Capacity Evaluation of the Lateral Loading Distribution for Hollow Beam Bridges Based on Visual Inspection

The present study investigates the characteristics of visual structural damages including the hinge joint damage, structural crack, and bearing damage, based on the quantitative inspection of the hollow beam bridges with an average service life of 20 years in Hefei-Wuhu highway. The damage distributions of the hollow beam bridges in the long-term service stage are summarized, and the correlation between different types of damages is analyzed. By selecting a hollow beam bridge with evident structural damages based on the visual inspection, the vehicle loading tests under multiple load conditions are carried out to determine the capacity of loading distribution along the lateral direction. Through data mining, the statistical analysis between the visual structural damages and lateral loading distribution is conducted. It can be concluded that the internal condition of hollow beam bridges can be evaluated by the visual inspection results of structural damages.