Steel Bridge Testing in Alabama

Interest in nondestructive testing of highway bridges has grown dramatically in recent years. Much of the interest results from the large number of older bridges on state inventories that have posted load limits below normal legal limits. The Alabama Department of Transportation started using load testing to rate highway bridges in 1990 and has since made a significant investment in equipment and personnel in developing the Bridge Rating and Load Test Section. The section provides the capability for many special tests and investigations as well as standard tests for load rating. Insights gained from 46 load tests for bridge ratings are presented to inform other states that are considering the development of load testing capabilities. The procedures used to test and rate steel girder bridges are described.

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Monotonic and Cyclic Moment-Inelastic Rotation Behavior for Inelastic Design of Steel Girder Bridges

Transportation Research Record Journal of the Transportation Research Board ◽

10.3141/1594-04 ◽

1997 ◽

Vol 1594 (1) ◽

pp. 42-49 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Bryan A. Hartnagel ◽

Michael G. Barker ◽

Kara C. Unterreiner

Keyword(s):

Moving Load ◽

Load Test ◽

Steel Girder ◽

Design Models ◽

Girder Bridges ◽

Steel Girder Bridges ◽

Bridge Structures ◽

Load Tests ◽

The Moment ◽

Inelastic Design

Inelastic design of steel girder bridges offers flexibility for innovative bridge structures. The moment-inelastic rotation behavior of interior pier sections is the most important and also the most confusing aspect of the design process. This moment-rotation relation and how it pertains to the service and strength limits of inelastic design are presented. The results of a family of four girder component tests with various properties and expected behaviors are compared with those obtained with theoretical moment-inelastic rotation design models. The fourth of these was subjected to rigorous simulated moving load tests to examine variable repeated loadings. The experimental results matched those obtained with the design models in behavior, and the test moment capacities at the various design levels exceeded those that were predicted. The moving load test showed no degradation of stiffness or strength compared to monotonic loading tests.

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Dynamic behavior of aluminum deck-on-steel girder bridges under vehicular traffic loads considering the effect of road roughness

10.2749/ghent.2021.1623 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Achraf Ben Afia ◽

Charles-Darwin Annan ◽

Pampa Dey

Keyword(s):

Dynamic Behaviour ◽

Numerical Models ◽

Highway Bridges ◽

Vehicular Traffic ◽

Steel Girder ◽

Dynamic Design ◽

Girder Bridges ◽

Steel Girder Bridges ◽

Road Roughness ◽

Dynamic Amplification

<p>Aluminium as a structural material is known for its lightweight, which facilitates easy transportation and installation, and reduces foundation requirements. However, this lightweight characteristic makes it sensitive to excitations from vehicular traffic leading to dominating dynamic design over the static one. The dynamic design of highway bridges by the Canadian Highway Bridge Design Code (CSA S6-19) is based on the concept of equivalent dynamic amplification factors (DAF), which were derived largely based on the observations from bridges constructed with traditional materials such as concrete, wood and steel. It is prudent to evaluate whether these factors are applicable to lightweight bridges made with extruded aluminium decks. In addition, since road roughness plays an important role in the dynamic behaviour of a bridge, it is important to consider the influence of roughness on the bridge vibration response. The objective of this research is to investigate the dynamic behaviour of aluminium deck-on-steel girder bridges under vehicular loads considering the effect of road roughness, and consequently evaluate the applicability of the current design DAFs for such structures. For this purpose, numerical models have been developed in Abaqus for a range of selected bridge configurations and loading parameters and subsequently the key observations and conclusions from the numerical analysis have been presented in this paper.</p>

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