R. Karami Mohammadi - Post doctorate research fellow, Dept. of Civil and Env. Eng., Carleton University,Ottawa, Canada
D.T. Lau - Professor, Associate Director of Ottawa-Carleton Bridge Research Institute, Dept. of Civil and Env. Eng., Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada

The current practice in earthquake resistant design of highway bridges relies on the capacity of the ductile components in a bridge system, such as column or piers, to absorb or dissipate the seismic energy imparted by the strong ground motions. The Geological Survey of Canada has recently developed new methodology for the quantification of seismic hazards in Canada. This new approach is currently being considered for adoption as the basis for the specification of seismic hazards in the earthquake design requirements of structures in the future edition of the National Building Code of Canada. This new probabilistic seismic design approach is introduced in this paper and the effects of adopting the Uniform Hazard Spectra approach in the seismic design of bridges in Canada are investigated. The behavior of typical bridges has been evaluated for different earthquakes with different severity and probability levels.