THE DAMAGE OF HIGHWAY BRIDGES IN THE 1995 HYOGO-KEN NANBU EARTHQUAKE AND ITS IMPACT ON JAPANESE SEISMIC DESIGN

Abstract

The Hyogo-ken Nanbu Earthquake of 17 January 1995, caused destructive damage to highway bridges. Obviously, this was the first experience of such destructive damage since the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923. Various tentative measures were taken for seismic design of repair and reconstruction of highway bridges which were damaged due to the earthquake. This paper summarises the damage feature of highway bridges and a series of actions taken for seismic design and seismic strengthening of highway bridges about half a year following the earthquake.