Design of High-Speed Railway Bridges with Earthquakes

The California High-Speed Train (CHST) Project is located on the west coast of the United States, which is one of the areas around the Pacific plate that has high earthquake risks. This caused additional challengers in the design of the bridge structures. Generally, the high-speed rail requires rigid structures to satisfy tight limits on deflection and vibration control. But in earthquake areas, flexible and ductile structures are often preferred to resist seismic excitations efficiently. This paper highlights design criteria associated with these conflicting demands and presents some optimal design solutions that best balance these requirements.