Concepts and Developments for Accelerated Bridge Construction and Dissipative Controlled Rocking

The application of Accelerated Bridge Construction (ABC) in areas of moderate to high seismicity is a challenge that is being addressed by current resear ch. An extensive research program at the University of Canterbury (UC) is investigating solutions to en ha ce the seismic behaviour of ABC structures through the use of Dissipative Controlled Rocking ( DCR) systems. An outline of the research that is being undertaken is presented in this paper. This i ncludes a description of the prototype structures t hat are being investigated, an overview of experimental testing that will occur as part of the program, an d finally the results of numerical modelling that aim s to predict the behaviour of the structures during testing.