On February 27, 2010, a devastating magnitude 8.8 earthquake struck off the coast of the Maule region of Chile, affecting a large area that included Chile's two most populated cities: Concepción and Santiago, the Chilean capital. A transportation infrastructure reconnaissance team (TIRT) was organized by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and performed a thorough postearthquake investigation of highway infrastructure from April 4 to 13, 2010. TIRT was assisted by Chile's Ministry of Public Works and two local universities: Pontifical Catholic University of Chile and University of Chile, both located in Santiago. This report presents the preliminary findings of the earthquake's effects on the transportation infrastructure, including bridges and other highway structures that the team visited during the reconnaissance. This project was funded by FHWA's Innovative Bridge Research and Deployment program.
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1. Report No.
FHWA-HRT-11-030 |
2. Government Accession No. |
3. Recipient’s Catalog No. |
4. Title and Subtitle
Post-Earthquake Reconnaissance Report on Transportation Infrastructure: Impact of the February 27, 2010, Offshore Maule Earthquake in Chile |
5. Report Date
March 2011 |
6. Performing Organization Code |
7. Author(s)
Wen-Huei Phillip Yen, Genda Chen, Ian Buckle, Tony Allen, Daniel Alzamora, Jeffrey Ger, and Juan G. Arias |
8. Performing Organization Report No. |
9. Performing Organization Name and Address
Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center
Federal Highway Administration
6300 Georgetown Pike, McLean, VA 22101
Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering
Missouri University of Science and Technology
1401 N. Pine St., Rolla, MO 65409-0030
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
University of Nevada Reno
1664 N. Virginia St., Reno, NV 89557
State Materials Laboratory
Washington State Department of Transportation
P.O. Box 47365, Olympia, WA 98504 |
10. Work Unit No. (TRAIS) |
11. Contract or Grant No. |
12. Sponsoring Agency Name and Address
Office of Infrastructure Research and Development
Federal Highway Administration
6300 Georgetown Pike
McLean, VA 22101-2296 |
13. Type of Report and Period
Final Report:
December 2009–Present
|
14. Sponsoring Agency Code |
15. Supplementary Notes
The Contracting Officer's Technical Representative (COTR) was W. Phillip Yen, HRDI-50. |
16. Abstract
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. |
17. Key Words
Seismic performance, Bridge damage, Superstructure rotation, Retaining wall, Soil liquefaction, Lateral spreading |
18. Distribution Statement
No restrictions. This document is available to the public through NTIS:
National Technical Information Service
5301 Shawnee Road
Alexandria, VA 22312 |
19. Security Classif. (of this report)
Unclassified |
20. Security Classif. (of this page)
Unclassified |
21. No. of Pages
214 |
22. Price |
AASHTO | American Association of State and Highway Transportation Officials |
CIP | Cast-in-place |
DDC | Deep dynamic compaction |
EERI | Earthquake Engineering Research Institute |
FHWA | Federal Highway Administration |
GEER | Geotechnical Extreme Events Reconnaissance |
GPS | Global Positioning System |
LRFD | Load and resistance factor design |
MOP | Ministry of Public Works |
MSE | Mechanically stabilized earth |
NEHRP | National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program |
PGA | Peak ground acceleration |
QDR | Quake data recorder |
TIRT | Transportation infrastructure reconnaissance team |
USGS | United States Geological Survey |