Load Rating Using an In-Service Monitoring System

The goal of this project was to investigate the use of in-situ strain data to directly calculate load ratings for bridges. By monitoring a network of bridges and by collecting new data sets every two years, bridge owners will be better able to track the health of bridges. The original load rating for a bridge is determined using a numerical analysis based on as-built properties. Since numerical models often incorporate conservative assumptions regarding bridge behavior, the load ratings that result from the numerical analysis are often more conservative than they would be if they were based on actual bridge response data. Adding a quantitative aspect to the bridge inspection process would be helpful in more precisely indicating the capacity of a bridge. Measures of actual live load stresses induced by ambient traffic would provide inspectors with quantitative data evaluations, which are primarily qualitative.

Language

• English

Project

• Status: Completed
• Sponsor Organizations:

  Delaware Department of Transportation

  P.O. Box 778
  Dover, DE  United States  19901
• Performing Organizations:

  Delaware Center for Transportation

  University of Delaware
  Newark, DE  United States  19716
• Principal Investigators:

  Shenton, Harry

• Start Date: 20060701
• Expected Completion Date: 0
• Actual Completion Date: 20070930
• Source Data: RiP Project 19179

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Bridge design; Data collection; Inspection; Load factor; Monitoring; Research projects; Structural health monitoring
• Uncontrolled Terms: Bridge inspection
• Subject Areas: Bridges and other structures; Highways;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01459804
• Record Type: Research project
• Source Agency: Delaware Department of Transportation
• Files: RIP, STATEDOT
• Created Date: Jan 3 2013 1:13PM