Practices and Procedures for Site-Specific Evaluations of Earthquake Ground Motions

This study identifies and describes current practice and available methods for evaluating the influence of local ground conditions on earthquake design ground motions on a site-specific basis. Information includes criteria used to determine when a site-specific analysis is needed, how to develop input parameters required for a site-response analysis, the nature of the site-response analysis performed (equivalent-linear, total stress nonlinear, effective-stress nonlinear), the process of model setup, and how uncertainties are dealt with in the analysis process. Information was gathered by a literature review and a survey of state departments of transportation and selected academics.