Bridges will rock -- safely -- with new quake design

From EurekAlert! - Breaking News:

Bridges that "dance" during earthquakes could be the safest and least expensive to build, retrofit and repair, according to earthquake engineers at the University at Buffalo and MCEER. Bridges that "dance" during earthquakes could be the safest and least expensive to build, retrofit and repair, according to earthquake engineers at the University at Buffalo and MCEER. The researchers recently developed and successfully tested the first seismic design methodology for bridge towers that respond to ground motions by literally jumping a few inches off the ground. The new methodology allows steel truss towers that support bridge decks to be built or retrofitted at far less expense than conventional approaches, where each leg of a bridge tower is strongly anchored to its footing. The research is funded by the U.S. Federal Highway Administration. The design recently underwent successful testing on a model truss tower that is 20 feet high and weighs nine tons. Testing was conducted on a six-degrees-of-freedom shake table in UB's Structural Engineering and Earthquake Simulation Laboratory (SEESL). One of the world's most versatile earthquake engineering laboratories, it is a facility within the UB School of Engineering and Applied Sciences.

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