ENGINEERING PROCEDURE

STANDARD DESIGN TRUCK LOAD FOR BRIDGE

NEOM-NEN-PRC-314 Rev 01.00, July 2022

©NEOM [2022]. All rights reserved.

Document History

Revision code Description of changes Purpose of issue Date

Rev 01.00 First Issue Issued for Implementation 31.07.2022

Document Approval

Prepared by Reviewed by Approved by

Name Pankaj Dhaka ETSD Dr. Mohamed Haj-Maharsi

Job Title Senior Structural Executive Director, Technical

Engineer - ETSD Consultancy - ETSD

DOCUMENT CODE : NEOM-NEN-PRC-314 REVISION CODE: 01.00 PAG E 2 OF 17

©NEOM [2022]. All rights reserved.

Contents
1 PURPOSE ............................................................................................................... 4
2 SCOPE .................................................................................................................... 4
3 LIST OF DEFINITIONS............................................................................................ 4
4 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ..................................................................................... 6
5 REFERENCES ........................................................................................................ 6
6 RELATED NEOM DOCUMENTS............................................................................. 6
7 HIGHWAY STRUCTURE LOADING ....................................................................... 7
7.1 General Requirements .......................................................................................................... 7
7.2 Highway Structure Design Loads ........................................................................................ 7
7.2.1 Permanent Loads .................................................................................................................. 7
7.2.2 Transient Loads ..................................................................................................................... 7
8 HIGHWAY STRUCTURE VEHICULAR LOAD ........................................................ 8
8.1 Number of Design Lanes ...................................................................................................... 8
8.2 Vehicular Load ....................................................................................................................... 8
8.2.1 Design Truck & Tandem Load ............................................................................................. 8
8.2.2 Design Lane Load ................................................................................................................. 9
8.2.3 Special Vehicle .................................................................................................................... 10
8.2.4 Application of Vehicular Live Loads .................................................................................. 10
8.3 Multiple presence of Live Load .......................................................................................... 10
8.4 Pedestrian Loads ................................................................................................................. 11
8.5 Dynamic Load Allowance ................................................................................................... 11
8.6 Centrifugal Force ................................................................................................................. 11
8.7 Braking Force ....................................................................................................................... 12
8.8 Live Load surcharge............................................................................................................ 12
8.9 Vehicular Collision Load ..................................................................................................... 12
9 APPENDICES........................................................................................................ 13
APPENDIX A: CIRCULAR 57026/02, MINISTRY OF TRANSPORTATION - UPDATED
VEHICULAR LIVE LOAD ON HIGHWAY STRUCTURES ..................................... 14

List of Tables

Table 1: Table of Definitions.................................................................................................. 4

Table 2: Table of Abbreviations ............................................................................................. 6
Table 3: Table of Related Codes & Standards for Vehicular Loading .................................... 6
Table 4: Table of Related Engineering Procedures ............................................................... 6
Table 5: Multiple Presence Factors ..................................................................................... 10
Table 6: Dynamic Load Allowance ...................................................................................... 11

List of Figures

Figure 1: MOT Design Live Load – Truck Load ..................................................................... 9

Figure 2: MOT Design Live Load - Tandem Load.................................................................. 9
Figure 3: MOT Design Live Load – Lane Load ...................................................................... 9
Figure 4: MOMRA - Vehicle Axle detail ............................................................................... 10

DOCUMENT CODE : NEOM-NEN-PRC-314 REVISION CODE: 01.00 PAG E 3 OF 17

©NEOM [2022]. All rights reserved.

1 Purpose

The purpose of this procedure is to facilitate the designer to identify the truck loading for structures
carrying highway traffic in the development of NEOM mobility assets.

Estimation of accurate live load due to truck traffic is essential for the safe and economical design of
highway structures. Being dynamic, live load is random and unpredictable in nature, therefore, requires
careful consideration in its modelling and estimation.

