DEVELOPMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION OF A NEW SEISMIC DESIGN BRIDGE CRITERIA FOR SOUTH CAROLINA

The State of South Carolina has recently developed a new seismic design specification for highway bridges. South Carolina is in a high seismic zone similar to California and has recognized that several recent developments have occurred that are not yet implemented into AASHTO. Some of the new developments are being reviewed for implementation into future updates of the Seismic Design Specifications. The new specification has been developed and is currently being implemented into design. The new concepts and enhancements that are incorporated into the specification include: (1) New USGS probabilistic earthquake ground motion maps; (2) New design level earthquakes; (3) New performance objectives; (4) New soil factors; (5) Displacement based design; and (6) Expanded design criteria for steel bridges. This paper describes the new seismic design criteria and the implementation into practice both with the South Carolina Department of Transportation and their consultants. Additionally, the paper describes the impact of the new criteria on the design costs.