8.2 GRAVITY LOADS Gravity loads are those caused by the weight of an object on and the self-weight of the bridge. Such loads are both per manent and transient and applied in a downward direction (toward the center of the earth). 8.2.1 Permanent Loads Permanent loads are those that remain on the bridge for an extended period of time, perhaps for the entire service life. Such loads include: O Dead load of structural components and nonstructural attachments (DC) Dead load of wearing surfaces and utilities (DW) Dead load of earth fill (EV) Earth pressure load (EH) Earth surcharge load (ES) Locked-in erection stresses (BL) Downdrag (DD) 8.2.2. ‘Transient Loads Although the automobile is the most common vehicular live load on most bridges, the truck causes the critical load ef- fects. In a sense, cars are “felt” very little by the bridge and come “free.” More precisely, the load effects of the car traffic compared to the effect of truck traffic are negligible. There- fore, the AASHTO design loads attempt to model the truck traffic that is highly variable, dynamic, and may occur inde- pendent of, or in unison with, other truck loads. o00000A study by the Transporta- tion Research Board (TRB) was used as the basis for the AASHTO loads (TRB, 1990). The TRB panel outlined many issues regarding the development (revision of) a national policy of truck weights. This document provides an ex¢ summary of history and policy alternatives and as economic trade-offs. Loads that are above the legal weight and/or length limits but are regularly allowed to operate were cataloged. Although all states in the Northeast allow such overlegal loads ...,many others, from. .. Florida to Alaska, also routinely allow such loads. Typically, these loads are short-haul vehicles olid waste trucks and con- crete mixers. Although above “legal” limits, these vehicles were allowed to operate routinely due to “grandfathering” provis i te statutes. These vehicles are referred to as exclusion vehicles. gineers who developed the load model felt that the exclusion trucks best represented the extremes involved in the present truck traffic (Kulicki, 1992). The strengths of various components of the bridge are sensitive to repeated stressing or fatigue. When the load is cyclic, the stress level that ultimately fractures the ma- terial can be significantly below the nominal yield strength. For example, depending on the details of the welds, steel could have a fatigue strength as low as 2.6 ksi (18 MPa)Pedestrian Loads The AASHTO [A3.6.1.6] pedestrian load is 0.075 ksf (3.6 « 10°. MPa), which is applied to sidewalks that are integral with a roadway bridge. If the load. is applied to a bridge restricted to pedestrian and/or bicycle traffic, then a 0.085 ksf (4.1 x 10-* MPa) live load is used. ‘These loads are comparable to the building corridor load of 0.100 ksf (4.8 x 10° MPa) of the International Building Code (IBC, 2009). ‘The railing for pedestrian and/or bicycle must be designed fora load of 0.050 kip/{t (0.73 N/mm), both transversely and vertically on cach longitudinal clement in the railing system [A13.8.2 and A13.9.3]. In addition, as shown in Figure 8.8, railing must be designed to sustain a single concentrated load ‘of 0.200 kip (890 N) applied to the top rail at any location and in any direction, ¢ gravity loads for the design ‘of the deck system are outlined in AASHTO [A3.6.1.3.3]- The deck must be designed for the load effect due to the de- sign truck or the design tandem, whichever creates the most extreme effect. The two design vehicles should not be con- sidered together in the same load case. For example, adesign