Chapter 3

Bridge Loading and design methods

3.1 Introduction:

bridges serve their function under different types of loads.

Loads determined the safety and serviceability of the structure.

The minimum loads to be taken for design are given in codes and standards
to insure safety and serviceability.

The different Standards used for Bridge Loading are,

– AASHTO
– DIN Standard (in Germany)
– BS 5400 (British Standard)
– Indian Roads Congress (IRC) Bridge Code
 3.2 Bridge loading

 Types of loads
 Magnitude of loads and their point of
application
 Combination of loads and their factors
 Types of loads

Classified into two broad categories:

Permanent Loads: remains on the bridge for an
extended period, usually for
the entire service.
Transient Loads: as the name implies changes
with time and may be
applied from several
directions.
 Permanent Loads
DC = dead loads of structural components & non-
structural attachments.
DD = down drag
DW = dead load of wearing surfaces & utilities
EH = horizontal earth pressure load
EL = accumulated locked in effects resulting from the
construction process.
ES = earth surcharge load
EV = vertical pressure from dead load of earth fill.
 Dead load, DC
Dead load, DC includes the self weight of;
• Structural components; are part of load resisting systems (girder, slab,
cross beams etc.)
• Non structural components (curbs, parapets, barriers, medians,
hand railings, signs etc.)
• But does not include the weight of the wearing surface(asphalt)
• We can estimate the dead load from the material density.
material Density(kg/m3)
Concrete(normal weight) 2400
Concrete (light weight) 1775-1925
steel 7850
Aluminum alloy 2800
wood 800-960
Stone masonry 2725
 Dead load of wearing surface, DW

• It is the weight of the wearing surface(usually

asphalt) and utilities(piping, lighting, etc.)
• Asphalt surface may be thicker than the designed and
may get laid on top of old layer over and over.
• Density of asphalt paving material = 2250kg/m3
• Average thickness of asphalt on bridge = 9cm
Earth pressure loads and their point of applications
It is determined by multiplying the unit weight times
the depth of the materials.

W7
W9

W5
W6 S2 H
P1 S1 W1
W2

W3

b1 b2
H1
W8
 Earth Surcharge Load (ES)

The earth surcharge load (ES) is calculated like the EV loads

with the only difference being in the load factors.

This difference is attributed to the variability.

Part or all of this load could be removed in the future or the

surcharge material (loads) could be changed.

ES has a maximum and minimum load factor of 1.5 and 0.75
respectively.
 Transient loads

Includes;
A. Vehicular loads
B. Pedestrian loads
C. Environmental loads
 A. Vehicular Loads
LL = vehicular live load
IM = vehicular dynamic load allowance
BR = Vehicular braking force
CE = vehicular centrifugal force
CT = vehicular collision force
LS = live load surcharge
 Live load of vehicles, LL

 Are the forces due to vehicles moving over the surface.

 There are several types of vehicles as,
• Car
• Van
• Buses
• Trucks
• Semi-Trailer
• Special vehicles
• Military vehicles
• Bajaj
 Live load of vehicles, LL cont..

The effect of live load on the bridge structures

depends on many parameters including:
• Length of Vehicle
• Weight of vehicle
• Axle loads (load per wheel)
• Axle configuration
• Position of the vehicle on the bridge (transverse and
longitudinal)
• Number of vehicles on the bridge (multiple presences)
• Girder spacing
• Stiffness of the structural members (slab and girder)
Length of Vehicle and Axle Configuration
Weight of Vehicle Axle loads
Number of vehicles

Position of the vehicle

 Bridge LL vs. building LL
Bridge Building
 LL is very heavy(several tones per  LL is not very heavy
wheel) typically 200-500kg/m2

 LL can be series of point  LL is assumed to be

loads(wheel loads of truck) or uniformly distributed within
uniform loads(loads of smaller a span.
vehicles)

 Needs to consider the placement of  Needs to consider the

loads in multiple spans(for placement of loads for the
continuous spans) entire floor

 Dynamic effect of live load can not  Do not typically consider

ignored. dynamic impact effect of
live loads.
 Design live load of Vehicles

• For design purpose, we are interested the kind of

the vehicle that produce the worst effect.
• AASHTO has 3 basic types of LL called the HL-93
loading (stands for highway loading, year1993 )
• The live load models as given by ERA design
manual consists of three distinctly different loads as
in the AASHTO. They are,
1. Design truck load
2. Design tandem load
3. Design lane load
1.Design Truck Load

 The design truck is called HS-

20(stands for highway semi-
trailer with 20 kips weight on
the first two axles)
 Weights shown on the left are
for each one axle = 2 wheels
 Total weight = 325kN
 Distance between the second
and third axle may be varied
to produce maximum effect.
 Needs to multiply this load by
dynamic load allowance
factor.
2. Design Tandem Load

