FULL-SCALE FIELD CAPACITY TESTS OF A RAILWAY BRIDGE

This report describes the full scale ultimate load tests of the bearings of the Strawberry Park Bridge in Los Angeles, California. The focus of the project was to identify the extent to which unique railway bridge components, such as rails, ties, ballast and ballast pan, would contribute to the lateral load and displacement capacity during a seismic event. The bridge was tested for lateral failure at both ends. At one end of the bridge, the rails, ballast and ballast pan were removed or severed. The other end of the bridge was left in its original condition. Test results revealed that the railway elements significantly increased the ultimate lateral system capacity of the bridge.

• Supplemental Notes:
  • Publication Date: June 1998 Center for Civil Engineering Earthquake Research, Dept. of Civil Engineering, University of Nevada, Reno NV
• Corporate Authors:

  University of Nevada, Reno

  Center for Earthquake Engineering Research
  Department of Civil Engineering
  Reno, NV  United States  89557

  California Department of Transportation

  1120 N Street
  Sacramento, CA  United States  95814
• Authors:
  • Maragakis, Emmanuel
  • Douglas, Bruce M
  • Chen, Qingbin
• Publication Date: 1998

Language

• English

Media Info

• Pagination: vi, 44 p.
• Serial:
  • Report (University of Nevada, Reno. Center for Civil Engineering Earthquake Research) ; CCEER-98-4
  • Publisher: University of Nevada, Reno

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Bearing capacity; Bridge bearings; Live loads; Railroad bridges; Underpasses
• Geographic Terms: California
• Subject Areas: Bridges and other structures; Highways; Materials;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00796630
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: UC Berkeley Transportation Library
• Report/Paper Numbers: CCEER-98-4
• Files: CALTRANS, STATEDOT
• Created Date: Aug 9 2000 12:00AM