Analytical and Experimental Evaluation of the North Carolina Department of Transportation's Current Bridge Rating System

Analytical and Experimental Evaluation of the North Carolina Department of Transportation's Current Bridge Rating System
Author: Timothy O'Brien Lawrence
Publisher:
Total Pages: 428
Release: 2004
Genre: Bridges
ISBN:

In an effort to determine if current load rating procedures in use by the NCDOT are valid, UNC-Charlotte selected seven bridges to test. The bridges were instrumented to record deflections and strains as a selected vehicle traveled along predetermined paths. These recorded deflection and strain values were compared with predicted values and used to determine the actual behavior of the bridges. Predicting the behavior of Bridge 12-0271, a reinforced concrete deck girder bridge, was very difficult. Reasons for this unpredictability include the unknown current concrete compressive strength and the affect of the railing and curb, which were demonstrated to provide significant stiffening through the test strain readings and a finite element analysis. A second bridge, Bridge 12-0227, a non-composite steel girder bridge, was more predictable. It produced strains that indicated the bridge is acting with some degree of fixity and composite interaction between the girder and the deck. The current NCDOT load rating procedures produce reasonable results. Distribution factors (DF) had the greatest impact on the load ratings. Both bridges yielded maximum test DFs that were near the current AASHTO recommended values under dynamic loading. By measuring the strains with a portable data acquisition system, the field-measured distribution factors could be used to increase the load rating. The LRFD DFs could also be used and further increase the load ratings, due to the consideration of the section properties.

Evaluation of North Carolina Bridges and Comparison to Existing Analysis Procedures

Evaluation of North Carolina Bridges and Comparison to Existing Analysis Procedures
Author: Chad Thomas Ritter
Publisher:
Total Pages: 300
Release: 2003
Genre: Bridges
ISBN:

The purpose of this project is to evaluate how select categories of bridges restrain vehicle loading and how those results compare to existing analysis procedures and the North Carolina Department of Transportation's (NCDOT) current computer rating programs. This project was funded by the NCDOT to verify if the programs that are used to load restrict certain bridges are truly modeling the actual bridges performance. These load restrictions can restrict trucking routes and have an economic impact on regions serviced by those areas; therefore, the NCDOT wants to eliminate any unnecessary or inflated restrictions. Three bridges were tested during this project: a 67 year old reinforced concrete deck girder bridge, a 57 year old steel girder bridge, and a brand new continuous steel plate girder bridge that acts compositely with the concrete deck. The bridges were instrumented with devices that were capable of recording strain or deflection. These bridges were then load tested with vehicles that produced similar live load moments to the moments that caused each bridge to be load restricted. The data gathered from these load tests were analyzed and compared to anticipate results from hand calculations. A number of specific factors were determined for each bridge; many of the values were different from what the NCDOT uses in their programs. These test values were substituted to model the specific bridges tested more closely. The two older bridges performed much better than anticipated, while the new bridge modeled closely to hand calculations. Conclusions were made that the current NCDOT programs were adequate; however to better model a specific bridge, more specific factors would have to be determined. The recommended method for finding these bridge specific factors is smallscale load testing by the NCDOT.

Bridge Life-cycle Cost Analysis

Bridge Life-cycle Cost Analysis
Author: Hugh Hawk
Publisher: Transportation Research Board
Total Pages: 10
Release: 2003
Genre: Technology & Engineering
ISBN: 0309068010

Accompanying CD-ROM contains software, Guidance manual, User manual, and appendixes to report.

Bridge Evaluation Using In-service and Weigh-in-motion Data

Bridge Evaluation Using In-service and Weigh-in-motion Data
Author: Michael D. Rakowski
Publisher: ProQuest
Total Pages:
Release: 2009
Genre: Bridges
ISBN: 9780549924692

The ever increasing demands on the national infrastructure, along with the age, neglect, and misuse of many bridges throughout the country, have placed a great deal of strain on the States Departments of Transportation to maintain the country's bridges. While the current visual inspection process is able to access more obvious maintenance and repair needs, a more quantitative inspection will allow for a better understanding of bridge behavior and a more uniform inspection process. The In-Service Bridge Monitoring System (ISBMS) developed at the University of Delaware was designed with this process in mind. In this research, the ISBMS is used to gather strain data for up to two weeks on bridges throughout the state of Delaware. The in-service data is then used to project the maximum strain expected for a given return period. Rating factors based on the projected values are then calculated. Weigh-in-Motion (WIM) data is also collected for a number of the bridges in this study. The WIM data is used to find a correlation between truck weights and measured strain. After a correlation is found, rating factors based on the WIM data are then calculated. The in-service and WIM rating factors are finally compared to the rating factors used by the Delaware Department of Transportation and calculated in Bridge Rating and Analysis of Structural Systems (BRASS). The analysis in this study proves the usefulness of implementing the ISBMS into the routine biennial inspection process. The data gained from the system is invaluable in evaluating the overall safety of bridges. The conservative nature of the current rating factor equations is also revealed. By collecting in-service data, states will have a better understanding of their bridges under site-specific loading. This will allow for a better allocation of the limited time and funds available for bridge maintenance and repair. By implementing in-service monitoring into the current inspection process overall bridge safety and infrastructure reliability will be improved.