Live Load Testing of Appalachia, Va Concrete Arch Bridges for Load Rating Recommendation

Simple item page
dc.contributor.authorThornton, Nathan Paulen
dc.contributor.committeechairCousins, Thomas E.en
dc.contributor.committeememberRoberts-Wollmann, Carin L.en
dc.contributor.committeememberLeon, Roberto T.en
dc.contributor.departmentCivil Engineeringen
dc.date.accessioned2014-03-14T20:45:59Zen
dc.date.adate2012-10-02en
dc.date.available2014-03-14T20:45:59Zen
dc.date.issued2012-09-13en
dc.date.rdate2012-10-02en
dc.date.sdate2012-09-25en
dc.description.abstractAs America's infrastructure ages, many of the nation's bridges approach the end of their service life. In order to develop a method for handling the rising number of deficient and functionally obsolete bridges, nondestructive tests and evaluations must be undertaken. Valuable information from these tests regarding the strength and condition of bridges will help in making decisions about their rehabilitation and replacement. Two adjoining open spandrel reinforced concrete arch bridges in downtown Appalachia, Virginia were selected for live load testing by Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT). Both bridges have supported an increasing amount of extreme coal truck traffic throughout their service life and are essential to the efficient transport of coal in the region. Because of their age, having been built in 1929, and the amount of visible damage and repairs, VDOT was concerned about their remaining capacity and safe operation. The live load tests focused on global behavior characteristics such as service strain and deflection as well as local behavior of the arches surrounding significant repairs. It was found that the strain and deflection data collected during load testing displayed linear elastic behavior, indicating excess capacity beyond the test loads. Also, given the loading applied, the measured strains and deflections were small in magnitude, showing that the bridges are still acting as stiff structures and are in good condition. Data collected during these tests was compared to results from a finite element model of the bridges to determine the coal truck size which is represented by the live load test loading configurations. The model comparisons determined the test loads produced comparable deflections to those produced by the target coal truck load. Through this approach, a recommendation was given to VDOT regarding the satisfactory condition of the aging bridges to aid in the process of load rating and maintenance scheduling for the two bridges.en
dc.description.degreeMaster of Scienceen
dc.identifier.otheretd-09252012-122919en
dc.identifier.sourceurlhttp://scholar.lib.vt.edu/theses/available/etd-09252012-122919/en
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10919/35195en
dc.publisherVirginia Techen
dc.relation.haspartThornton_NT_T_2012.pdfen
dc.rightsIn Copyrighten
dc.rights.urihttp://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/en
dc.subjectopen-spandrel concrete arch bridgeen
dc.subjectlive load testen
dc.subjectVirginia Department of Transportation (VDOT)en
dc.subjectfinite element modelingen
dc.titleLive Load Testing of Appalachia, Va Concrete Arch Bridges for Load Rating Recommendationen
dc.typeThesisen
thesis.degree.disciplineCivil Engineeringen
thesis.degree.grantorVirginia Polytechnic Institute and State Universityen
thesis.degree.levelmastersen
thesis.degree.nameMaster of Scienceen

Files

Original bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Thumbnail Image
Name:
Thornton_NT_T_2012.pdf
Size:
4.8 MB
Format:
Adobe Portable Document Format
Download

Collections

Masters Theses