Damage to bridge engineering during Ms 8.0 earthquake in Wenchuan

Among highway systems, bridge is the most vulnerable component to the earthquake hazard, so the bridge seismic design is considered to be an important part of the bridge design. On may 12, 2008, a Ms.8.0 earthquake occurred in Wenchuan China, which was the one of biggest earthquake China has suffered from 1950s. In this big earthquake, with different distance from the epicenter, a great deal of bridges suffered varying degrees of damage, i.e. bridge collapse completely, girders fall down, bearing damage, and so on. According to analyze these phenomena of damage, more in- depth understanding of the bridge performance in the actual of the earthquake will be got. This paper introduces and analyzes the representative damage of bridges during the earthquake. In the end, some of the recommendations will be given to improve the bridge seismic design.