FIELD TESTS ON A PRESTRESSED CONCRETE MULTI-BEAM BRIDGE

A BRIDGE TEST WAS DESCRIBED. THE TESTED HIGHWAY BRIDGE, WITH A CLEAR SPAN OF 32 FEET AND A WIDTH OF 27 FEET, WAS COMPOSED OF 9 PREFABRICATED, PRETENSIONED CONCRETE BEAMS. PLACED SIDE BY SIDE, THE BEAMS WERE CONNECTED TOGETHER BY A STEEL BOLT AT MIDSPAN AND HAD DRY-PACKED CONTINUOUS SHEAR KEYS. THE BRIDGE WAS TESTED IN THE FIELD UNDER STATIC AND DYNAMIC LOADING TO CHECK THE DESIGN CRITERIA AND TO DETERMINE THE PORTION OF THE LIVE LOAD TO BE CARRIED BY EACH BEAM. IT WAS FOUND THAT THE BRIDGE, DESIGNED UNDER THE ASSUMPTION THAT EACH BEAM WAS TO CARRY 80 PERCENT OF THE RIGHT OR LEFT WHEEL LOADS OF AN H20-S16 TRUCK, WAS VERY STIFF. THIS WAS MAINLY DUE TO AN EFFECTIVE INTERACTION OF THE BEAMS WHICH RESULTED IN A BRIDGE BEHAVIOR APPROACHING THAT OF A PLATE. THE DISTRIBUTION OF THE LIVE LOAD WAS VERY FAVORABLE. FOR A TRUCK IN THE CENTER LANE, THE MIDDLE BEAM CARRIED APPROXIMATELY 34 PERCENT OF THE RIGHT OR LEFT WHEEL LOADS. FOR A TRUCK IN THE EDGE LANE, THE EDGE BEAM CARRIED APPROXIMATELY 46 PERCENT OF THE RIGHT OR LEFT WHEEL LOADS. THE ACTION OF THE BRIDGE DUE TO A TRUCK MOVING AT 25 MPH OVER THE BRIDGE WAS INVESTIGATED. IN THE FIRST SERIES OF TESTS, WHERE THE TRUCK TRAVELLED IN THE CENTER LANE WITHOUT ANY OBSTACLES IN ITS PATH, THE MAXIMUM DEFLECTION WAS 114 PERCENT OF THE CORRESPONDING STATIC DEFLECTION. WITH THE TRUCK IN THE EDGE LANE, THE MAXIMUM DEFLECTION WAS 123 PERCENT OF THE CORRESPONDING STATIC DEFLECTION. IN THE SECOND SERIES OF TESTS, WHERE THE TRUCK TRAVELLED IN THE CENTER LANE WITH A 2-INCH PLANK IN ITS PATH, THE MAXIMUM DEFLECTION WAS 156 PERCENT OF THE CORRESPONDING STATIC DEFLECTION. WITH THE TRUCK IN THE EDGE LANE AND TRAVELLING OVER THE 2-INCH PLANK, THE MAXIMUM DEFLECTION WAS 300 PERCENT OF THE STATIC DEFLECTION. /AUTHOR/

• Record URL:
  • https://onlinepubs.trb.org/Onlinepubs/hrbproceedings/35/35-013.pdf
• Supplemental Notes:
  • Vol 35, pp 152-171, 25 FIG, 6 PHOT, 4 REF. Distribution, posting, or copying of this PDF is strictly prohibited without written permission of the Transportation Research Board of the National Academy of Sciences. Unless otherwise indicated, all materials in this PDF are copyrighted by the National Academy of Sciences. Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
• Authors:
  • Roesli, A
  • Mislova, A
  • Ekberg, C E
  • Eney, W J
• Publication Date: 1956

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Monograph Title: Proceedings of the Thirty-Fifth Annual Meeting of the Highway Research Board, Washington, D.C., January 17-20, 1956
• Serial:
  • Highway Research Board Proceedings
  • Volume: 35
  • Publisher: Highway Research Board

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Beams; Deflection; Design; Dynamic loads; Field tests; Highway bridges; Live loads; Prestressed concrete; Prestressing; Pretensioning; Static loads; Wheel loads
• Uncontrolled Terms: Design criteria
• Old TRIS Terms: Static loading
• Subject Areas: Bridges and other structures; Design; Highways;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00209465
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS, TRB
• Created Date: Aug 15 1971 12:00AM