Loads on bridges can be permanent and transient. The vertical and horizontal components could be
analysed as static analysis with appropriate dynamic amplification factors to account for the dynamic
effects based on the type of bridges adhering to code provisions. Live loads applied on the structures,
unlike permanent loads, do not have a fixed position on the bridge structures and can be placed at
critical positions as the traffic moves over a span.

The following sections provide information about vehicular loading & its application for structural design
& serviceability of highway structures.

2 Scope

This procedure is for all design consultants & contractors and addresses truck/vehicle loading
requirements for highway structures including Bridges & Culverts. As the main live load of a bridge,
vehicle loads have a huge impact on the safety of the structure and are critical for the safety assessment
of highway structures in operational conditions.

3 List of Definitions

Table 1: Table of Definitions

Terms Definitions
Abutment Substructure unit supporting the ends of a bridge and, usually
retaining the approach embankment
Backwall The portion of the abutment above the level of the bridge seat that
primarily acts as a retaining wall. It may also act as a support for
the bridge deck and/or the approach slab.
Bearing A support element used to transfer loads from superstructure to
substructure while permitting some rotation and horizontal
movement of the superstructure.
Centrifugal Force A lateral force resulting from a change in the direction of a
vehicle’s movement.
Clear Zone An unobstructed, relatively flat area beyond the edge of the
travelled way for the recovery of errant vehicles. The travelled
way does not include shoulders or auxiliary lanes.
Concrete Barrier A railing system of reinforced concrete having a traffic face that
adopts some form of a safety shape.
Cross Section A view taken transverse to the longitudinal axis of an element.
Culvert A structure that provides passage of water or utilities through an
embankment. Usually constructed of precast concrete boxes,
round concrete pipe, or elliptical concrete pipe.
Deck That portion of a bridge that provides a riding surface for vehicular
and/or pedestrian traffic.
Design Lane A notional traffic lane positioned transversely on the roadway.

DOCUMENT CODE : NEOM-NEN-PRC-314 REVISION CODE: 01.00 PAG E 4 OF 17

©NEOM [2022]. All rights reserved.

Terms Definitions
Designer Design Consultants, Contractor's Designers, and any other entity
involved in providing NEOM with design submittals.
Design Consultant The professional firm named in the Consultancy Agreement and
employed by NEOM to perform the design services and/or its legal
successors permitted assignees.
Dynamic Load Allowance An increase in the applied static force effects to account for the
dynamic interaction between the bridge and moving vehicles.
Lane The area of the deck receives one vehicle or one uniform load
line.
Permanent Loads Loads and forces that are, or are assumed to be, either constant
upon completion of construction or varying only over a long time
interval.

Permit Vehicle Any vehicle whose right to travel is administratively restricted in

any way due to its weight or size.
Roadway Width Clear space between barriers, curbs, or both.

Substructure Any supporting member below the superstructure (such as

abutments, piers, and wing walls).
Superelevation The cross slopes of a roadway structure at a horizontal curve.
Superstructure Part of the bridge structure above and supported by the bearings.

Surcharge Load that acts on a retaining wall in addition to normal soil forces,
such as a vehicular load or a building load.
Tandem Two closely spaced axles, usually connected to the same under-
carriage, by which the equalization of load between the axles is
enhanced.
Transient Loads Loads and forces that can vary over a short time interval relative
to the lifetime of the structure.
Vertical Clearance The minimum vertical distance between the bottom of the
structure and the surface of the feature crossed.
Wing Wall A retaining wall placed adjacent to an abutment stem to retain the
fill behind an abutment.

DOCUMENT CODE : NEOM-NEN-PRC-314 REVISION CODE: 01.00 PAG E 5 OF 17

©NEOM [2022]. All rights reserved.

