Comparative study on seismic design and check of piers by Chinese and European Codes

The function of bridges would be significantly influenced by the damage of piers during the earthquake, which would affect the rescue and reconstruction after the earthquake. Therefore, it is of great significance to carry out the comparative study on the seismic design and check of piers by the Chinese and European codes. The results show that the seismic design concepts of piers in the Chinese and European codes are the same. The behaviour factor and the seismic importance factor are used to reduce the seismic action in the European code and the Chinese code, respectively. For the check of shear capacity, the contributions of stirrups and concrete are separately considered in the European code, while they are simultaneously considered in the Chinese code. The steel weight of the pier designing by using Chinese codes is lower than that using European codes. The requirement on the minimum transverse reinforcement ratio in the European code is higher than that in the Chinese code.