A platform for research: civil engineering, architecture and urbanism
A platform for research: civil engineering, architecture and urbanism
Performance of Wood Timber Covered Bridges Over the Last 150 Years
By looking at the performance of wood timber covered bridges over the past 150 years, the purpose of this paper is to explore the feasibility of designing and constructing a medium-span wood covered bridge capable of supporting commercial traffic and to build and preserve the bridge to have a service life comparable to the covered bridges built in the 1800s. Using the concepts and principles developed in the mid-1800s to construct covered wood bridges and their performance over the past 150 years, this paper proposes to use the same principles to develop, design, and construct modern covered wood bridges capable of transporting heavy vehicle traffic. The idea of using wood structural elements in the bridge offers the possibility of preserving and protecting the wood members to last an extended period of time. The issue with reinforced concrete (RC) bridges is the length of their service life which is typically considered to be about 75 years. RC bridges after 30 or 40 years often require major repair and rehabilitation, and replacement before 75 years. A modern wood bridge with proper protection can possibly last up to 150 years. The fact a wooden bridge, when properly protected, can last for an extended time is illustrated by the number of existing timber covered bridges across the United States and Canada. In Indiana alone, there are currently 98 extant covered bridges, many still in service, with their wood structural members in excellent condition. Based on this paper’s research and findings on covered bridge structures and their long service life, it is feasible a modern medium-span timber highway bridge can be fabricated, preserved, and placed into an extended service life for up to 150 years or more, well beyond the 75-year service life of typical RC highway bridges. One wood beam bridge concept is presented in this paper, with more concepts under consideration. Designing and building a timber bridge to meet AASHTO HL-93 vehicle loading to last many years is a real challenge and will take significant research. But building such a wood bridge may be possible.
Performance of Wood Timber Covered Bridges Over the Last 150 Years
By looking at the performance of wood timber covered bridges over the past 150 years, the purpose of this paper is to explore the feasibility of designing and constructing a medium-span wood covered bridge capable of supporting commercial traffic and to build and preserve the bridge to have a service life comparable to the covered bridges built in the 1800s. Using the concepts and principles developed in the mid-1800s to construct covered wood bridges and their performance over the past 150 years, this paper proposes to use the same principles to develop, design, and construct modern covered wood bridges capable of transporting heavy vehicle traffic. The idea of using wood structural elements in the bridge offers the possibility of preserving and protecting the wood members to last an extended period of time. The issue with reinforced concrete (RC) bridges is the length of their service life which is typically considered to be about 75 years. RC bridges after 30 or 40 years often require major repair and rehabilitation, and replacement before 75 years. A modern wood bridge with proper protection can possibly last up to 150 years. The fact a wooden bridge, when properly protected, can last for an extended time is illustrated by the number of existing timber covered bridges across the United States and Canada. In Indiana alone, there are currently 98 extant covered bridges, many still in service, with their wood structural members in excellent condition. Based on this paper’s research and findings on covered bridge structures and their long service life, it is feasible a modern medium-span timber highway bridge can be fabricated, preserved, and placed into an extended service life for up to 150 years or more, well beyond the 75-year service life of typical RC highway bridges. One wood beam bridge concept is presented in this paper, with more concepts under consideration. Designing and building a timber bridge to meet AASHTO HL-93 vehicle loading to last many years is a real challenge and will take significant research. But building such a wood bridge may be possible.
Performance of Wood Timber Covered Bridges Over the Last 150 Years
Lecture Notes in Civil Engineering
Desjardins, Serge (editor) / Poitras, Gérard J. (editor) / El Damatty, Ashraf (editor) / Elshaer, Ahmed (editor) / Crawford, Kenneth C. (author)
Canadian Society of Civil Engineering Annual Conference ; 2023 ; Moncton, NB, Canada
Proceedings of the Canadian Society for Civil Engineering Annual Conference 2023, Volume 10 ; Chapter: 10 ; 123-139
2024-09-03
17 pages
Article/Chapter (Book)
Electronic Resource
English
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