BRIDGE LIVE LOADS FOR LIMIT STATE DESIGN

Many countries have already adopted Limit State Design for highway bridges. This paper discusses some of the problems of selecting suitable characteristic live loads and load factors for Australian conditions. Current bridge design live loads in the United States, Britain and Australia are compared. The results of recent fatigue studies in the United States and Canada are discussed, and it is shown that the live loads actually occurring on bridges are small compared to design loads. This is attributed to the values of load reduction factors for multiple lane loading rather than the individual design truck loads. Tests to destruction of five full scale bridges show that current design methods produce bridges with large overload capacities, and that these ultimate strengths can be predicted with acceptable accuracy. Some areas of research are described which would assist in the derivation of realistic limit state design live loads. /Author/

• Record URL:
  http://arrbknowledge.com
• Supplemental Notes:
  • Proceedings of the Eighth ARRB Conference held at University of Western Australia, 23-27 August, 1976.
• Corporate Authors:

  ARRB

  Melbourne, Victoria  Australia 
• Authors:
  • FENWICK, J M
• Conference:
  • Australian Road Research Board Conference Proc
• Publication Date: 1976-8

Media Info

• Features: Appendices; Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: p. 32-36
• Serial:
  • Volume: 8
  • Issue Number: 8

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Bridge design; Bridges; Fatigue (Mechanics); Forecasting; Highway bridges; Live loads; Mechanical tests; Structural design; Ultimate load design; Ultimate strength
• Uncontrolled Terms: Destructive testing
• Subject Areas: Bridges and other structures; Highways;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00148698
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Mar 30 1977 12:00AM