Wisconsin Study on the Impact of OSOW Vehicles on Complex Bridges

016007752016Final ReportPerforming organization number: CFIRE 08-03 Final Report 08/08/2013 \u2013 10/07/2015PDFTech ReportCFIRE 08-030092-13-11BridgesEvaluationLoad testsOversize loadsOverweight loadsPermitsStructural analysisBridges and other structuresHighwaysMotor CarriersOperations and Traffic ManagementFreight VehiclesTravel PermitsOversize TrucksOverweight TrucksOSOWUnited StatesWisconsinNational Center for Freight and Infrastructure Research and Education (U.S.)Yanez-Rojas, JaimeYu, JinOliva, Michael G.Adams, Teresa M.National Center for Freight and Infrastructure Research and Education (U.S.)University of Wisconsin--Madison. Dept. of Civil and Environmental EngineeringUS Transportation CollectionSpecial purpose freight vehicles, which may weigh six times the normal legal limit, request special government permits for travel along selected highway routes. It is difficult for transportation agencies to determine the effects of these vehicles on some unique complex bridge structures. Errors in issuing travel permits may impact public safety or impede commerce through long detours. The goal of this study was to identify how complex bridges, unlike normal girder span bridges, respond to normal and oversize truck loading and then to develop methods that might be used for simply evaluating the impact of overweight trucks on bridges as part of the permit issuing process. Some of these results may also be useful in the bridge rating processes. Three long span arch bridges, one rigid frame bridge and two short span opening bascule bridges were examined in detail analytically to investigate their behavior; three of the bridges were also load tested to provide proof of the accuracy of the analytic methods used