Timber Bridges: State‐of‐the‐art
Publication: Journal of Structural Engineering
Volume 109, Issue 9
Abstract
Extensive research conducted during the past several decades has led to significant design advancements related to the use of wood as a highway bridge construction material. Factors which have contributed to the renewed use of wood in the field of bridge construction include the development of new wood composite products and manufacturing techniques, improvements in preservative treatment methods for resisting decay, developments of new wood bridge system concepts, advancements in timber bridge design and analysis techniques and the consequences of the need to conserve natural resources. Woods' high strength to weight ratio, ease of fabrication and installation and natural renewability as a resource make it a highly viable material for consideration in bridge construction. This paper summarizes recent timber bridge research activities and traces the evolution of the modern timber bridge to its current form.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
References
1.
American Wooden Bridges, ASCE Committee on History and Heritage of American Civil Engineering, Bicentennial Edition, ASCE Historical Publication No. 4, 1976.
2.
Barth, D. O., “America's Covered Bridges,” Civil Engineering, Vol. 50, No. 2, Feb., 1980, pp. 51–54.
3.
“Bibliography on Timber Highway Bridge Design,” Committee on Wood of the Structural Division, Journal of the Structural Division, ASCE, Vol. 101, No. ST1, Jan., 1975.
4.
Bohannan, B., “Prestressed Laminated Wood Beams,” USDA Forest Service Research Paper FPL8, 1964.
5.
Csagoly, P. F., and Taylor, R. J., “A Development Program for Wood Highway Bridges,” SRR‐7, Ministry of Transportation and Communications, Ontario, Canada, 1979.
6.
Elleby, H., Sanders, W., Klaiber, F., and Reeves, M., “Service Load and Fatigue Tests on Truss Bridges,” Journal of the Structural Division, ASCE, Vol. 102, No. ST12, Dec., 1976.
7.
Freas, A. D., and Selbo, M. L., “Fabrication and Design of Glued Laminated Wood Structural Members,” USDA Technical Bulletin 1069, Forest Products Laboratory, USDA, Madison, Wisc., 1954.
8.
Glulam Bridge Systems—Plans and Details, American Institute of Timber Construction, Englewood, Colo., 1974.
9.
Graham, R. D., Corden, M. E., and Sheffer, T. C., “Controlling Biological Deterioration of Wood with Volatile Chemicals,” Forest Research Laboratory, Oregon State University, 1975.
10.
Gutkowski, R. M., “Glulam Bridge Dowel System,” Technical Note, Journal of the Structural Division, ASCE, Vol. 105, No. ST8, Aug., 1979.
11.
Gutkowski, R. M., Goodman, J. R., and Pault, J., “Tests and Analysis for Composite Action in Glulam Bridges,” Transportation Research Records 676—Bridge Design, Evaluation and Repair, Transportation Research Board, National Academy of Sciences, 1978.
12.
Gutkowski, R. M., and Williamson, T. G., “Timber Bridges: A State‐of‐the‐Art Report,” Preprint 80‐128, presented at the ASCE Convention and Exposition, Portland, Oregon, Apr., 1980.
13.
Gutkowski, R. M., and Williamson, T. G., “Timber Bridges—Developments and Trends in North America,” presented at the 11th World Congress of the International Association for Bridge and Structural Engineering, Vienna, Austria, Aug.–Sept., 1980 (also published in the Congress Proceedings).
14.
Hurlbut, B. F., “Basic Evaluation of the Structural Adequacy of Existing Timber Bridges,” Transportation Research Record 647, Transportation Research Board, National Academy of Sciences, 1977.
15.
“Important Research Needs in Wood—As a Structural Material,” Journal of the Structural Division, ASCE, Vol. 105, No. ST10, Oct., 1979.
16.
Knab, L. I., Moody, R. C., Sanders, W., and Elleby, H., “Design Criteria for Theater of Operations Glued‐Laminated Timber Highway Bridges,” Technical Report M‐198, Construction Engineering Research Laboratory, Champaign, Illinois, Jan., 1977.
17.
Knab, L. I., and Moody, R. C., “Glulam Design Criteria for Temporary Structures,” Journal of the Structural Division, ASCE, Vol. 104, No. ST9, Sept., 1978.
18.
“Load and Resistance Factor Design Papers,” Journal of the Structural Division, ASCE, Vol. 104, No. ST9, Sept., 1978,
19.
McCutcheon, W. J., and Tuomi, R. L., “Procedure for Design of Glued‐Laminated Orthotropic Bridge Decks,” USDA Forest Service Research Paper FPL 210, Forest Products Laboratory, USDA, Madison, Wisc., 1973.
20.
McCutcheon, W. J., and Tuomi, R. L., “Simplified Design Procedure for Glued‐Laminated Bridge Decks,” USDA Forest Service Research Paper FPL 233, Forest Products Laboratory, USDA, Madison, Wisc., 1974.
21.
“Modern Timber Highway Bridges, A‐State‐of‐the‐Art Report,” American Institute of Timber Construction, Englewood, Colo., 1973.
22.
Muchmore, F. W., and Tuomi, R. L., “Alaska's Native Log Bridges,” Civil Engineering, Vol. 50, No. 2, Feb., 1980, pp. 54–55.
23.
Pault, J. D., “Composite Action in Glulam Timber Bridge Systems,” thesis presented to Colorado State University, at Fort Collins, Colo., in 1977, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science.
24.
Sanders, W., Muchmore, F., and Tuomi, R., “Behavior of Alaskan Native Log Stringer Bridges,” Transportation Research Record 665, Transportation Research Board, National Academy of Sciences, 1978.
25.
Sanders, W. W., “Load Distribution in Glulam Timber Highway Bridges,” Final Report to American Institute of Timber Construction, Engineering Research Institute, Iowa State University, 1980.
26.
Sanders, W., Klaiber, F., Elleby, H., and Timm, L., “Ultimate Load Test of Truss Bridge Floor System,” Journal of the Structural Division, ASCE, Vol. 102, No. ST7, July, 1976.
27.
Scarisbrick, Richard G., “Laminated Timber Logging Bridges in British Columbia,” Journal of the Structural Division, ASCE, Vol. 102, No. ST1, Jan., 1976
28.
“Standard Specifications for Highway Bridges,” American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, 1973.
29.
“Static Load Tests of Weyerhaeuser Bridge Rail Systems,” Weyerhaeuser Co., Report No, RDR 045‐1609‐1, Tacoma, Wash., Apr., 1977.
30.
Taylor, R. J., and Csagoly, P. F., “Transverse Post‐Tensioning of Longitudinal Laminated Timber Bridge Decks,” Ministry of Transportation and Communications, Ontario, Canada.
31.
“Weyerhaeuser Glulam Wood Bridge Systems,” Weyerhaeuser Co., Tacoma, Wash., 1980.
32.
Youngquist, J., Gromala, D., Jokerst, R., Moody, R., and Tschernitz, J., “Press‐Lam Timbers for Exposed Structure,” Journal of the Structural Division, ASCE, Vol. 105, No. ST7, July, 1979.
33.
Zahn, J., Reliability‐Based Design Procedures for Wood Structures,” Forest Products Journal, Vol. 27, No. 3, Mar., 1977.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Copyright
Copyright © 1983 ASCE.
History
Published online: Sep 1, 1983
Published in print: Sep 1983
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.