Development of Notional Permit Vehicles for Complex Bridge Ratings in Alabama

Details

• Creators:
  Roszczenko, Rafal ; Luszczynska, Aneta K. ; Nowak, Andrzej S.
• Corporate Creators:
  Auburn University. Highway Research Center
• Corporate Contributors:
  Alabama. Department of Transportation
• Subject/TRT Terms:
  Arch Bridges Finite Element Method Loading And Unloading Notional Permit Vehicle Oversize Loads Overweight Loads Permits Probability Probability Paper Statistical Analysis Truss Bridges Vehicles

  More +
• Publication/ Report Number:
  931-095
• Resource Type:
  Tech Report
• Geographical Coverage:
  United States ; Alabama
• Edition:
  Final Report
• Corporate Publisher:
  Auburn University. Highway Research Center
• Abstract:
  Notional vehicles are useful in evaluation and rating of existing bridges as well as in design of new bridges. According to current trends, the number of overloaded trucks continues to increase. Alabama Department of Transportation (ALDOT) needs an effective and rational approach to include permit vehicles in the analysis. Therefore, the objective of this research was to develop a notional vehicle or group of notional vehicles for rating of complex bridges in Alabama representing permit loads. This project utilized ALDOT permit data collected between 2013 and 2024. Load effect simulations were performed using detailed 3D analysis. The finite element (FE) models for truss and arch bridges were developed in MIDAS Civil software. Dead load from the models was compared and validated based on the designers’ hand calculations specified in the original technical drawings. The discrepancy between these two datasets was approximately 10%, which can be attributed to the exclusion of steel connection weight in the finite element models. This variance was considered acceptable for the purpose of this research. Then, live load calculations were performed by running almost 300,000 overloaded permits and permit candidates through every complex bridge FE model resulting in total number of 606,463,020 load points. Super-load permits were excluded from this analysis. Midas Civil NX (2025) enabled powerful automation by utilizing dedicated Python libraries. Statistical parameters were computed for every notional vehicle candidate based on over 21 billion permit-to-candidate ratios for every considered truss bridge element which formed the basis for the selection criteria. Presented approach aims to reduce the number of vehicles required for complex bridge rating by introducing representative notional truck and helps with permits issuance process. Overloaded vehicles that produce a load effect lower than the developed notional vehicle, can apply for a permit without performing complex numerical analysis. The research was specifically focused on truss bridges, resulting in the development of notional permit vehicle tailored to this structural type.
• Format:
  PDF
• Funding:
  931-095
• Collection(s):
  US Transportation Collection
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:2446e17fcbee0fa2d9666d65785ab0f3767e186b632389226f719ad6b7e5830c55bfa264cf6cd51cd67e3ed056b8a6145a40fed153324294b6da960e4d7a08d0
• Download URL:
  https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/88487/dot_88487_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 17.66 MB ]