Recent bridge failures due to earthquakes around world have renewed interest in understanding the nonlinear dynamic behaviour of existing and new bridge structures. Analysis of reinforced concrete bridge columns under cyclic loading requires proper identification and calibration of suitable hysteresis models. Columns being the most critical components of a bridge structure, knowledge on the hysteresis behaviour of bridge columns are of primary importance in determining the earthquake response of bridges. This paper aims at tracing the hysteresis behaviour of RC bridge columns using Bouc-Wen type model. Experimental data from literature is used for validation of the proposed modelling approach. A good correlation is observed between the observed behaviour and the calculated values. In addition, the model is found to estimate the dissipated energy with reasonable accuracy. Sensitivity analysis is carried out to ascertain the influence of different parameters on the accuracy of the estimation from the model. Finally, upper and lower bounds for each parameter have been specified based on the range of variation of the parameters observed in this study. © 2018 Structural Engineering Research Centre. All Rights Reserved.