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The Recommended LRFD Guidelines for the Seismic Design of Highway Bridges, an ATC/MCEER Joint Venture, is now available. Consisting of specifications, commentary, and appendices developed to be compatible with the existing load-and-resistance-factor design (LRFD) provisions for highway bridges published by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO), the Guidelines are based on significant enhancements in knowledge and practice over the last 15 years.
The nationally applicable Guidelines contain innovative and updated requirements and procedures, including: state-of-knowledge seismic hazard maps developed by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS); recommended design earthquakes and performance objectives; guidance on assessment of liquefaction and design solutions; new soil factors and spectral shapes; seismic design requirements for steel bridges; “no analysis” design concept; some seismic resisting systems and elements not permitted in the current AASHTO provisions; capacity spectrum design procedures; displacement capacity verification (“Pushover”) analysis; and cost comparisons and implications.
Development of the Guidelines was funded by the National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) Project 12-49, and by the Federal Highway Administration as part of MCEER’s Highway Project. The project included a distinguished advisory committee of experts, and received guidance from the NCHRP Project Panel as well as from the AASHTO Highway Subcommittee on Bridges and Structures seismic design technical committee (T-3). As a result, the Guidelines reflect a broad consensus opinion of leaders in the field of seismically designed bridges and highway structures and can be considered the most advanced bridge seismic design tool available today.
Several companion publications that demonstrate the application and use of these new provisions, and contain liquefaction case studies will also be published soon. Their availability will be announced on the ATC and MCEER web sites.
The Recommended LRFD Guidelines for the Seismic Design of Highway Bridges is published in two volumes: Part I: Specifications, and Part II: Commentary and Appendices. The set includes a CD-ROM containing USGS Seismic Hazard Curves and Uniform Hazard Response Spectra for the United States and will be available from both ATC and MCEER for $75.00 (plus shipping and handling). To order, contact at (716) 645-3395, or online. Or, contact ATC Publication Sales at (650) 595-1542, e-mail: ATC@ATCouncil. org, or use ATC’s Online store at http://www.ATCouncil.org.
The fourth report resulting from MCEER’s research on damage to critical facilities and crisis response following the World Trade Center disaster, funded by the National Science Foundation, is now available. The report is part of a series entitled “Engineering and Organizational Issues Related to The World Trade Center Terrorist Attack.”
From the WTC Tragedy to the Development of Disaster Engineering for Landmark Buildings – An Extension of the Performance-based Earthquake Engineering Approach begins with a review of the major hazards (collision, fire and explosion) that were factors in the collapse of the WTC towers. It then advances a performance-based engineering approach, referred to as “multi-hazard engineering,” that combines knowledge accumulated in earthquake engineering design, hazard mitigation methods and structural response control approaches with lessons learned from the WTC collapse. The newly defined “multi-hazard engineering” is meant to emphasize an integrated and cost-effective disaster operation against all types of serious hazards. It includes information development, coordinated efforts in mitigation, and emergency response and restoration, with a focus on saving the lives of occupants when structural collapse is imminent. The proposed framework must be complemented by a parallel effort to educate a new generation of engineering professionals who can effectively carry out research and development, implement policies and technical approaches, as well as plan, design, construct, manage and maintain landmark buildings in dense population centers.
To order, contact MCEER Publications at (716) 645-3395, e-mail: email@example.com, To order, contact at (716) 645-3395, or online. or via the web site at http://mceer.buffalo.edu/publications/sp_pubs/WTCreports/default.asp.The report is $25.00.
Edited by L.C. Fan and G.C. Lee, 7/15/03, MCEER-03-0004, 288 pages, $35.00
The Proceedings are the result of the first in a series of international workshops on seismic analysis and design of special bridges collaboratively arranged by MCEER and the State Key Laboratory for Disaster Reduction in Civil Engineering, Tongji University, Shanghai, China. The workshop themes include seismic design and retrofit of long span bridges, performance based design, seismic safety evaluation, soil-pile-structure interaction and pseudo-dynamic and hydrodynamic experimental study. This volume contains 22 papers addressing a wide range of these research fields, and includes a discussion of seismicity in China. The workshop agenda and list of participants is also included. For more information on the workshop, visit our web site at http://mceer.buffalo.edu/publications/reports/docs/03-0004/default.asp.
by S.B. Miles and S.E. Chang, 7/25/03, MCEER-03-0005, 120 pages, $25.00
This report introduces a conceptual framework of disaster recovery, guided by insights from the empirical literature. The resulting model focuses on simulating recovery processes, rather than on estimating dollar losses. It emphasizes the dynamic or temporal processes of recovery; simulates impacts at the individual agent level of analysis; relates recovery across business, household, and lifeline infrastructure sectors; relates recovery across individual, neighborhood, and community scales of analysis; highlights the key role of lifeline systems in recovery; and is designed to explore the complex consequences of mitigation, planning, and policy decisions. The model was applied to both a hypothetical community and to an area affected by a real earthquake in Kobe, Japan, and it was able to replicate broad trends from the disaster.
by R.D. Meis, M. Maragakis and R. Siddharthan, 11/17/03, MCEER-03-0006, 258 pages, $35.00
This report describes the procedures and results of an empirical data research program designed to determine the static and dynamic behavior of some typical restrained and unrestrained underground pipe joints. Five different material types with eight different joint types and several different pipe diameters were used in this testing program. The test results are given as load-displacement plots, moment-rotation plots, and tables listing the axial and rotational stiffness, force capacities, and bending moment capacities. A comparison is made between static and dynamic results to determine if static testing is sufficient to characterize the dynamic behavior of pipe joints. This report also suggests methods to use the test results for a finite element pipeline system analysis and for risk assessment evaluation.