Live Load Distribution in Girder Bridges Subject to Oversized Trucks
Publication: Journal of Bridge Engineering
Volume 6, Issue 1
Abstract
A significant challenge facing motor carriers and engineers in this nation is the limitation of vehicle size and weight based on pavement and bridge capacity. However, the current demands of society and industry occasionally require a truck to carry a load that exceeds the size and weight of the legal limit. In these cases, engineering analysis is required before a permit is issued to ensure the safety of the structures and roadways on the vehicle's route. A truck with a wheel gauge larger than the standard 1.83 m (6 ft) gauge requires additional engineering effort because the wheel load girder distribution factors (GDFs) established by AASHTO cannot be used to accurately estimate the live load in the girders. In this study, the finite-element method is used to develop modification factors for the AASHTO flexure and shear GDFs to account for oversized trucks. The results of the analysis showed that the use of the proposed modification factors with the specification-based GDFs can help increase the allowable loads on slab-on-girder bridges.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
References
1.
ALGOR, reference manual. (1998). ALGOR Corp., Pittsburgh.
2.
American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO). ( 1994a). Guide specifications for distribution of loads for highway bridges, Washington, D.C.
3.
American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO). ( 1994b). LRFD bridge design specifications, 1st Ed., Washington, D.C.
4.
American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO). ( 1996). Standard specifications for highway bridges, 16th Ed., Washington, D.C.
5.
Bishara, A. G., Liu, M. C., and El-Ali, N. D. (1993). “Wheel load distribution on simply supported skew I-beam composite bridges.”J. Struct. Engrg., ASCE, 119(2), 399–419.
6.
Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). ( 1994). LRFD design of highway bridges training course, Vol. 1, Prepared by Modjeski and Masters, Inc., Washington, D.C., Aug.
7.
Keating, P. B., Litchfield, S. C., and Zhou, M. ( 1995). “Overweight permit rules.” Texas Transportation Institute, College Station, Tex., June.
8.
Ontario Highway Bridge Design Code (OHBDC). ( 1991). Bridge code, 3rd Ed., Ministry of Transportation, Quality and Standards Division, Downsview, Ont., Canada.
9.
Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT). ( 1993). Design manual, Part 4—Structures, Vol. 1, PDT-Publ. No. 15, August.
10.
Tabatabai, M. ( 1999). “Effect of oversized and overweight trucks on live load distribution in girder bridges.” MS thesis, Dept. of Civ. and Envir. Engrg., University of Houston, Houston, May.
11.
U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT). ( 1997). Comprehensive truck size and weight study—Issues and background, Vol. II, Federal Highway Administration, Washington, D.C., June.
12.
Zokai, T., Osterkamp, T. A., and Imbsen, R. A. ( 1991). “Distribution of wheel loads on highway bridges.” Final Rep., NCHRP 12-26, Transportation Research Board, Washington, D.C.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Bridge Engineering
Volume 6 • Issue 1 • February 2001
Pages: 9 - 16
History
Received: May 24, 1999
Published online: Feb 1, 2001
Published in print: Feb 2001
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.