Joint Transportation Research Program: Evaluation of Effects of Super-Heavy Loading on the US 41 Bridge Over the White River.

摘要

Built in 1958, the US-41 White River Bridge is a two-girder, riveted steel structure located near Hazelton, IN. The bridge is comprised of two, sixteen span superstructures sharing a common substructure. Each superstructure also contains four pin and hanger expansion joint assemblies. Over a period from August 2009 to August 2010 a series of nearly one hundred super-heavy loads ranging in weight from 200,000 lbs. to up over 1,000,000 lbs. crossed the northbound superstructure of the bridge. The loads were moved to support the construction of a new power plant facility located in Edwardsport, IN. It was unknown what effect this number of super-heavy loading events, over a relatively short period, would have on the long-term performance of the US-41 White River Bridge. Therefore, long-term remote monitoring was used to quantify any negative effects due to the series of superloads. Five primary tasks were undertaken as part of this study: (1) Perform controlled load testing to gain insight on the typical behavior of the bridge; (2) Monitor the effect of individual superloads on the bridge structure to detect any notable damage; (3) Perform an in-depth fracture evaluation; (4) Evaluate the effects of multiple super-heavy loading events on the bridge, and (5) Collect stress range histograms to be used as part of a fatigue life evaluation.