Primer on Bridge Load Testing TRANSPORTATION RESEARCH BOARD 2019 EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE OFFICERS
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TRANSPORTATION RESEARCH Number E-C257 November 2019 Primer on Bridge Load Testing TRANSPORTATION RESEARCH BOARD 2019 EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE OFFICERS Chair: Victoria A. Arroyo, Executive Director, Georgetown Climate Center; Assistant Dean, Centers and Institutes; and Professor and Director, Environmental Law Program, Georgetown University Law Center, Washington, D.C. Vice Chair: Leslie S. Richards, Secretary, Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, Harrisburg Division Chair for NRC Oversight: Chris Hendrickson, Hamerschlag University Professor Emeritus, Carnegie Mellon University Executive Director: Neil J. Pedersen, Transportation Research Board TRANSPORTATION RESEARCH BOARD 2018–2019 TECHNICAL ACTIVITIES COUNCIL Chair: Hyun-A C. Park, President, Spy Pond Partners, LLC, Arlington, Massachusetts Technical Activities Director: Ann M. Brach, Transportation Research Board David Ballard, Senior Economist, Gellman Research Associates, Inc., Jenkintown, Pennsylvania, Aviation Group Chair Coco A. Briseno, Deputy Director, Planning and Modal Programs, California Department of Transportation (CALTRANS), State DOT Representative Michael Griffith, Director, Office of Safety Technologies, Federal Highway Administration, Safety and System Users Group Chair George Grimes, CEO Advisor, Patriot Rail Company, Denver, Colorado, Rail Group Chair Brendon Hemily, Principal, Hemily and Associates, Public Transportation Group Chair Nikola Ivanov, Deputy Director, Center for Advanced Transportation Technology Laboratory, University of Maryland, College Park, Young Members Council Chair C. James Kruse, Director, Center for Ports and Waterways, Houston, Texas, Marine Group Chair Mark Reno, Principal Engineer, Quincy Engineering, Inc., Rancho Cordova, California, Design and Construction Group Chair Elizabeth Rushley, Lawhon & Associates, Inc., Columbus, Ohio, Planning and Environment Group Chair Joseph Schofer, Professor and Associate Dean of Engineering, McCormick School of Engineering, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, Policy and Organization Group Chair William Varnedoe, Partner, The Kercher Group, Raleigh, North Carolina, Operations and Preservation Group Chair Fred R. Wagner, Partner, Venable, LLP, Legal Resources Group Chair TRANSPORTATION RESEARCH CIRCULAR E-C257 Primer on Bridge Load Testing November 2019 Transportation Research Board 500 Fifth Street, NW Washington, D.C. www.trb.org TRANSPORTATION RESEARCH CIRCULAR E-C257 ISSN 0097-8515 The Transportation Research Board is one of seven major programs of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. The mission of the Transportation Research Board is to provide leadership in transportation innovation and progress through research and information exchange, conducted within a setting that is objective, interdisciplinary, and multimodal. The Transportation Research Board is distributing this E-Circular to make the information contained herein available for use by individual practitioners in state and local transportation agencies, researchers in academic institutions, and other members of the transportation research community. The information in this E-Circular was taken directly from the submission of the authors. This document is not a report of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. Standing Committee on Testing and Evaluation of Transportation Structures Sreenivas Alampalli, New York State Department of Transportation, Chair Odile Abraham Mohammed Ettouney Eva Lantsoght Sreenivas Alampalli Dan Frangopol James Long Daniel Algernon Christina Freeman Steven Lovejoy Ralf Arndt Paul Fuchs Marybeth Miceli Hoda Azari Al Ghorbanpoor Andrzej Nowak Soundar Balakumaran Richard Gostautas Brent Phares Asa Bassam Jesse Grimson John Popovics Erin Bell Nenad Gucunski Parisa Shokouhi Shane Boone Devin Harris Robert Sweeney Genda Chen Bernard Hertlein Jeffrey Weidner Ahsan Chowdhury Stefan Hurlebaus Harry White Robert Connor David Kosnik Yi Zhou TRB Staff Stephen Maher, Senior Program Officer Ashley Vaughan, Associate Program Officer Transportation Research Board 500 Fifth Street, NW Washington, D.C. www.trb.org Preface he TRB Testing and Evaluation of Transportation Structures committee consists of members T from infrastructure owners, practicing engineers, nondestructive testing providers, and researchers. This committee is concerned with condition assessment and evaluation of the performance of transportation structures. The committee addresses the use of testing, monitoring, and nondestructive evaluation methods to assess the load-carrying capacity of structures, detect and quantify defects, and assess condition. The primary focus of the committee has been the transfer of knowledge to promote practical application of research for evaluation of structures for effective asset management. To encourage rapid adoption of the latest technologies and methods, the committee has been pursuing products that demonstrate the successful application of technologies and methods for the condition assessment and performance evaluation of transportation structures. This E- Circular is a product of these efforts. Load testing has been one of the recognized methods to evaluate and load rate bridge structures. While advanced calculation methods are available to determine the ultimate capacity of existing structures, timely and accurate in-service data needed for model input and service life prediction is not always forthcoming. Load testing provides a useful alternative for such cases where current calculation methods, for one reason or another, cannot provide satisfactory answers to performance questions on existing bridges. AASHTO’s Manual for Bridge Evaluation and the 1998 Manual for Bridge Rating Through Load Testing have been generally used as a guidance to load testing. This E-Circular provides significant updates to the existing documents to reflect the current state of the practice on bridge load testing, and will cover the preparation, execution, and analysis of load tests, including diagnostic and proof tests. If effectively used, these methods can extend the useful life of existing bridges in a cost-effective fashion. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The standing committee recognizes the following who were the primary authors of this E-Circular: Sreenivas Alampalli, Dan M. Frangopol, Jesse Grimson, David Kosnik, Marvin Halling, Eva O.L. Lantsoght, Jeff S. Weidner, David Y. Yang, and Y. Edward Zhou. The standing committee also recognizes the following members and friends who reviewed the document and provided input: Erin Bell, Christina Freeman, James Long, Brent Phares, Franklin Moon, Duane Otter, and Thomas E. Beitelman. PUBLISHER’S NOTE The views expressed in this publication are those of the committee and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Transportation Research Board or The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. This publication has not been subjected to the formal TRB peer review process. iv Contents 1. Introduction ................................................................................................................................1 History of Load Testing for Load Rating .....................................................................................1 Objectives of Load Tests ..............................................................................................................2 Application of Load Tests.............................................................................................................3 Overview and Scope of Document ...............................................................................................4 Referenced Standards and Documents .........................................................................................5 2. General Considerations .............................................................................................................6 Introduction ...................................................................................................................................6 Preliminary Structural Investigation .............................................................................................8 Existing Documentation.............................................................................................................8 Preliminary Calculations and Considerations ............................................................................8 Analytical Model Development .................................................................................................9 Nondestructive Evaluation .......................................................................................................10 Types of Load Tests ....................................................................................................................10 Diagnostic Load Tests ..............................................................................................................10 Parameter-Specific Tests .........................................................................................................11 Proof Load Tests ......................................................................................................................12 Dynamic Load Allowance Estimation .....................................................................................13 Vibrational Methods ................................................................................................................14 Load Test Considerations ...........................................................................................................15