Post-Earthquake Reconnaissance Report on Transportation Infrastructure: Impact of the February 27, 2010, Offshore Maule Earthquake in Chile

This report documents the findings and lessons learned from the February 27, 2010, M8.8 offshore Maule earthquake in Chile. Fewer than 0.15 percent of the bridges in Chile’s inventory, most built after 1995, collapsed or suffered damage that rendered them useless. Many spans of precast prestressed discontinuous girder bridges with continuous decks fell off their supports, probably due to significant in-plane rotation of the superstructure as a result of severe shaking. Lateral steel stoppers used to provide both vertical and lateral restraints on girders were largely unsuccessful due to their inadequate connection detail to cap beams and abutments. Reinforced concrete shear keys performed well as fuses limiting the transfer of excessive seismic loads from the superstructure to the foundation of bridges even though they could be optimized for maximum energy dissipation as part of the lateral restraint system at the bottom flange of girders. Vertical seismic bars were widely used to restrain the vertical motion of decks, and they also performed well. Bridge substructures (foundation, column, and cap beam) generally behaved satisfactorily except for two columns that suffered shear failure due to ground settlement and lateral spreading. All mechanically stabilized earth walls exceeded the expected performance.

• Record URL:
  • http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/publications/research/infrastructure/structures/11030/11030.pdf
• Record URL:
  • https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/41742
• Corporate Authors:

  Federal Highway Administration

  Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center, 6300 Georgetown Pike
  McLean, VA  United States  22101

  Missouri University of Science and Technology, Rolla

  Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering
  1401 N Pine Street
  Rolla, MO  United States  65409

  University of Nevada, Reno

  Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
  Reno, NV  United States  89557

  Washington State Department of Transportation

  Materials Laboratory, P.O. Box 47365
  Olympia, WA  United States  98504-7365

  Federal Highway Administration

  Office of Infrastructure Research and Development
  6300 Georgetown Pike
  McLean, VA  United States  22101
• Authors:
  • Yen, Wen-Huei Phillip
  • Chen, Genda
  • Buckle, Ian
  • Allen, Tony
  • Alzamora, Daniel
  • Ger, Jeffrey
  • Arias, Juan G
• Publication Date: 2011-3

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Edition: Final Report
• Features: Appendices; Figures; Maps; Photos; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 218p

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Bridge substructures; Bridge superstructures; Earth walls; Earthquake resistant design; Girder bridges; Mechanically stabilized earth; Retaining walls; Structural connection
• Identifier Terms: Maule Earthquake (Chile), February 27, 2010
• Uncontrolled Terms: Damage (Bridges); Shear keys
• Subject Areas: Bridges and other structures; Design; Highways; I24: Design of Bridges and Retaining Walls;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01341962
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: FHWA-HRT-11-030
• Files: NTL, TRIS, USDOT, STATEDOT
• Created Date: Jun 13 2011 4:01PM