• Two axle vehicle with

110 kN on each axle.
• Needs to multiply this
load by dynamic load
allowance factor(IM).
• used for strategic bridges.
• The transverse spacing of
the wheels shall be taken
as 1.8m.
 3. Design Lane Load
• Uniform load of 9.3 kN/m acting over a tributary width of 3 m. (i.e.
the load is 3.1 kN/m2) to account traffic jam.
• May be apply continuously or discontinuously over the length of
the bridge to produce maximum effect.
• No dynamic allowance factor (IM)for this load.
 Combination of Design Vehicle LL

 Combination 1:
Design truck load + design lane load

 Combination 2:
Design Tandem load + design lane load

The maximum effect of these 2 cases is used for the

design.
The loads in each case must be positioned such that
they produce maximum effects (max M or max V).
 Design lane
 Needs to know the number of lanes bridge.
 Design lane = 3.0m
 Actual traffic lane = 3.3m to 4.6m(3.6m is
recommended)
 Number of design lanes = road way width/3.6m
 Number of lane must be an integer(1,2,3…). There is
no fraction of lane(e.g. 2.5 lane)
 Vehicular dynamic load allowance, IM

• The dynamic effect of the vehicle is considered in

design.
• the static effects of the design truck or tandem shall
be increased by the percentage specified below for
dynamic load allowance.
(1 + IM/100)
• Values of IM are depend on types of limit states as;
Components IM
All other components
 Fatigue and fracture limit state 15%
 All other limit states 33%
 BR = Vehicular braking force; BR

• Function of Speed & Vehicle mass.

• Shall be taken as the axle weights of the design
truck or tandem per lane multiplied by a factor, b
b = v2
244g
where: v= highway design speed (m/s)
• From AASHTO Article 3.6.4 it shall be taken as 25
% of the axle weights of the design truck or tandem.
• These forces shall be assumed to act horizontally at
a distance of 1800 mm above the roadway surface
in either longitudinal direction to cause extreme
force effects.
 vehicular centrifugal force; CE

shall be taken as the product of the axle

weights of the design truck or tandem and the
factor C, taken as:
C = 4 v2
3 g*R
where: v= highway design speed (m/s)
R=radius of curvature of traffic lane (m)
applied horizontally at a distance 1.8 m above
the roadway surface
 vehicular collision force; CT

• equivalent static force of 1800 kN, which is

assumed to act in any direction in a horizontal
plane, at a distance of 1.2 m above road
surface.
 B. Pedestrian live load, PL
• A pedestrian load of 3.6 kN/m2 shall be
applied to all sidewalks wider than 0.6 m
and considered simultaneously with the
vehicular design live load.
 C. Environmental Loads
WA = water load/ stream pressure
EQ = earthquake Force
WL = wind on vehicles on bridge
WS = wind load on structure
TG = load due to temperature differences
TU = load due to uniform temperature
 water load/ stream pressure, WA
• Typically considers in the design of
substructures (foundation, piers,
abutments)
• Loads may depend on the shape and size of
the superstructure.
• Water load may categorized as
 Static pressure (acting perpendicular to all
surface)
 Buoyancy (vertical uplifting force)
 Stream pressure (acting in the direction of the
stream)
water load/ stream pressure, WA Cont’d
STATIC PRESSURE
 Shall be calculated as the product of
height of water above the point of
consideration, the density of water
p = gw * z
where p = static pressure (Mpa)
gw = density of water (kg/m3)
z = height of water
Applied at the centre of water level
Water load/stream pressure, WA Cont’d
STREAM PRESSURE
 The pressure of flowing water shall be taken as:
p = 5.14*10-4CDV2
where: p = pressure of flowing water (MPa)
CD= drag coefficient for piers
V = design velocity in m/s of water
 The force F becomes, F=p*A (A, Projected area)
Type of pier CD
Semicircular-nosed pier 0.7
Square-ended pier 1.4
Debris lodged against the pier 1.4
Wedged-nosed pier with nose angle 90o or less 0.8
 Wind load

WS = Wind load on structure (super & sub)

WL = Wind on vehicles
Wind Pressure on Structures: WS
• For small and medium sized concrete bridges below 50m length
the wind load on structures shall be neglected.
Wind load on superstructure 2.40 KN/m2
Wind load on substructure 1.90 KN/m2

PB Base Pressure
WS = PB*Exposed area
Point of application= Center of Area
Wind load Cont…
 EQ = Earthquake Force
Seismic Zones
 In EBCS-8 1995, the country has been subdivided into seismic zones
(Table 1.3), depending on the local hazard.

