Seismic fragility assessment of bridges with as-built and retrofitted splice-deficient columns

Abstract A significant proportion of existing bridges in high seismic regions were constructed prior to the 1970s. As a result of poor reinforcement detailing, pre-1970s bridge columns are susceptible to lap-splice or shear failure in the plastic region. Given the high economic impact of retrofitting all pre-1970s reinforced concrete (RC) bridges, it is essential to identify the most vulnerable bridges for retrofit prioritisation. Analytical fragility functions are useful for quantifying the seismic vulnerability of existing bridge stock. However, the accuracy of these fragility functions relies on the adequacy of the adopted modelling approach. This paper presents a hinge-type modelling approach for capturing the seismic response of as-built splice-deficient and retrofitted RC bridge columns. Fragility analysis is carried out for typical seat and diaphragm abutment two-span bridges using the proposed hinge-type modelling approach. The results showed that the vulnerability of the bridges depends on the column failure mode and the limit state under consideration. Also, the common notion that the column is the most vulnerable component may not necessarily be true. The study underscored that retrofitting columns without retrofitting other components may not effectively mitigate the damage and associated risk.