Bridge load testing can answer a variety of questions about bridge behavior that cannot be answered otherwise. The current governing codes and guidelines for bridge load testing in the USA are the 1998 NCHRP Manual for Bridge Rating through Load Testing and Chapter 8 of the AASHTO Manual for Bridge Evaluation. Over the past two decades, the practice of load testing has evolved and its intersections with other fields have expanded. The outcomes of load tests have been used to keep bridges open cost-effectively without unnecessarily restricting legal loads, when theoretical analyses cannot yield insights representative of in-service performance. Load testing data can be further used to develop field-verified finite element models of tested bridges to understand these structures better. Additionally, structural reliability concepts can be used to estimate the probability of failure based on the results of load tests, and non-contact measurement techniques capturing large surfaces of bridges allow for better monitoring of structural responses. Given these developments, a new TRB Circular, Primer on Bridge Load Testing, has been developed. This document contains new proposals for interpreting the results of diagnostic load tests, loading protocols, and the determination of bridge load ratings based on the results of proof load tests. In addition, included provisions provide an estimation of the resulting reliability index and the remaining service life of a bridge based on load testing results. The benefit of load testing is illustrated based on a cost-benefit analysis. The current state-of-the-practice has demonstrated that load testing is an effective means for answering many important questions regarding bridge behavior that are critical to decisions on bridge maintenance or replacement. Load testing has evolved over its history, and the newly developed TRB Circular reflects this evolution in a practical way. -3-CE database subject headings bridge maintenance; bridge tests; codes and guidelines; instrumentation; field tests; load testing
As structures crossing waterways, bridges are obstacles to vessels. Vessel-bridge collisions are inevitable. They not only involve the safety of vessel passage but also seriously affect the safe operation of bridges. Vessel-bridge collisions cause not only huge economic losses and casualties but also severe political and environmental losses. Vessel collision safety of existing and new bridges is one of the key technical problems that engineers and bridge managers must solve. Comprehensive consideration of vessel-bridge collision risk loss and structural performance in the design stage to achieve optimal cost over the life cycle is an important aspect of bridge design. Based on the current life-cycle design theory of engineering structures, this paper proposes a theoretical framework for vessel-bridge collision optimization design based on the life cycle, which includes three parts: vessel-bridge collision probability analysis, vessel-bridge collision vulnerability analysis, and vessel-bridge collision hazard. Taking the minimum cost of the bridge structure in the design service life period as the objective function, the optimization design model and design process of vessel-bridge collision based on whole life are established, and the key problems to be solved in each part are expounded.
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