Abstract: Compared with far-field earthquake records, near-fault earthquake records contain long-period components and large velocity pulses which can lead to more severe seismic damage of flexible bridges. Continuous viaducts are a common type of bridge and suffer more if they are close to seismic faults. Seismic vulnerability analysis was conducted on a typical four-span continuous viaduct subjected to near-fault and far-field earthquake record inputs. Subsequently, a shaking table test was conducted to obtain dynamic responses of the viaduct under typical near-fault earthquake excitations. The analysis results showed that the vulnerability under near-fault earthquake excitations with velocity pulses was higher than that under far-field or design seismic record inputs. For seismic vulnerable analysis of bridge systems the damage measures of piers and bearings should be taken into consideration synthetically. The shaking table test also showed that the tested dynamic response subject to typical near-fault earthquake records was higher than that subject to far-field or artificial earthquake records.