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.
 forces
 deformations
 or accelerations
 Two categories of load acting on the bridge structure:
 those acting on the superstructure
 those acting on the substructure
Some Basic Definitions:
 Load – the effect of acceleration, including that of due to gravity, imposed
deformation or volumetric change.
 Nominal Load – an arbitrary selected design load level.
 Load Factor – A coefficient expressing the probability of variations in the
nominal load for the expected service life of the bridge.
 Permanent Loads – Loads or forces which are, or assumed to be, constant
upon completion of construction.
 Force Effects – a deformation or a stress resultant, i.e., thrust, shear,
torque/moment, caused by applied loads, imposed deformation or volumetric
change.
Importance of Load Prediction
A structural engineer has to make a structure safe against failures.
The reasons for a structure being susceptible to failures are:
a) The loads that a structure will be called upon to sustain, cannot be
predicted with certainty.
b) The strength of the various components cannot be assessed with full
assertion.
c) The condition of a structure may deteriorate with time causing it to lose
strength.
TYPES OF LOADS
Loads considered in bridge analysis are:
1. Gravity Loads
2. Lateral Loads
3. Forces due to deformation
4. Collision loads
GRAVITY LOADS
 loads caused by the weight of an object on the bridge and applied in a
downward direction toward the center of the earth.
 such loads may be:
A. Permanent Loads
B. Transient Loads
The following permanent and transient loads and forces shall be
considered for design of bridges where applicable. The load
provisions may also be applied to the structural evaluation of existing
bridges.
I. PERMANENT LOADS
DC = dead load of structural components and nonstructural attachments
DD = down drag
DW = dead load of wearing surfaces and 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 LOADS
Dead load shall include the weight of
all components of the structure,
appurtenances and utilities attached
thereto, earth cover, wearing surface,
future overlays, and planned
widening.
Dead load of structural components and
nonstructural attachments (DC)
 Structural components
- refer to the elements that are part of load resistance system.

 Nonstructural attachments
- refer to such items as curbs, parapets, barriers, rails, signs, etc. Weight
of such items can be estimated by using unit weight of materials and its
geometry
Dead load of wearing surfaces and utilities
(DW)
 estimated by taking the unit weight times the thickness of the surface.
 this value is combined with the DC loads.
Dead load of earth fill (EV)
 must be considered for buried structures such as culverts.
 determined by multiplying the unit weight time the depth of the materials.
Earth surcharge load (ES)
 calculated like the EV loads with the only difference being in the load factors.
 the difference is attributed to the variability.
 part of all of this load could be removed in the future or the surcharge
material (loads) could be changed.
Drag down (DD)
 force exerted on a pile or drilled shaft due to the soil movement around the
element.
 typically increases with time.
 In the absence of more precise information, the densities, specified in table below,
shall be used for dead loads.

Densities and Force

Effects of Different
Materials
II. TRANSIENT LOADS
BR = vehicular braking force
CE = vehicular centrifugal force
CR = creep
CT = vehicular collision force
EQ = earthquake
FR = friction
IM = vehicular dynamic load allowance
LL = vehicular live load
LS = live load surcharge
PL = pedestrian live load
SE = settlement
SH = shrinkage
TG = temperature gradient
TU = uniform temperature
WA = water load and stream pressure
WL = wind on live load
WL = wind load on structure
LIVE LOADS
 refers to loads due to moving
vehicles that are dynamic
 loads that change their positions
with respect to time
 For modern bridges, service lives are
generally decades or even more than a
hundred years
 For highway bridges, the live load
includes the vehicle load and sidewalk
load
Vehicular Live Loads (LL)
Three categories:
 Design truck load
AASHTO “design
 Design tandem load
vehicular live load”, HL93
 Design lane load
DESIGN LANE
 number of lanes a bridge may accommodate must be established
 two terms used the lane design of a bridge:
1. Traffic lane
2. Design lane

 Traffic lane: the number of lanes of traffic that the traffic engineer plans to
route across the bridge. A lane width is associated with a traffic lane and is
typically 3.60 m.
 Design lane: the lane designation used the bridge engineer for the live load
placement. The design lane width may or may not be the same as the
traffic lane.
Number of Design Lanes
 Generally, the number of design lanes should be determined by taking the integer part of the
ratio w/3600, where w is the clear roadway width in mm between curbs and/or barriers.
Design Truck
 former Highway Semitrailer 20-ton design truck (HS20-44)
 the variable axle spacing between the 145 kN loads is adjusted to create a
critical condition for the design of each location in the structure,
 in the transverse direction, the design truck is 3 m wide and my be placed
anywhere in the standard 3.60-m-wide lane.
 the wheel load may not be positioned any closer than 0.6 m from the lane
line, or 0.3 m from the face of the curb, barrier, or railing.
Characteristics of the Design Truck
Design Tandem
 consists of two 110 – kN axles spaced at 1.20 m on center.
 The transverse spacing of wheels shall be taken as 1.8 m.

