Comparison of Highway Bridge Seismic Design in Europe and China through a Case Study

With accumulated experiences of bridge damage learned from past earthquake events, the highway bridge seismic design approach is evolving from time to time. It is important for both China and Europe to learn from each other to improve seismic design approaches. A thorough comparison relating to the seismic hazard level, response spectra, and ductility considerations between Eurocode 8 and the Chinese specification is made in this study. Both of these two specifications are based on performance-based design philosophy. However, the Chinese specification is based more on deformation capacity than on strength. The design approach specified in the Chinese specification is more consistent with experiences obtained from past earthquake events than the method adopted in Eurocode 8. Case study shows that bridge designed in accordance with Eurocode 8 could satisfy the force requirement under earthquake action E1 as specified in the Chinese specification but could not satisfy the displacement requirements under earthquake action E2. It is expected that the method adopted in the Chinese specification could provide conservative seismic design in both aspects of seismic forces and displacements.