FIELD TESTING OF HORIZONTALLY CURVED STEEL GIRDER BRIDGES: SECOND INTERIM REPORT

HORIZONTALLY CURVED GIRDER BRIDGES REPRESENT AN AESTHETIC AND ECONOMIC SOLUTION TO THE DESIGN PROBLEM OF ELEVATED STRUCTURES ON CURVED ALIGNMENTS. BECAUSE OF THE COMPLEXITY OF THESE STRUCTURES AND RESULTING DESIGN UNCERTAINTIES, A FIELD TESTING PROGRAM WAS INITIATED IN 1967 TO EVALUATE SEVERAL BRIDGES AND TO SUGGEST REFINEMENTS TO THE DESIGN PRECEDURE. THIS REPORT DESCRIBES THE RESULTS OF TESTS ON THE SECOND OF THREE STRUCTURES. THE BRIDGE EVALUATED IS A 4-GIRDER, SINGLE-SPAN STRUCTURE WITH CENTERLINE SPAN LENGTH AND RADIUS OF CURVATURE OF 95 AND 162 FT., RESPECTIVELY (CENTRAL ANGLE: 33 DEG 36 MIN). DEAD LOAD AND STATIC LIVE LOAD MEASUREMENTS OF STRESS, DEFLECTION, ROTATION, AND SHEAR ARE PRESENTED AND COMPARED WITH VALUES FROM A PLANAR GRID ANALYSIS. MEASUREMENTS OF END MOVEMENT DUE TO TEMPERATURE EFFECTS WERE ALSO OBTAINED. THE TEST RESULTS SHOW THAT THE PLANAR GRID METHOD WITH PROPERLY SPECIFIED MEMBER PROPERTIES IS ADEQUATE FOR PREDICTING DEFLECTIONS AND IN-PLANE BENDING STRESSES. HOWEVER, LATERAL FLANGE BENDING STRESSES, WHICH CANNOT BE DETERMINED WITH THE EXISTING METHOD, ARE SHOWN TO BE OF SIGNIFICANT MAGNITUDE. MEASURED END MOVEMENT INDICATED THAT CONVENTIONAL JOINT DESIGNS ARE APPROPRIATE FOR CURVED STRUCTURES. /AUTHOR/

• Corporate Authors:

  New York State Department of Transportation

  Engineering Research and Development Bureau, 1220 Washington Avenue
  Albany, NY  United States  12232

  Federal Highway Administration

  1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Authors:
  • Beal, D B
  • Kissane, R J
• Publication Date: 1971-10

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Curvature; Curves (Geometry); Design; Evaluation; Field tests; Girders; Joints; Load tests; Metal bridges; Steel bridges
• Uncontrolled Terms: Horizontal curvature; Lateral stress
• Old TRIS Terms: Curved steel girders; Design information; End movements; Joint
• Subject Areas: Bridges and other structures; Design; Highways;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00208037
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: Federal Highway Administration
• Report/Paper Numbers: RR 1
• Files: TRIS, USDOT, STATEDOT
• Created Date: Apr 17 2003 12:00AM