Load Rating and Reliability Analysis of an Aerial Guideway Structure for Condition Assessment
Publication: Journal of Bridge Engineering
Volume 14, Issue 4
Abstract
Aerial guideways are elegant transportation structures that are seen at airports, theme parks, and crowded urban areas. The guideways generally consist of continuous, prestressed concrete beam spans, precast concrete columns, and steel beam-column connections. Although there are guidelines prepared as a supplement to conventional highway and railway bridge design codes, aerial guideways form a different class, relatively less studied compared to common highway bridges. The primary objective of this paper is to present a study to better understand the structural behavior and capacity used in an existing guideway structural system which has been in service for about . The load demand on the guideway system has increased by about 50% over the years. The structural system is composed of six-span continuous prestressed concrete bridge segments. In order to develop models that bound the possible existing condition of the structure, several models are developed by changing the most critical parameters. The critical parameters are categorized as material properties, prestress losses, boundary conditions, and continuity conditions. Sensitivity studies are conducted using eight parametric models for simulations with moving loads for the two different train types. The load rating and reliability indexes are computed for all the cases under different loading conditions. The parameters that have the most influence on the load rating and reliability are also presented. The information generated from these analyses can be utilized for better-focused visual inspection and can also be used for developing a long-term structural monitoring plan.
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Acknowledgments
This study is based on the MS thesis of the first writer. Several colleagues, associates, and fellow graduate students provided feedback and resources during the development of this study. The writers would like to acknowledge all those who gave their time and support by reviewing the thesis, providing data, and offering feedback. The second writer would also like to thank Professor Hitoshi Furuta from Kansai University, who shared his insight about monorail guideways during the second writer’s visit to Japan in 2007. Engineers and administrators from Osaka Monorail Company are also appreciated for exchanging their ideas and experiences about monorail guideways. Finally, Ms. Naeko Takahashi, graduate student at the University of Central Florida, is greatly appreciated for her diligent translations from Japanese to English.
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© 2009 ASCE.
History
Received: Jul 19, 2007
Accepted: Nov 14, 2008
Published online: Jun 15, 2009
Published in print: Jul 2009
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