Limit state evaluation for container cranes constructed of stiffened steel box stub-columns

Past earthquakes have shown that steel container cranes are vulnerable to damage due to seismic loading. However, most port owners in the US would agree that the seismic performance of container cranes has been largely ignored. The performance of cranes during earthquakes is critical, since crane damage and subsequent downtime has a major impact on indirect losses and post-disaster recovery. Most famously, there was extensive damage to container cranes at Kobe after the earthquake of 1995 (JSME 1996). As a result, the Port of Kobe never recovered to full pre-earthquake container traffic volume (Chang 2000).