Abstract

MALAN, A D  and  VAN ROOYER, G C. Critical normal traffic loading for flexure of skew bridges according to TMH7. J. S. Afr. Inst. Civ. Eng. [online]. 2013, vol.55, n.3, pp.86-95. ISSN 2309-8775.

Different types of loading due to traffic may act on bridges. The focus of this paper is on normal traffic loading according to the South African specification TMH7 (Committee of State Road Authorities 1988). TMH7 represents the code of practice for the design of highway bridges and culverts in South Africa. The aim of the paper is to provide additional insight into the effect of normal traffic loading patterns on the flexural analysis of skew bridges. This is necessary since TMH7 does not explicitly specify application patterns for normal traffic loading. Only the intensity of normal traffic loading is specified and it should be applied to yield the most adverse effects. In this paper a set of so-called "standard application patterns" are investigated and compared with the application patterns that yield the most adverse effects. The patterns are compared for flexural effects in selected design regions of the bridge deck. Numerical experiments were performed and are presented for a typical single-span bridge deck. The results of the numerical experiments are compared as the angle of skew of the bridge deck increases.

Keywords : bridge traffic loading; skew bridges; TMH7; software development; finite element analysis.

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