 The hazard is described in terms of a single parameter, i.e. the value

of the effective peak ground acceleration on rock or firm soil,
henceforth called "design ground acceleration".

 The design ground acceleration for each seismic zone corresponds to

a reference return period of 100 years.

 Seismic zones with a design ground acceleration of not greater than

0.05 (zones 1 and 2) are low seismicity zones, for which reduced or
simplified seismic design procedures for certain types or categories
of structures may be used.
 EQ = Earthquake Force Cont’d
Design Spectrum
 For linear analysis, the design spectrum S d (T ) normalized by the acceleration of
gravity g is defined by the following expression:
S d (T )  
 The parameter  in the above equation is the ratio of the design bedrock
acceleration to the acceleration of gravity g and is given by:
  oI
Where o The bedrock acceleration ratio for the site and depends
on the seismic zone
I The importance factor (Table 2.4)

Table 1.1 Bedrock Acceleration Ratio  o

Zone 4 3 2 1
o 0.10 0.07 0.05 0.03

 The parameter  is the design response factor for the site and is given by:
1.2 S
  2
 2.5
T 3
 The parameter S in the above equation is the site coefficient for soil characteristics
EQ = Earthquake Force Cont’d
Table 1.2 Site coefficient S

Subsoil
A B C
Class
S 1.0 1.2 1.5
…cont’d
Base Shear Force
The total base shear Fb according to EBCS 8  1995 be given as:

Fb  S d (T1 )W

Where S d (T1 ) Ordinate of the design spectrum at period T1 ,

T1 Fundamental period of vibration of the structure for
transitional motion in the direction considered
W Seismic dead load (It is obtained as the total permanent load
plus 25% of the floor live load, for storage and ware house
occupancies. In other occupancies, no allowances for live
loads need to be made)

For buildings with height up to 80m the value of T1 may be approximated from the
following formula:
3
T1  C1 H 4

Where T1 Fundamental period of building, in seconds

H Height of the building above the base in meter

0.085 for steel moment resisting frames

C1  0.075 for RC moment  resisting frames and eccentrica lly braced steel frames
0.050 for all other buidings
 Combination of loads and their factors

Load factors for permanent loads

4.6 AASHTO 2005 Load Factors & Load
Combinations
 Limit States
• STRENGTH I: relating to the normal use of bridge.
• STRENGTH II: for special vehicles specified by owner
• STRENGTH III: subjected to high wind and traffic is prevented
• STRENGTH IV: long span bridges which has large ratio of DC to LL
• STRENGTH V: bridge and traffic on the bridge is subjected to wind
EXTREME EVENT I: structural survival under major earthquake
• EXTREME EVENT II: structural survival under combination of
events such as flood, Collision
• SERVICE I: normal operation of the bridge
• SERVICE II: steel bridges to control yielding
• SERVICE III: relating to tension
• FATIGUE: fatigue and fracture due to repetitive LL
STRENGTH 1 : without wind.
STRENGTH 11 : owner design / permit vehicles Mithout Mind
STRENGTH 111 : Mind exceeding 55 mph.
STRENGTH IV : very high dead-to-live load ratios.

STRENGTH V : vehicular use with 55 mph wind.

SERVICE 1 . normal operational use of the bridge Mith a 55 mph wind and nominal
load Also control cracking of reinforced concrete structures.

SERVICE 11 control yielding of steel structures and slip of connections

SERVICE 111 : control cracking of prestressed concrete superstructures.

SERVICE IV : control cracking of prestressed concrete substructures.

FATIGUE :

.
Example of Load Combinations
• 1.25DC + 1.50DW + 1.75(LL+IM) (Strength I)
• 1.25DC + 1.50DW + 1.4WS (Strength III)

• 0.90DC + 0.65DW + 1.4WS (Strength III)

• 1.50DC + 1.50DW (Strength IV)
• 1.25DC + 1.50DW + 1.35(LL+IM) + 0.4(WS+WL) (Strength V)
• 1.25DC + 1.50DW + 0.5(LL+IM) + 1.0EQ (Extreme I)
• 0.90DC + 0.65DW + 0.5(LL+IM) + 1.0EQ (Extreme I)
• 1.25DC + 1.50DW + 0.5(LL+IM) + 1.0 (CT) (Extreme II)
• 0.90DC + 0.65DW + 0.5(LL+IM) + 1.0 (CT) (Extreme II)
Example of Load Combinations
For slabs and girders designs, we normally have only DC, DW,
and (LL+IM)
• 1.25DC + 1.50DW + 1.75(LL+IM) (Strength I)
• 1.50DC + 1.50DW (Strength IV)

• 1.00DC + 1.00DW + 1.00(LL+IM) (Service I)

Chapter end !!!