Presented by
Steven L. Kramer
University of Washington
Many advances have been made over the 50-some years in which geotechnical engineers have actively been involved in the practice of earthquake engineering. Most recently, advances have come through the development of performance-based earthquake engineering, which seeks to predict the seismic performance of structures and facilities in ways that are useful to a wide variety of stakeholders. This presentation reviews the evolution of performance-based earthquake engineering and its application to liquefaction problems. Inconsistencies in current procedures for liquefaction hazard evaluation are identified and techniques for correcting them described, including an approach under development that will allow the benefits of the performance-based approach to be realized without additional effort on the part of the practicing geotechnical engineer. The paper gives examples of different manners in which performance-based earthquake engineering can be implemented, and illustrates the most advanced implementation with an example of a bridge founded in liquefiable soils.. Finally, a series of challenges and opportunities presented by performance-based earthquake engineering for geotechnical engineering practitioners are identified and discussed.