one of the changes from the kobe quake was to put flexible segments within raised road spans so that they would be more likely to separate and remain standing rather than having the entire thing fail. the kumamoto quake today seems to VINDICATE this approach, as several of the region's highways failed in this precise manner, but did NOT collapse. segmentation worked in real-life.

(https://autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5886970&forum_id=2#50028976)