A methodology for calculating congested traffic characteristic loading on long-span bridges using site-specific data

摘要

A probabilistic methodology is developed for the evaluation of characteristic maximum traffic load on long-span bridges for which congestion is the governing condition. It considers all the congestion types that can occur such as stop-and-go waves and oscillating congested traffic. The approach uses site specific traffic data, such as flow and incident data. Statistics on driver behaviour and traffic incident frequency are assembled from the literature:As an example application of the method, a calibrated traffic microsimulation model is used to obtain the input data for the proposed methodology. The results counter many of the prevailing assumptions for long-span bridge loading. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.