4 List of Abbreviations

Table 2: Table of Abbreviations

Abbreviations Descriptions
AASHTO American Association of State Highway and Transportation
Officials
ACI American Concrete Institute
ETSD Engineering Technical Services Department.
LRFD Load and Resistance Factor Design
MASH Manual for Assessing Safety Hardware
MOMRA Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs
MOT Ministry of Transportation
SBC Saudi Building code

5 References

Table 3: Table of Related Codes & Standards for Vehicular Loading

ORG. DESG. TITLE

AASHTO LRFD BDS-9 LRFD Bridge Design Specifications 9th Edition

AASHTO RSDG-4 AASHTO Roadside Design Guide.

AASHTO HB-17 Standard Specifications for Highway Bridges 17th Ed.

American Concrete Institute – Building Code
ACI ACI 318
Requirement for Structural Concrete

MASH 2 Manual for Assessing Safety Hardware, 2nd Edition

MA 100-C-V1/2 MOMRA Bridge, Tunnels, Culverts, and Pedestrian
MOMRA & V2/2 Bridge Specifications in Urban Area Construction
CIRCULAR Ministry of Transportation-Updated Vehicular Live Load
MOT No. 57026/01 on Highway Structures (August 2015)
Ministry of Transportation, General Specifications for
MOT REGULATIONS
Road and Bridge Construction
Ministry of Transportation-Highway Design manual –
MOT REGULATIONS
Volume 3- Structure Specifications

SBC SBC 301 2018 Saudi Building Code – Structural Loading and Forces

SBC SBC 304 2018 Saudi Building Code – Structural Concrete Structures

6 Related NEOM Documents

The requirements contained in the following documents apply to the extent specified in this procedure

Table 4: Table of Related Engineering Procedures

Document Code Document Name

NEOM-NEN-PRC-006 Safety in Design Procedure

NEOM-NEN-PRC-007 Value Engineering Procedure

DOCUMENT CODE : NEOM-NEN-PRC-314 REVISION CODE: 01.00 PAG E 6 OF 17

©NEOM [2022]. All rights reserved.

 Document Code Document Name

NEOM-NEN-PRC-013 Traffic Impact Study Procedure

NEOM-NEN-SCH-005 List of Technical Codes & Standards

NEOM-NEN-SCH-006 List of Definitions and Abbreviations

7 Highway Structure Loading

7.1 General Requirements

The design and construction of all NEOM highway structures shall be based upon the NEOM procedure
NEOM-NEN-SCH-005: List of Technical Codes & Standards requirements.
The superstructure and substructure of the highway structures (Bridge, Culverts) should be designed
in accordance with MOT , MOMRA regulations & specification to resist load effects due to construction
load, dead weight, superimposed dead load, live load, earth pressure/surcharge load, hydrostatic water
pressure load, wind load, settlement, earthquake loads, collision load, thermal load, creep and
shrinkage. AASHTO Bridge Design Specifications shall be considered part of the requirements of Saudi
codes & standards to the prescribed extent as a referenced document for design.

7.2 Highway Structure Design Loads

Various types of loads are considered for the design of highway structures. These loads and their
combinations decide the safety of the bridge construction during its use under all circumstances. The
design loads should be considered properly for the perfect design of bridges & other highway structures.
Different design loads acting on bridges are explained below.

7.2.1 Permanent Loads

• Dead Load of Structural Components and Non-Structural Attachments
• Down drag Force
• Dead Load of Wearing Surface and Utilities
• Vertical Pressure from Dead Load of Earth Fill
• Earth Surcharge Load
• Lateral Earth Pressure load
• Shrinkage
• Creep
• Pre-stressing

7.2.2 Transient Loads

• Vehicular Live Load
• Vehicular Dynamic Load Allowance
• Pedestrian Live Load
• Live Load Surcharge
• Vehicular Centrifugal Force
• Vehicular Braking Force
• Vehicular Collision Force
• Vessel collision Force
• Friction Load
• Earthquake Load
• Wind Load on Structure
• Wind on Live Load
• Uniform Temperature
• Temperature Gradient

DOCUMENT CODE : NEOM-NEN-PRC-314 REVISION CODE: 01.00 PAG E 7 OF 17

©NEOM [2022]. All rights reserved.

