TESTING OF THE LRFD BRIDGE SEISMIC DESIGN PROVISIONS THROUGH A COMPREHENSIVE TRIAL DESIGN PROCESS (ABSTRACT ONLY)

The Multidisciplinary Center for Earthquake Engineering Research (MCEER), with funding from the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), has organized and is conducting a trial design program using the Recommended LRFD for the Seismic Design of Highway Bridges. The Recommended LRFD Guidelines were prepared by MCEER and the Applied Technology Council (ATC), on the basis of the results of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO)-sponsored National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) Project 12-49, Comprehensive Specification for the Seismic Design of Bridges. The majority of States represented on the AASHTO Bridge Committee's T-3 technical committee (Seismic Design) are participating in the trial design program, as are several other States and the Central Federal Lands Division of the FHWA. Each participating agency is preparing at least one complete design using the Recommended LRFD Guidelines, in order to assess and quantify the impacts if and when the are implemented and adopted by AASHTO as a Guide Specification. The results of the program will also assist in identifying any significant problems with the provisions contained in the themselves. Due to the variety of bridge types, construction practices, and seismic hazard and soils conditions found throughout the United States, the trial design program will exercise the majority of provisions contained in the Recommended LRFD Guidelines. It is anticipated that the AASHTO Bridge Committee will make a decision regarding adoption of the as an AASHTO Guide Specification in 2002 based, in large part, on the results of this program. The trial design program was initiated in December 2001, and will be completed in April 2002. This presentation provides an overview of the program and summarizes some of the key findings from it.