On the basis of considering shear transfer and lateral force, the hinge joint mechanical model of spring hinge joints are established, and the formula for calculating the damage degree of hinge joints are derived. The relative deflection, shear force and relative Angle are replaced to calculate the damage degree of hinge joints, and then the damage position is located. It was found that the true strength of hinge joints is complex, so if only considering the shear transfer is not complete, the lateral force of hinge joints are also very important. According to the existing hinged plate theory, considering the lateral force, damage and deformation of hinge joints, The corresponding hypothesis is put forward, the mechanical model of the hinge joint is established and the calculation model of hollow plate bridge are drawn. Based on the lateral force and shear force of plate beam Angle and relative displacement, relative proposed the spring hinge joints mechanics model is set up, formula to calculate the damage degree of the hinge joints, the validity of the theoretical calculation is verified by numerical comparison analysis and the relative deflection is calculated, the shear and relative angles in formula, calculate the damage degree, this method can find out the damage position and degree of hinge joint effectively. The results show that the closer the loading area is to the damage location, the more significant the accuracy of the damage location is, and the higher the accuracy of the damage degree identification results is.