Girder Distribution Model for Existing Short and Medium Span Steel Girder Bridges

단·중경간 강형교 거더의 횡분배 모델

The objective of this work is to verify the Code specified girder distribution factors for short and medium span bridges. To accomplish this objective, field tests were carried out on seventeen simply supported highway bridges. This paper presents the procedure and results of field tests that were performed to verify girder distribution factors. Finite Element analyses previously performed at the University of Michigan indicated that in most cases currently used girder distribution factors specified in AASHTO Codes are too conservative. However, these studies also showed that for short spans and short girder spacings, the girder distribution factors can be too permissive. Therefore, this paper focused on experimental evaluation of girder distribution factors for short and medium span steel girder bridges. The results were compared with the distribution factors specified by AASHTO Standard (2000) and AASHTO LRFD Code (1998). It has been found that the measured girder distribution factors are lower than AASHTO values in most cases, and sometimes the code specified values are overly conservative. The research work involved formulation of the testing procedure, selection of structure, installation of equipment, measurements, and interpretation of the results.