Seismic Requalification of Geotechnical Structures.

Abstract

The most recent major earthquakes demonstrated the need for seismic requalification of important structures built earlier (such as nuclear power plants, hospitals, important buildings and bridges), in the light of new, revised and better understanding of seismic effects on the built environment. The extent of earthquake damage to structures depends not only on the details of the structure but also on the quality of the ground on which the structure is built. It is well recognized that geotechnical aspects of the ground can be a major contributor to seismic damages and as a result good and solid understanding of seismic soil–structure interaction is very important. “Geotechnical Structures” covers a wide range of topics and it is difficult to do justice to all the topics in one journal issue. This issue therefore focuses on pile foundations and earth retaining structures as they are invariably used for supporting many structures and are very common in any major infrastructural development. This article discusses about seismic requalification and its various stages. The special issue contains nine papers covering various aspects of seismic requalification: Hazard Assessment (three papers), Methods of Analysis (four papers) and Methods of Strengthening and Retrofitting (two papers). A brief example of seismic requalification for pile-foundation is also presented.