Development of Rural Road Bridge Weigh-in-Motion System to Assess Weight and Configuration of Farm to Market Vehicles
The weights and configurations of large vehicles traveling the primary interstate system are known with relative certainty due to the information collected at numerous weigh stations. It is uncommon, however, that farm-to-market vehicles and other implements of husbandry (IoH) travel the interstate system; thus, an accurate assessment of the characteristics of these vehicles is left unknown. Since these vehicles commonly travel rural roads, and often at weights exceeding the legal limit especially during harvest, an accurate understanding of low-volume road usage is necessary to properly plan for the near-term repair and replacement of structures and roadways; even more, the information collected will help improve the long-term performance and asset management activities. A recently completed pooled-fund project, which the Iowa Department of Transportation (DOT) was the lead state on, looked to assess the impact of implements of husbandry on bridges. Those efforts produced valuable information especially as it relates to lateral load distribution. Even so, the project was largely completed using a database of virtual vehicles developed through information provided by equipment manufacturers and rule-of-thumb. Although it is believed the database generally represented current vehicles, the accuracy cannot be verified without direct measurement of all vehicles. Furthermore, one piece of missing information is the frequency with which those vehicles cross low-volume road bridges. The objective of this project was to develop a portable weigh-in-motion system using a rural road bridge to estimate the characteristics of vehicles traveling these roads. A unique instrumentation setup was utilized with strain gages placed on the bottom face of the deck as well as on the top and bottom flanges of the girders, which allowed for the application of algorithms for vehicle classification determination. Further classification of the IoH vehicles is made possible by actual determination of specific vehicle type based on strain response and the corresponding number and spacing of axles. This vehicle information provides actual loading and corresponding bridge response and, thus, maintenance decisions and actual structural demands can be properly selected based on existing traffic types and frequencies. The system developed for this project can be deployed on rural bridges for realistic traffic classifications.
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Supplemental Notes:
- Iowa Department of Transportation ($60,462.00) USDOT/OST-R ($60,360.00) Total: $120,822.00
Language
- English
Project
- Status: Completed
- Funding: $120822.00
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Contract Numbers:
DTRT13-G-UTC37
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Sponsor Organizations:
Iowa State University
2711 S Loop Drive, Suite 4700
Ames, IA United States 50010-8664 Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology
1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
Washington, DC United States 20590Iowa Department of Transportation
800 Lincoln Way
Ames, IA United States 50010 -
Managing Organizations:
Iowa State University
2711 S Loop Drive, Suite 4700
Ames, IA United States 50010-8664 -
Performing Organizations:
Bridge Engineering Center
2711 South Loop Drive, Suite 4700
Ames, Iowa United States 50010-8664 -
Principal Investigators:
Phares, Brent
- Start Date: 20140801
- Expected Completion Date: 20180531
- Actual Completion Date: 0
- Source Data: RiP Project 39355
Subject/Index Terms
- TRT Terms: Asset management; Bridges; Databases; Decision making; Low volume roads; Maintenance; Portable equipment; Rural highways; Weigh in motion
- Subject Areas: Bridges and other structures; Highways; Maintenance and Preservation; Vehicles and Equipment;
Filing Info
- Accession Number: 01560409
- Record Type: Research project
- Source Agency: Midwest Transportation Center
- Contract Numbers: DTRT13-G-UTC37
- Files: UTC, RIP
- Created Date: Apr 15 2015 1:01AM