Recommended LRFD

Guidelines for the Seismic

Design of Highway Bridges
Customary U.S. Units

Requested by:

American Association of State Highway

and Transportation Officials (AASHTO)

Highway Subcommittee on Bridge and Structures

Prepared by:

Roy A. Imbsen
TRC/Imbsen & Associates, Inc.

May 2006

The information contained in this report was prepared as part of NCHRP

Project 20-07, Task 193, National Cooperative Highway Research Program,
Transportation Research Board.
6.6 PILE EXTENSIONS C6.7 ABUTMENT DESIGN
REQUIREMENTS
Design requirements of pile extensions shall
conform to requirements of columns in SDC B, C, or
D as applicable.
C6.7.1 General
The effects of degradation and aggredation in a
These LRFD Guidelines have been prepared to
streambed on fixity and plastic hinges locations shall
acknowledge the abutment to be used as an
be considered in SDC B, C, and D.
Earthquake Resistant Element (ERE) and be a part of
The effects of liquefaction on loss of the Earthquake Resistant System (ERS). If designed
P − y strength shall be considered in SDC D. Group properly, the reactive capacity of the approach fill
reduction factors shall be included in the analysis and can provide significant benefit to the bridge-
design of pile extensions subjected to lateral loading foundation system.
in the transverse direction.

6.7 ABUTMENT DESIGN REQUIREMENTS

The participation of abutment walls in the overall
dynamic response of bridge systems to earthquake
loading and in providing resistance to seismically
induced inertial loads shall be considered in the
seismic design of bridges following Article 5.2.
For no-collapse performance criteria, and
assuming conventional cantilever retaining wall
construction, horizontal wall translation under
dynamic active pressure loading is acceptable.
However, rotational instability may lead to collapse
and thus must be prevented.

6.7.1 Longitudinal Direction Requirements

The seismic design of free-standing abutments
should take into account forces arising from
seismically-induced lateral earth pressures, additional
forces arising from wall inertia effects and the
transfer of seismic forces from the bridge deck
through bearing supports which do not slide freely
(e.g., elastomeric bearings).
For free-standing abutments or retaining walls
which may displace horizontally without significant
restraint (e.g., superstructure supported by sliding
bearings), the design approach is similar to that of a
free-standing retaining wall, except that lateral force
from the bridge superstructure needs to be included
in equilibrium evaluations, as the superstructure
moves outwards from the wall. A minimum force of
0.4 times the dead load reaction of the superstructure
at the abutment shall be considered.
Earthquake-induced active earth pressures should be
computed using horizontal accelerations at least
equal to 50% of the peak site ground acceleration
(i.e., FaSs / 5.0). The pseudostatic Mononobe-Okabe
method of analysis is recommended for computing
lateral active soil pressures during seismic loading.

NCHRP 20-7(193) Task 12 6-16