ABSTRACT
A history of damaging earthquakes in the Indian subcontinent over the past century has prompted noteworthy, albeit infrequent, upgrades in seismic codal provisions for highway bridge design. However, there is a marked absence of seismic vulnerability evaluation tools and financial loss assessment frameworks for highway bridges within the country. The present study addresses this need using seismic life-cycle cost estimation techniques which enables the combination of seismic fragility of bridges, regional hazard information and repair cost data. The paper traces the evolution of seismic codal provisions of highway bridges within India and subsequent impact on the seismic vulnerability and life-cycle cost estimates. Four distinct highway bridge design cases are identified based on design force and reinforcement detailing specifications from different versions of bridge design codes. Seismic life-cycle cost results reveals a significant decrease in life cycle cost of highway bridges designed as per the latest seismic design and detailing provisions.
