FIELD TESTS OF A THREE-SPAN CONTINUOUS HIGHWAY BRIDGE
A THREE-SPAN CONTINUOUS I-BEAM BRIDGE OF NON-COMPOSITE DESIGN WAS SUBJECTED TO SEVERAL SERIES OF STATIC AND DYNAMIC TESTS. STRAINS AND DEFLECTIONS IN EACH STRINGER WERE RECORDED CONTINUOUSLY DURING THE TESTS. MOMENTS IN THE BRIDGE WERE CALCULATED FROM THE EXPERIMENTAL STRAINS BY TAKING INTO ACCOUNT THE SEMI-COMPOSITE NATURE OF THE STRUCTURE. THESE MOMENTS WERE COMPARED WITH THOSE CALCULATED BY ELASTIC ANALYSIS. MEASURED DEFLECTIONS WERE ALSO COMPARED WITH THOSE PREDICTED BY THE ELASTIC ANALYSIS. THE NATURE OF THE SEMI-COMPOSITE BEHAVIOR WAS STUDIED. THE FRICTION-LINK PHENOMENON PROVIDED AN EXPLANATION OF THE RATHER UNUSUAL OBSERVED BEHAVIOR. LATERAL DISTRIBUTIONS OF MOMENT AND DEFLECTION WERE COMPARED WITH THEORETICAL ANALYSES AND WITH THE AASHO CODE. RESPONSE OF THE STRUCTURE TO DYNAMIC LOADS WAS COMPARED WITH THEORETICAL ANALYSES AND FOUND TO BE IN REASONABLE AGREEMENT. WITHIN THE LIMITS OF THESE TESTS, SPEED OF THE TEST VEHICLE WAS FOUND TO HAVE ONLY A SLIGHT EFFECT ON THE IMPACT FACTOR. SEVERE ROUGHNESS AT THE APPROACH WAS FOUND TO HAVE LITTLE EFFECT ON THE MAXIMUM MOMENTS AND DEFLECTIONS. CONSIDERATION OF THE DAMPING CHARACTERISTICS OF THE VEHICLE SUSPENSION INDICATES THAT THE EFFECTS OF THE ROUGHNESS WERE DAMPED OUT BEFORE THE VEHICLE REACHED A CRITICAL POSITION IN THE SPAN. /AUTHOR/
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Supplemental Notes:
- 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.
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Authors:
- Baldwin, James W
- Publication Date: 1965
Media Info
- Media Type: Digital/other
- Features: Figures; References;
- Pagination: pp 140-167
- Monograph Title: Design - Bridges and Structures
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Serial:
- Highway Research Record
- Issue Number: 76
- Publisher: Highway Research Board
Subject/Index Terms
- TRT Terms: Alternatives analysis; Bridge superstructures; Continuous structures; Damping (Physics); Deflection; Dynamic loads; Dynamic tests; Elastic analysis; Engineering moments; Field tests; Highway bridges; I beams; Measurement; Speed; Static tests; Strain (Mechanics); Stringers; Theory; Vehicles
- Uncontrolled Terms: Bridge spans
- Old TRIS Terms: Elastic analysis (Structural); Moments; Strains
- Subject Areas: Bridges and other structures; Highways; Vehicles and Equipment;
Filing Info
- Accession Number: 00207705
- Record Type: Publication
- Files: TRIS, TRB
- Created Date: Dec 12 1994 12:00AM