 • Force Effect due to Settlement
• Water Load and Stream Pressure
• Settlement

8 Highway Structure Vehicular Load

The live load on the bridge and other highway structures is moving load on the bridge throughout its
length. The moving loads are vehicles, Pedestrians, etc, but it is difficult to select one vehicle or a group
of vehicles to design a safe structure. So, MOT/AASHTO regulations & specifications recommended
some imaginary vehicles as live loads which will give safe results against any type of vehicle moving
on the bridge.

8.1 Number of Design Lanes

Unless specified otherwise, the width of the design lanes should be taken as 3.65m and number of
design lanes should be determined by taking the integer part of the ratio w/3.65, where w is the clear
roadway width in meters between curbs, barriers, or both. If the fractional part of quotient is 0.83 or
greater, then one additional lane shall be considered, otherwise it will be neglected. Possible future
changes in the physical or functional clear roadway width of the bridge should also be considered.

In cases where the traffic lanes are less than 3.65m wide, the number of design lanes shall be equal to
the number of traffic lanes, and the width of the design lane shall be taken as the width of the traffic
lane.

8.2 Vehicular Load

Vehicular loading on the roadway bridges or incidental structures, shall consist of a combination of the:

• Design Truck or Tandem Load

• Design Lane Load
• Special Vehicle (Low Boy or Multiple Axle Trailer Vehicle)

Each design lane under consideration shall be occupied by either the design truck or tandem, coincident
with the lane load, where applicable.

8.2.1 Design Truck & Tandem Load

The highway structure loading consists of a 600 KN 3-axle truck coincident (on the same lane) with the
uniformly distributed design lane load of 20 KN/m/lane or a 500 KN tandem 2-axle coincident (on the
same lane) with the uniformly distributed design lane load of 20 KN/m/lane as shown in figure 1 & 2.

The weights and spacings of axles and wheels for the design truck is specified in figure 1. Spacing
between the two 130 KN axles shall be varied between 4.3m and 9.0m to produce extreme force effects.
The design tandem shall consist of a pair of 250 KN axles spaced 1.2m apart. The transverse spacing
of wheels shall be taken as 1.8m as shown in figure 2.

DOCUMENT CODE : NEOM-NEN-PRC-314 REVISION CODE: 01.00 PAG E 8 OF 17

©NEOM [2022]. All rights reserved.

Figure 1: MOT Design Live Load – Truck Load

Figure 2: MOT Design Live Load - Tandem Load

8.2.2 Design Lane Load

The design lane loading consist of a load of 20 KN/m uniformly distributed in the longitudinal direction.
Transversely, the design lane load shall be assumed to be uniformly distributed over a 3.0m width as
shown in figure 3. The effects from the design lane load shall not be subject to a dynamic load
allowance.

Figure 3: MOT Design Live Load – Lane Load

DOCUMENT CODE : NEOM-NEN-PRC-314 REVISION CODE: 01.00 PAG E 9 OF 17

©NEOM [2022]. All rights reserved.

8.2.3 Special Vehicle
For escorted, or short duration special permit Special Vehicles, notional load (design truck, Tandem or
Lane load) could be scaled by appropriate load factors to be representative of these special load spectra
for highway structure design, meanwhile this procedure covers only standard loading’s mentioned in
MOT/MOMRA design specification/regulations for highway structure design.

8.2.4 Application of Vehicular Live Loads

Unless otherwise specified, the extreme force effect shall be taken as the larger of the following:

• The effect of the design tandem combined with the effect of the design lane load.
• The effect of one design truck with the variable axle spacing combined with the effect of the
design lane load.

As many lanes shall be loaded with any one type of these loads as would give the most critical effect.
Both the design lanes and the 3.0m loaded width in each lane shall be positioned to produce extreme
force effects. The design truck or tandem shall be positioned transversely such that the center of any
wheel load is not closer than:

• For the design of the deck overhang - 0.3m from the face of the curb or railing, and
• For the design of all other components - 0.6m from the edge of the design lane.

