DESIGN TRAFFIC LOADS ON THE LIONS' GATE BRIDGE

During the first major renovation of the Lions' Gate Bridge jointing Vancouver, British Columbia, to its northern suburbs, there was evidence of deterioration due to the corrosive sea atmosphere. Because traffic loads have increased, both in volume and in mass, since the bridge was built, a set of analytical equations and a computer simulation was developed to estimate the vehicle traffic load on the bridge. The analytical formulation handles the critical vehicles load as a function of the bridge and approach lengths, the number of lanes, the percentage of cars, buses, and trucks in each lane, the number and severity of stoppages, the weight distribution of trucks, and the return period for the critical load. The simulation includes additional factors such as the trickling of vehicles past a stoppage, the time of day and day of the week of the stoppage, the location on the bridge or approach of the stoppage, the stopped lane or lanes, and the duration of the stoppage. The application of these two approaches using traffic data observed on the Lions' Gate Bridge gave practically the same vehicle load per unit length. The resulting design loads were considerably less than those suggested by ivy and coworkers or Asplund and quite similar to those used in the original analysis. /Author/

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  http://onlinepubs.trb.org/Onlinepubs/trr/1976/607/607-005.pdf
• Record URL:
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• Supplemental Notes:
  • Publication of this paper sponsored by Committee on Steel Bridges. 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
• Authors:
  • Navin, Francis P D
  • Zidek, James V
  • Fisk, Caroline
  • Buckland, Peter G
• Publication Date: 1976

Media Info

• Media Type: Print
• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: pp 19-24
• Monograph Title: Bridge design, testing, and evaluation
• Serial:
  • Transportation Research Record
  • Issue Number: 607
  • Publisher: Transportation Research Board
  • ISSN: 0361-1981

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Bridge design; Bridges; Corrosion; Critical values; Designers; Loads; Simulation; Structural design; Traffic forecasting; Traffic lanes; Traffic loads; Traffic volume; Weight
• Uncontrolled Terms: Critical loads
• Geographic Terms: Vancouver (Canada)
• Subject Areas: Bridges and other structures; Freight Transportation; Highways;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00157809
• Record Type: Publication
• ISBN: 0309025826
• Files: TRIS, TRB
• Created Date: Sep 28 1977 12:00AM