A METHOD FOR DETERMINING THE PERMISSIBLE LOADING OF BRICK AND MASONRY ARCHES

The need for a method of assessing the strength of brick and masonry bridge arches led to the development by Pippard of a simple correlation method which was later modified by the Military Engineering Experimental Establishment (MEXE) to give a method of classifying the loading of such bridge structures. This work was subsequently adopted by the Ministry of Transport in 1967 to cover the assessment of arched bridges for vehicles conforming to construction & use regulations, and for spans up to 60 ft. The article describes the modification of this method by British Rail in order to include railway bridges to which the MEXE/MOT approach could not be applied. The authors describe this approach, which considers the position of lines of thrust under loading, and its application with a number of examples of bridge loading assessment. (TRRL)

Media Info

  • Features: Figures; Photos; References;
  • Pagination: p. 585-597
  • Serial:
    • Volume: 75

Subject/Index Terms

Filing Info

  • Accession Number: 00384539
  • Record Type: Publication
  • Source Agency: Transport Research Laboratory
  • Files: ITRD, TRIS
  • Created Date: May 30 1984 12:00AM