Load Rating of Girder-Stringer-Floorbeam Bridges

Details

• Creators:
  Henderson, R Craig ; Huff, Tim ; Yarnold, Matthew
• Corporate Creators:
  Tennessee Technological University
• Corporate Contributors:
  Tennessee. Department of Transportation ; United States. Department of Transportation. Federal Highway Administration
• Subject/TRT Terms:
  • Bridges
  • Live loads
  • Load factor
  • Stringers
  • Girders
  • Composite construction
  • Floorbeam
• Publication/ Report Number:
  RES2022-02
• Resource Type:
  Tech Report
• Geographical Coverage:
  Tennessee ; United States
• Corporate Publisher:
  Tennessee. Department of Transportation
• Abstract:
  The research described herein investigated the behavior and capacity of girder-string-floorbeam bridges by: • Conducting a literature review of the current state-of-practice and emerging research regarding the capacity and behavior of girder-stringer-floorbeam bridges; • Experimentally measuring strain at various locations and identifying characteristic behavior in the stringers and girders of the Billy Nance Memorial Highway Bridge under live load; and • Conducting line girder analysis of continuous stringer spans using SIMON software and identifying potential sources of refined load ratings. Upon evaluation of the diagnostic load testing results, it can be inferred that the stringers in the girder-stringer-floorbeam bridge, SR-114 over the Tennessee River, have a higher load rating than initially anticipated. This is due, in part, to the fact that the stringers act semi-compositely with the concrete bridge deck (proven by the strain profile at the member cross-sections) which allows for a higher capacity in the stringers. In addition, the live load demands on the stringers were observed to be less than anticipated. Other sources of undue conservatism in typical stringer rating calculations were identified as well.
• Format:
  PDF
• Funding:
  RES2022-02
• Download URL:
  https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/73343/dot_73343_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 3.39 MB]
• Collection(s):
  US Transportation Collection
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha256:8e4e2e1792b8dcf305d31e6c34d781152a4e9389239d382ac2d19318573ee97a