Load Testing and Analysis for Evaluating the Load Capacity of Aged Reinforced Concrete Bridges

摘要

Many bridges constructed during the early twentieth century were designed for loads far less than those imposed by modern trucks on a regular basis. To compound this problem, many of the structures in question are often characterized by unknown foundations and/or structural details. In particular, the state of West Virginia has a significant population of aged, cast in place, reinforced concrete bridges that can be described as having unknown foundations and/or structural details. Therefore, the state of West Virginia was interested in establishing the safe load capacity of several bridges along the Coal Resource Transportation System or CRTS. This paper describes and documents the results of four truck load tests (and associated analytical modeling) of two reinforced concrete bridges aimed at (1) accurately characterizing their behavior and (2) determining their safe load capacity.