Bridge Rating Using System Reliability Assessment. II: Improvements to Bridge Rating Practices
This article is a reply.
VIEW THE ORIGINAL ARTICLEPublication: Journal of Bridge Engineering
Volume 16, Issue 6
Abstract
The current bridge-rating process described in AASHTO Manual for Bridge Evaluation, First Edition permits ratings to be determined by allowable stress, load factor, or load and resistance factor methods. These three rating methods may lead to different rated capacities and posting limits for the same bridge, a situation that has serious implications with regard to public safety and the economic well-being of communities that may be affected by bridge postings or closures. This paper is the second of two papers that summarize a research program to develop improvements to the bridge-rating process by using structural reliability methods. The first paper provided background on the research program and summarized a coordinated program of load testing and analysis to support the reliability assessment leading to the recommended improvements. This second paper presents the reliability basis for the recommended load rating, develops methods that closely couple the rating process to the results of in situ inspection and evaluation, and recommends specific improvements to current bridge-rating methods in a format that is consistent with the load and resistance factor rating (LRFR) option in the AASHTO Manual for Bridge Evaluation.
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Acknowledgments
The research described in this paper was supported by the Georgia DOT under an award entitled Condition Assessment of Existing Bridge Structures. This support is gratefully acknowledged. However, the views are solely those of the writers and may not represent the positions of the Georgia DOT.
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Published In
Journal of Bridge Engineering
Volume 16 • Issue 6 • November 2011
Pages: 863 - 871
Copyright
© 2011 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Mar 19, 2010
Accepted: Aug 2, 2010
Published online: Oct 14, 2011
Published in print: Nov 1, 2011
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