Dynamic Vehicle Impact for Safety Assessment of Bridges

In this paper the dynamic amplification of vehicle load at minor highway bridges is considered for safety assessment of the load carrying capacity of bridges. The considered case is the most critical for bridges, i.e. the simultaneous passage of two heavy trucks. A short description of the numerical modal parameters of the bridge are known, Only irregularities from imperfect expansion joints have been modelled as bumps at the entrance to the bridge. The results are obtained from a simulation study for different passage situations of the two heavy vehicles. Further, consequences for the safety assessment of the bridge are outlined. The results actually obtained show that the dynamic amplification factors used in Danish ans several other national regulations are too conservative.