A new type of rigid connection of steel girder and reinforced concrete pier of a bridge is proposed. The components in rigid connection are installed by high strength bolts on the spot, which are very convenient in construction. The moment from superstructure can be effectively transferred to substructure, and the plates provided for shear transferring can withstand the majority of total horizontal force. With static cyclic loading test, useful experimental data is obtained on the new type of connection of steel superstructure and concrete substructure. As a result, the stress transfer mechanism of the rigid connection can be made clearly and the seismic performance of this structure can also be clarified. Compared computed strength and ductility with actual results, it can be found that this type of connection has good energy absorption capacity in spite of large displacement and no local buckling arises at the locations where stress concentration occurs. Because of doing away with the expensive bearing, this new type of composite structure can be expected to construct a bridge with high seismic resistant capacity thus saving in total construction cost.
