Evaluation of Damage Due to Traffic on a Reinforced Concrete Bridge

An investigation of the damage caused by road traffic on a reinforced concrete bridge was performed. Focus was given to damage induced by extra-heavy vehicles. A damage model based on fatigue of reinforcement bars was employed. The stress cycles in the reinforcement bars were determined using measurements of the crack widths under traffic loading which were analysed using the rainflow method and Miner's rule. A monitoring system was mounted and used for seven weeks continuously to collect input data for the damage model. Computer software was developed to process the monitoring data in the sense of the damage model. The results indicate that a singular passage of an extra-heavy vehicle over the investigated bridge causes damage equivalent to the damage caused by one day of average weekly traffic. The described method was developed and used for the first time in the described project.