Some comparisons between Chinese and Japanese code for earthquakeresistance design of bridges

After the 5·12 earthquake,there exits a discussion about the code for earthquake-resistance design.Some comparisons are made in this paper according to the relative provisions on bridges in Chinese and Japanese code for seismic design of railway engineering.These comparisons include the criterion and the goal of earthquake fortification,the form of the acceleration response spectrum in the design earthquake and the calculation of seismic forces.The differences between the values of the acceleration response spectrum and between the calculations of seismic forces are emphasized in the paper,because these two are key issues to the safety of bridges.Some relative provisions are firstly listed.Then some comparisons about the criterion and the goal of earthquake fortification,the earthquake-resistance design,the value of the acceleration response spectrum and the calculation of seismic forces are made.Through these comparisons,it is find that there are similarities and differences in the code of the two countries.The calculations of seismic forces are similar.