EERI Distinguished Lecture 2000: Earthquake engineering for transportation structures -- past, present, and future

Advances over the past fifty years in earthquake engineering as applied to transportation structures are discussed with focus on seismic loading criteria, dual strategy of design, modeling and analysis, design detailing, and assessment of seismic performance. Current state-of-the-art methodologies used in the seismic design of bridges are reviewed, pointing out areas of needed improvements, including the characterization of free-field ground motions for functional and life-safety levels of design, evaluation of soil-foundation-structure interaction effects, modeling of structural components for seismic demand and capacity evaluations, and seismic performance assessments. Advancing the state of the art of bridge engineering through future research, both analytical and experimental, and advancing the state of the practice through the development of new performance-focused code specifications are encouraged.