Nonlinear static monotonic (pushover) analysis has become a common practice in performance-based bridge seismic design. The popularity of pushover analysis is due to its ability to identify the failure modes and the design limit states of bridge piers and to provide the progressive collapse sequence of damaged bridges when subjected to major earthq

Tools to Safeguard New Buildings and Assess Existing OnesNonlinear analysis methods such as static pushover are globally considered a reliable tool for seismic and structural assessment. But the accuracy of seismic capacity estimates-which can prevent catastrophic loss of life and astronomical damage repair costs-depends on the use of the correct b

The book focuses on the use of inelastic analysis methods for the seismic assessment and design of bridges, for which the work carried out so far, albeit interesting and useful, is nevertheless clearly less than that for buildings. Although some valuable literature on the subject is currently available, the most advanced inelastic analysis methods that emerged during the last decade are currently found only in the specialised research-oriented literature, such as technical journals and conference proceedings. Hence the key objective of this book is two-fold, first to present all important methods belonging to the aforementioned category in a uniform and sufficient for their understanding and implementation length, and to provide also a critical perspective on them by including selected case-studies wherein more than one methods are applied to a specific bridge and by offering some critical comments on the limitations of the individual methods and on their relative efficiency. The book should be a valuable tool for both researchers and practicing engineers dealing with seismic design and assessment of bridges, by both making the methods and the analytical tools available for their implementation, and by assisting them to select the method that best suits the individual bridge projects that each engineer and/or researcher faces.

These proceedings, arising from an international workshop, present research results and ideas on issues of importance to seismic risk reduction and the development of future seismic codes.

Forty scientists working in 13 different countries detail in this work the most recent advances in seismic design and performance assessment of reinforced concrete buildings. It is a valuable contribution in the mitigation of natural disasters.