HIGHWAY BRIDGE LOADS

AND LOAD DISTRIBUTION

 INTRODUCTION
 Bridge structures are designed to
carry traffic during their service lives.

 Bridge loads are actions applied to a

structure or its components.

 Two categories of load acting on

bridge structure:
 the primary loads.
 the secondary loads.
 Permanent load
Dead loads are permanent or stationary loads which
are transferred to structure throughout the life span.
Dead load is primarily due to self weight of structural
members, permanent partition walls, fixed permanent
equipments and weight of different materials. It majorly
consists of the weight of roofs, beams, walls and
column etc. Which are otherwise the permanent parts of
the building.
 The LOAD AND RESISTANCE FACTOR
DESIGN (Lrfd) Specification refers to the weights of
the following as “permanent loads”:

 The structure
 Formwork which becomes part of the structure
 Utility ducts or casings and contents
 Concrete barriers
 Other elements deemed permanent loads by the
design engineer and owner
 VEHICULAR LIVE LOAD
Vehicular live load library entries define specialized
vehicles for live load analysis. These vehicles can be
used for design and load ratings.
The distribution of loads per the lrfd specification is
more complex than in the standard specifications for
highway bridge design. This change is warranted because
of the complexity in bridges today, increased knowledge
of load paths, and technology available to be more
rational in performing design calculations. The end result
will be more appropriately designed structures.
PEDESTRIAN LOADS

The typical pedestrian traffic live load is 85 pounds

per square foot (psf). This represents an average person
occupying 2 square feet of bridge deck area and is considered
a reasonable, conservative service live load that is difficult to
exceed with pedestrian traffic.
The possible loading scenario can be divided into five
categories:

Single person loading

Normal traffic - spatially unrestricted traffic where each individual can move
freely without having to change walking pattern to avoid contact with others.

Crowd loading - spatially restricted traffic where the walking of each

individual is restricted due to limited space.

Group loading - a number of persons is walking closely together.

Vandal loading - a person, or a group of people, tries to excite the structure

by moving in a correlated harmonic way in response-sensitive areas.
 WIND LOADS

is used to refer to any pressures or forces that the wind exerts on a building or

structure.

is the load, in pounds per square foot, placed on the exterior of a structure by wind.
This will depend on: The angle at which the wind strikes the structure
The shape of the structure (height, width, etc.)

A typical “wind load” is 80 mph or 16 lb/ft2.

 Wind exerts three types of forces on a structure:

 Uplift load - Wind flow pressures that create a strong lifting effect, much like the
effect on airplane wings. Wind flow under a roof pushes upward; wind flow over
a roof pulls upward.

 Shear load – Horizontal wind pressure that could cause racking of walls, making
a building tilt.

 Lateral load – Horizontal pushing and pulling pressure on walls that could make
a structure slide off the foundation or overturn.
EFFECTS DUE TO
SUPERIMPOSED
DEFORMATIONS
 Effects Due to Superimposed
Deformations
 General
In addition to forces caused by applied loads, bridges
must also be designed to resist forces due to superimposed
deformations. The following force effects must be
considered during bridge design where appropriate:
 Uniform temperature (TU)
 Temperature/Thermal gradient (TG)
 Creep (CR)
 Differential Shrinkage (SH)
 Settlement (SE)
 Secondary forces from post-tensioning (PS)
 Uniform temperature (TU)
 The first force effect due to superimposed
deformations that must be considered in bridge
design is uniform temperature change, in which the
entire superstructure changes temperature by a
constant amount. Uniform temperature change
causes the entire superstructure to lengthen due to
temperature rise or shorten due to temperature fall.
In addition, if the supports are constrained, uniform
temperature change induces reactions at the bearings
and forces in the corresponding substructure units.
Uniform temperature (TU)
 Uniform temperature (TU)
This relationship is expressed mathematically
as follows:

∆Τ = design thermal movement range

α = coefficient of thermal expansion
L = expansion length
TMaxDesign = maximum design temperature
TMinDesign = minimum design temperature
Temperature/Thermal gradient (TG)
Temperature/Thermal gradient (TG)
Temperature/Thermal gradient (TG)
Temperature/Thermal gradient (TG)
Temperature/Thermal gradient (TG)
Temperature/Thermal gradient (TG)
Temperature/Thermal gradient (TG)
Temperature/Thermal gradient (TG)
Temperature/Thermal gradient (TG)
Temperature/Thermal gradient (TG)
Temperature/Thermal gradient (TG)
Temperature/Thermal gradient (TG)
Temperature/Thermal gradient (TG)
Temperature/Thermal gradient (TG)
Temperature/Thermal gradient (TG)
Temperature/Thermal gradient (TG)
Creep(CR) & Differential Shrinkage(SH)
 The force effects due to superimposed
deformations are creep and shrinkage. Creep is a
material property in which the member
continues to deform with time under sustained
loads at unit stresses within the elastic range.
Shrinkage is a material property in which the
volume changes independently of the loads it
sustains. Both creep and shrinkage are time-
dependent deformations. They may occur
concurrently, and they generally cannot be
separated from each other.
 Creep(CR) & Shrinkage(SH)
 Shrinkage
Volume change of concrete due to loss of
moisture without external load.
 Creep
The deformation of concrete structure by
applying constant stress.
Creep(CR)
Shrinkage(SH)
 Settlement (SE)
 Another force effect due to superimposed
deformations is settlement. Extreme values of
differential settlements among substructure
units throughout the bridge, as well as within
individual substructure units, must be
considered where appropriate.
Secondary forces from post-tensioning(PS)

 Secondary forces from post-tensioning must

also be considered during the design of
continuous post-tensioned bridges. For such
bridges, post-tensioned forces produce
reactions at the supports and internal forces
that are collectively called secondary forces. In
frame analysis software, the secondary forces
are often computed by subtracting the primary
pre stress forces from the total pre stressing.
 Exceptions to Code-Specified Design
Loads
 Design Codes in General
Design codes are issued by a professional
organization interested in insuring safety and
standards. They are legally backed by the
engineering profession. Different design
methods are used, but they typically defined
the load cases or combination, stress or
strength limits, and deflection limits.
 Exceptions to Code-Specified Design
Loads
 What is Design Loads
In a general sense, the design load is the
maximum amount of something a system is
designed to handle or the maximum amount of
something that the system can produce, which
are very different meanings. For example, a
crane with a design load of 20 tons is designed
to be able to lift loads that weigh 20 tons or
less.
 Exceptions to Code-Specified Design
Loads
 Design Loads in Building Codes
D = Dead Load
L = Live Load
Lr = Live roof Load
W = Wing Load