Displacement-based fragility analysis of typical multi-span RC bridges

Reliable risk assessment models for an infrastructure system require the detailed definition of bridge inventory characteristics, in order to evaluate the seismic vulnerability of the exposed structures. In this work, a detailed statistical analysis was carried out on the reference bridge stock, represented by the bridges of the Veneto Region (N-E of Italy) road network, consisting of 496 bridges belonging to the provincial and regional infrastructure systems, mostly located in medium-high seismicity areas. The extensive statistical analysis presented supplies a sound background to the analytical vulnerability assessment of existing multi span rc bridges. Using DBA procedures that assume strain and displacement measures as structural damage indexes and seismic performance control parameters, fragility curves have been developed for all rc bridges and a proposal for an average fragility curve, valid for a whole class of bridge structures is presented. © 2014 Taylor & Francis Group.