Application of design vehicular live loads shall be as per AASHTO Section 3.6.1.3 or MOT Circular No.
57026/01 dated Aug 2015.

Figure 4: MOMRA - Vehicle Axle detail

Unless otherwise specified, the length of design lanes, or parts thereof, that contribute to the extreme
force effect under consideration shall be loaded with the design lane load.
The Design live load per design lane can occupy any position within its ‘Design Lane-Width’ but neither
shall the minimum distance between centers of two adjacent design trucks, in transverse cross section
be, be less than 3.0m nor shall the load in a lane cross outside its ‘ Design Lane-Width’.

8.3 Multiple presence of Live Load

For a highway structure with several design lanes, it is unlikely that each lane will be fully loaded with
trucks simultaneously. To account for this improbability, AASHTO, MOMRA specification applies
multiple presence factors. For the purposes of determining the number of loaded lanes, pedestrian
loads may be taken to be one loaded lane. Multiple presence factor for number of loaded lanes are
given in table 5 as per clause 3.6.1.1.2 of AASHTO LRFD Specification.

Table 5: Multiple Presence Factors

DOCUMENT CODE : NEOM-NEN-PRC-314 REVISION CODE: 01.00 PAG E 1 0 OF 17

©NEOM [2022]. All rights reserved.

 Number of Loaded Lanes Multiple Presence Factor

1 1.2

2 1.00

3 0.85

>3 0.65

8.4 Pedestrian Loads

A pedestrian load of 3.6 KN/m2 shall be applied to all sidewalks wider than 0.6m and considered
simultaneously with the vehicular design live load in the vehicle lane. Where vehicles can mount the
sidewalk, sidewalk pedestrian load shall not be considered concurrently. If a sidewalk may be removed
in the future, the vehicular live loads shall be applied at 0.30m from the edge-of-deck for the design of
the overhang, and 0.60m from the edge-of-deck for the design of all other components.

8.5 Dynamic Load Allowance

The static effects of the design truck or tandem, other than centrifugal and braking forces, shall be
increased by the percentage specified in table 6. Dynamic factor is applied to the truck or tandem load
to allow for the increased stresses which result from the sudden arrival of a speeding vehicle on a
highway structure.
This dynamic load effect need to be considered for the truck and tandem only and not to be applied to
lane loading.

Table 6: Dynamic Load Allowance

Component Dynamic Load Allowance

Deck Joints-All Limit States 75%

All Other Components:

• Fatigue and Fracture Limit State 15%

• All Other Limit States 33%

Dynamic load allowance need not be applied to:

• Retaining walls not subject to vertical reactions from the superstructure, and
• Foundation components that are entirely below ground level.

8.6 Centrifugal Force

To calculate radial force or the overturning effect on wheel loads for curved bridge, the centrifugal effect
on live load shall be taken as the product of the axle weights of the design truck or tandem, and the
factor C, taken as:

where:
v = highway/road design speed (m/s)

DOCUMENT CODE : NEOM-NEN-PRC-314 REVISION CODE: 01.00 PAG E 1 1 OF 17

©NEOM [2022]. All rights reserved.

 f = 4/3 for load combinations other than fatigue and 1.0 for fatigue
g = gravitational acceleration 9.81 (m/s2)
R = radius of curvature of traffic lane (m)

Centrifugal forces shall be applied horizontally at a distance of 1.8m above the roadway surface with
load path to carry the radial force to the substructure. The effect of superelevation in reducing the
overturning effect of centrifugal force on vertical wheel loads may be considered. Centrifugal force is
not required to be applied to the design lane load.

