Efficiency of seismic isolation for seismic retrofitting of heavy substructured bridges

In this paper, the efficiency of seismic isolation for seismic retrofitting of bridges with light superstructures and heavy substructures in the state of Illinois is studied. For this purpose, a representative bridge was selected by Illinois Department of Transportation. A detailed structural model of the bridge capable of simulating the nonlinear behavior of its components and soil-bridge interaction effects was first constructed. Iterative multimode response spectrum analysis (IMMRSA) of the bridge were conducted to assess its seismic vulnerability. The results from IMMRSA were also verified with nonlinear time history analyses. It was found that the bearings and substructures of the bridge need to be retrofitted. A conventional retrofitting technique was then adopted for the bridge and the cost of retrofit was estimated. Next, the existing bearings were replaced with seismic isolation bearings (SIB) and the seismic analysis was repeated. It was found that SIB effectively mitigated the seismic forces and eliminated the need for retrofitting of the substructures. The cost of retrofitting using SIB was then calculated and found to be only 30% of the conventional retrofitting cost.