Fragility curves for a typical Chilean highway bridge

The recent earthquakes in Chile (2010, 2015), Japan (2011), New Zeland (2010, 2011) and
Mexico (2017) have shown how vulnerable bridges are to these events. For example, the
damage observed in bridges after the 2010 Maule earthquake in Chile, such as transverse
displacement and excessive rotation of the deck, failure of skewed highway bridges
associated with insufficient seat support length, sliding of the support elastomers, damage of
the seismic bars, damage to the walls of the abument and prestressed girders, and damage to
external shear keys in intermediate bents, led to the revision of the codes. Fragility analysis
for highway bridges is essential for risk assessment of highway transport networks exposed
to seismic hazards. Fragility curves were generated using non-linear analytical models and a
series of real records. Comparison of the fragility curves show that bridges designed with the
current design codes have seismic performance that depends, to a large extent, on the type of
soil on which the bridge is located. In addition, the design requirements are becoming more
conservative with respect to the seismic response of bridges.