8.7 Braking Force

The braking force shall be taken as the greater of:

• 25% of the axle weights of the design truck or design tandem, or

• 5% of the design truck plus lane load or 5% of the design tandem plus lane load

Braking force shall be placed in all design lanes which are considered to be loaded and which are
carrying traffic headed in the same direction. These forces shall be assumed to act horizontally at a
distance of 1.8m above the roadway surface in either longitudinal direction to cause extreme force
effects. All design lanes shall be simultaneously loaded for bridges likely to become one-directional in
the future. Refer clause 3.6.4 of the AASHTO specification for detail of vehicular braking force.

8.8 Live Load surcharge

Due to vehicular loads, a live load surcharge need to be applied to abutments and retaining walls
considering equivalent heights as per clause 3.11.6.4 of AASHTO LRFD specification. The surcharge
load shall be calculated using the below given equation

∆p = k.Ꝩs.heq

∆p = constant horizontal earth pressure due to live load surcharge (KN/m 2)

γs = total unit weight of soil (KN/m 3)
k = coefficient of lateral earth pressure
heq = equivalent height of soil for the vehicular load (m)

8.9 Vehicular Collision Load

Abutments and piers located within the clear zone as defined by the AASHTO Roadside Design Guide
shall be investigated for collision. Collision shall be addressed by either providing structural resistance
or by redirecting.

Where the design choice is to provide structural resistance, the pier or abutment located within a
distance of 9.0m to the edge of the roadway shall be designed for an equivalent static force of 1800
KN, which is assumed to act in any direction of the horizontal plane at a distance of 1.20m above the
ground.

Below given substructure components are considered to have adequate structural resistance to bridge
collapse due to vehicular impacts and are not required to be designed for the vehicular impact load.

1) Substructure components that are backed by soil.

2) Reinforced concrete pier components that are at least 0.9m thick and have a concrete cross-
sectional area greater than 2.8 m2 as measured in the horizontal plane at all elevations from
the top of the pier foundation to a height of at least 1.5m above the grade.

DOCUMENT CODE : NEOM-NEN-PRC-314 REVISION CODE: 01.00 PAG E 1 2 OF 17

©NEOM [2022]. All rights reserved.

 3) Piers supporting a bridge superstructure where it is shown by calculation that the superstructure
will not collapse with one column missing when subjected to the full dead load with a 1.1 load
factor and the live load including dynamic load allowance in the permanent travel lanes with a
load factor of 1.0.
4) Pier walls and multi-column piers with struts between columns that have been designed and
detailed as Manual for Assessing Safety Hardware (MASH) Test Level 5 (TL-5) longitudinal
traffic barriers

Where the design choice is to redirect or absorb the collision load, protection shall consist of a minimum
1.1m high MASH crash-tested rigid TL-5 barrier located such that the top edge of the traffic face of the
barrier is 1.0m or more from the face of the pier component being protected. Refer to section 13 of
AASHTO LRFD specification for detail of collision loads on the railing.

9 Appendices

Appendix A: Circular 57026/02, Ministry of Transportation-Updated Vehicular Live Load on Highway

Structures (August 2015)

DOCUMENT CODE : NEOM-NEN-PRC-314 REVISION CODE: 01.00 PAG E 1 3 OF 17

©NEOM [2022]. All rights reserved.

Appendix A: Circular 57026/02, Ministry of Transportation - Updated Vehicular Live Load on
Highway Structures

DOCUMENT CODE : NEOM-NEN-PRC-314 REVISION CODE: 01.00 PAG E 1 4 OF 17

©NEOM [2022]. All rights reserved.

yy

DOCUMENT CODE : NEOM-NEN-PRC-314 REVISION CODE: 01.00 PAG E 1 5 OF 17

©NEOM [2022]. All rights reserved.

yy

DOCUMENT CODE : NEOM-NEN-PRC-314 REVISION CODE: 01.00 PAG E 1 6 OF 17

©NEOM [2022]. All rights reserved.

yy

DOCUMENT CODE : NEOM-NEN-PRC-314 REVISION CODE: 01.00 PAG E 1 7 OF 17

©NEOM [2022]. All rights reserved.