Fatigue Evaluation of the Increased Weight Limit on Transit Railway Bridges

The recent increase of freight railcar weight limits from 263,000 lbs. to 286,000 lbs. raises concerns for the safety of bridges on transit passenger rail systems, since they were not designed for this weight increase. This study introduces an accurate approach to ascertaining the remaining fatigue life of steel railway bridges. Results indicate that heavy freight cars have a significant effect on critical locations near bridge supports. The introduction of heavier rail equipment will have a much more significant effect on span lengths of less than 60 ft. than on long spans. This will allow transit operators or agencies to prioritize and schedule repairs and rehabilitation. An increase of 1,000 freight trains per year will shorten the remaining fatigue life by approximately two years. The relationship between annual freight train frequency and remaining fatigue life could help transit operators or agencies to balance the tradeoff between economic benefit and bridge rehabilitation cost.

• Record URL:
  http://transweb.sjsu.edu/PDFs/research/1143-rail-weight-bridge-fatigue.pdf
• Record URL:
  https://merritt.cdlib.org/d/ark%3A%2F13030%2Fm55x3q4v/1/producer%2F892429538.pdf
• 
• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/oclc/892429538
• Supplemental Notes:
  • This research was sponsored by the U.S. Department of Transportation, University Transportation Centers program.
• Corporate Authors:

  Mineta National Transit Research Consortium

  San José State University
  210 North 4th Street
  San José, CA  United States  95112

  Rutgers University, Piscataway

  Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy, 33 Livingston Avenue
  New Brunswick, NJ  United States  08901

  Research and Innovative Technology Administration

  1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Authors:
  • Nassif, Hani
  • Ozbay, Kaan
  • Lou, Peng
  • Su, Dan
• Publication Date: 2014-9

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 64p

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Distributions (Statistics); Fatigue (Mechanics); Maintenance; Methodology; Rail transit; Railroad bridges; Rehabilitation; Steel bridges; Structural health monitoring; Weight
• Identifier Terms: New Jersey Transit Corporation (NJ Transit)
• Subject Areas: Bridges and other structures; Materials; Passenger Transportation; Railroads; I24: Design of Bridges and Retaining Walls; I34: Steels and Metals;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01545575
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: UC Berkeley Transportation Library
• Report/Paper Numbers: CA-MNTRC-14-1143, MNTRC Report 12-24
• Contract Numbers: DTRT12-G-UTC21
• Files: CALTRANS, UTC, TRIS, RITA, ATRI
• Created Date: Nov 26 2014 4:01PM