X mm 2.23 0.52 -77% Pier 1 Axial Force X-X kN 3055 44 -99%
Pier 1 Displacement Y-Y mm 0.45 0.12 -73% Pier 2 Shear Force X-X kN 3545 1113 -69%
Pier 2 Displacement X-X mm 1.58 0.52 -67% Pier 2 Shear Force Y-Y kN 6320 1109 -82%
Pier 2 Displacement Y-Y mm 0.79 0.12 -85% Pier 2 Axial Force X-X kN 2069 18 -99%
Base Shear X-X kN 17096 4967 -70% Trans. Beam @ Pier 1 Shear kN 403 120 -70%
Base Shear Y-Y kN 21688 4967 -77% Trans. Beam @ Pier 1 B. Moment kNm 569 172 -70%
Pier 1 Shear Force X-X kN 5003 1113 -77% Trans. Beam @ Pier 2 Shear kN 708 120 -83%
Pier 1 Shear Force Y-Y kN 3579 1110 -69% Trans. Beam @ Pier 2 B. Moment kNm 999 172 -82%

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PIERS ANALYSIS
Pier 1 Interaction Diagram for Longitudinal Direction

Mn (kNm)
-30,000 -20,000 -10,000 0 10,000 20,000 30,000
120,000

100,000
Strengthening 80,000
needed for the 60,000

Pn (kN)
as-built case 40,000
Isolated
20,000

-20,000

-40,000

Internal forces decreased dramatically. This means that if isolation is

implemented, the flexibility increment would make strengthening of
the elements unnecessary.

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PIERS ANALYSIS

SHEAR DEMAND/CAPACITY RATIOS

Vn TH RS Isol Ratio Ratio Ratio

Direction Element
(kN) (kN) (kN) (kN) TH/Vn RS/Vn Isol/Vn

Longitudinal Pier 1 5731 3312 5003 1113 0.58 0.87 0.19

X-X Pier 2 5731 2966 3545 1113 0.52 0.62 0.19
Transverse Pier 1 5446 2430 3579 1110 0.45 0.66 0.20
Y-Y Pier 2 5446 3337 6320 1109 0.61 1.16 0.20

Shear strengthening No strengthening

needed for the piers required for the
in the as-built case isolated case

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TRANSVERSE BEAMS

Moment Moment
Case
Location of
Demand (D) Capacity (C)
Ratio Cracking
Beam
(kN) (kN)
D/C observed in
Actual @ Pier 1 380 414 0.92 actual EQ
Earthquake @ Pier 2 527 414 1.27
Response @ Pier 1 569 414 1.37
Spectrum @ Pier 2 999 414 2.41
@ Pier 1 172 414 0.42
Isolated
@ Pier 2 172 414 0.42
Strengthening
No strengthening if needed for
isolated design EQ

Pier 1 Pier 2

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CONCLUSIONS
Implementing the isolation system would
increase the structures overall damping ratio
by more than 3 times, as well as its flexibility.
This effectively reduces the solicitations in the
sub-structure and transverse beams by an
average of 75%.
In the case of the bridge analysed, this
reduction in the solicitations allows for the
structural elements not to be strengthen.

SEISMIC RETROFIT OF CONCRETE BRIDGES USING ISOLATION DEVICES ANBAL TAFUR

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CONCLUSIONS
It is concluded that the use of rubber isolators
is effective for retrofitting highway concrete
bridges and that this analytical procedure can
be applied to other bridges of similar
characteristics in Peru.
Further work: coordination with the Peruvian
Ministry of Transportation to present these
findings and transmit the need for seismic
assessment of highway infrastructure.

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THANK YOU FOR YOUR

ATTENTION

SEISMIC RETROFIT OF CONCRETE BRIDGES USING ISOLATION DEVICES ANBAL TAFUR