 Tandem – can be defined as two closely spaced and mechanically

interconnected axles of equal weight
Design Tandem Load
Design Lane Load
 AASHTO design loading is equal to 9.3 N/mm and emulates a caravan of
trucks.
 the lane loading is spread over a 3-m-wide area in the standard 3.60-m lane.
 the load of design truck and design tandem must each be superimposed with
the load effects of the design lane load. This combination of load and axle loads
is a major deviation from the requirements of the earlier AASHTO standard
specifications where the loads were considered separately.
Fatigue Loads
 A bridge is vulnerable to repeated stressing or fatigue.
When the load is cyclic, the stress level is below the nominal yield strength.
 This load depends upon:
 range of live load stress
 number of stress cycles under service load conditions.
DYNAMIC LOAD ALLOWANCE
Vehicular Dynamic Load Allowance (IM)
 Dynamic effects due to moving vehicles.
 attributed to two sources:
1. Hammering effect - the dynamic response of the wheel assembly to riding
surface discontinuities, such as deck joints, cracks, potholes, and
delaminations, and
2. Dynamic response of the bridge as a whole to passing vehicles, which shall
be due to long undulations in the roadway pavement, such as those caused
by settlement of fill, or to resonant excitation as a result of similar
frequencies of vibration between bridge and vehicle. The frequency of
vibration of any bridge should not exceed 3 Hz.
DYNAMIC LOAD ALLOWANCE
Vehicular Dynamic Load Allowance (IM)
 Dynamic load allowance need not be applied to:

Retaining walls not subject to vertical reactions from the superstructure;

Foundation components that are entirely below ground level.
 The dynamic load allowance shall not be applied to pedestrian loads or to the
design lane load.
Vehicular Centrifugal Force (CE)
 Centrifugal force is due to inertia force of vehicles on curved bridges at speed.
 Centrifugal forces shall be applied horizontally at a distance 1.8 m above the
roadway surface.
Vehicular Braking Force (BR)
 These forces develop as a result
of the braking effort (sudden
stopping), or the tractive effort
(sudden acceleration). In both
cases, the vehicle’s inertia force
is transferred to the bridge deck
through friction between the
deck and the wheels.

Braking forces on roadway bridges.

Vehicular Collision Force (VT)
 Unless protections are provided a horizontal force of 1800KN applied at 1.2m
above the ground should be considered.
Pedestrian Loads (PL)
 Live loads are also created by pedestrians and bicycles.
 A pedestrian load of 3.6 kPa (kN/m2) shall be applied to all sidewalks wider
than 0.6 m and considered simultaneously with the vehicular design live load.
Wind Pressure on Structures (WS)
 Wind loads are produced by the flow of wind around structures.
 In bridge design, wind load is defined as wind pressure on the bridge.
 Wind load vary with peak wind speed, type of terrain, etc.
 Wind loads for substructure design are of two types:
1. loads applied to the substructure, and
2. those applied to the superstructure and transmitted to the substructure.
 For small and medium sized concrete bridges below 50m length the wind load
on structures shall be neglected.
Wind on Live Load (WL)
 When vehicles are present, the design wind pressure shall be applied to both
structure and vehicles.
Wind pressure on vehicles shall be represented by an interruptible, moving
force of 1.46 kN/m acting normal to, and 1.8 m above, the roadway and shall be
transmitted to the structure
Earthquake (EQ)
 Earthquake loads are given by the product of the elastic seismic response
coefficient Csm and the equivalent weight of the superstructure.
These are inertia forces due to mass of the bridge when a sudden shaking of
the ground occurs.
 Depends, primarily on seismic hazard, geotechnical parameters of the site, and
structure’s natural frequency, etc.
 Only the horizontal component of earthquake ground motion is considered in
bridge design and analysis.
Force Effects Due to Superimposed
Deformations
 Uniform temperature, (TU): Bridge materials expend and contract in response
to rise and fall of temperature. The difference between the lowest or the highest
temperature and the base construction temperature assumed in design shall be
used to calculate thermal deformation effects.
 Temperature Gradient, (TG): Temperature rise can differ on the top and
bottom surfaces of abridge because the top surface is subjected to direct solar
radiation.
 Differential Shrinkage, (SH): Where appropriate, differential shrinkage strains
between concretes of different age and composition, and between concrete and
steel or wood, shall be determined. The designer may specify timing and
sequence of construction in order to minimize stresses due to differential
shrinkage between components.
Force Effects Due to Superimposed
Deformations
 Creep, (CR): In determining force effects and deformations due to creep,
dependence on time and changes in compressive stresses shall be taken into
account.
Settlement, (SE): This will cause internal forces in continues structures. Force
effects due to extreme values of differential settlements among substructures
and within individual substructure units shall be considered.
Design Loads on Bridges