Bridge load rating is a crucial aspect of bridge evaluation and management, providing essential information regarding a bridge's capacity to safely accommodate traffic loads. For public safety, it is a crucial process for both new and existing bridges by establishing the weight restriction on heavy vehicles crossing the bridges to prevent structure damage and potential failure of the bridges. Rated bridge loads can be effectively communicated to road users through the installation of visible signage of truck weight limit (i.e., load posting). The Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) currently utilizes the Load Factor Rating (LFR) methodology to determine load postings for bridges. The procedures and policies for this load rating process are specified in MoDOT’s Bridge Inspection Rating Manual (MoDOT, 2022). The primary goal of this research project is to help in establishing new LRFR posting policies and methodology which should have outcomes similarly to the current LFR methodology used in Missouri. Three studies are conducted in this work. The first is to compare rating load and rating factor between LFR and LRFR methodologies for five vehicles: H20 Legal Load, MO3S2, CZSU, CZRT, and SU5. The second study is to establish threshold and posting factor for MoDOT legal load vehicles to envelope SHVs and AASHTO vehicles. The last study is to answer the question to MoDOT whether serviceability limit state should be included in the legal load rating. Analyses of bridge rating was performed using the load rating software AASHTOWare BrR v7.1. With comparative rating results in LFR and LRFR methodology over hundred sample prestressed bridges across Missouri state, this study found that outcomes are similar in terms of rating load and number of bridges required posting. Using LFR method, there is one bridge that is required to post for vehicles CZSU and CZRT, while none of bridges require posting using the LRFR method. The ratio of rating load between LRFR and LFR have sample mean closed to 1.00 with Standard Deviation around 0.1. The second study of establishing threshold and posting factor for MoDOT vehicles to envelope Special Hauling Vehicles (SHVs) and AASHTO vehicles have suggested that; H20L has threshold of 31 tons and posting factor of 1; MO3S2 has a threshold of 40 tons and posting factor of 0.97; CZSU has a threshold equal to its own gross weight (40.8 tons) and posting factor of 1; CZRT has threshold equal to its gross weight (50 tons) and posting factor of 1. The serviceability limit state investigation has found that only six over one hundred sample bridges would have LRFR service III controls rating. The service III rating load of those bridges are about 64% to 67% compared to the strength – flexure limit state rating loads. While bridges are not showing distress over the course of the service, serviceability limit state might not need to consider for prestressed bridges in Missouri state.

This two-volume set discusses the importance of linking the decision making concept to damage identification and structural modeling. It examines the process of addressing and maintaining structural health, including measurements, structural identification, and damage identification and discusses the theoretical and practical issues involved for each aspect. Emphasizing state-of-the-art practice as well as future directions, this text also features numerous practical case studies and covers the latest techniques in sensing and sensor utilization.

Bridge Maintenance, Safety, Management, Resilience and Sustainability contains the lectures and papers presented at The Sixth International Conference on Bridge Maintenance, Safety and Management (IABMAS 2012), held in Stresa, Lake Maggiore, Italy, 8-12 July, 2012. This volume consists of a book of extended abstracts (800 pp) Extensive collection of revised expert papers on recent advances in bridge maintenance, safety, management and life-cycle performance, representing a major contribution to the knowledge base of all areas of the field.

Bridge Maintenance, Safety, Management, Life-Cycle Sustainability and Innovations contains lectures and papers presented at the Tenth International Conference on Bridge Maintenance, Safety and Management (IABMAS 2020), held in Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan, April 11–15, 2021. This volume consists of a book of extended abstracts and a USB card containing the full papers of 571 contributions presented at IABMAS 2020, including the T.Y. Lin Lecture, 9 Keynote Lectures, and 561 technical papers from 40 countries. The contributions presented at IABMAS 2020 deal with the state of the art as well as emerging concepts and innovative applications related to the main aspects of maintenance, safety, management, life-cycle sustainability and technological innovations of bridges. Major topics include: advanced bridge design, construction and maintenance approaches, safety, reliability and risk evaluation, life-cycle management, life-cycle sustainability, standardization, analytical models, bridge management systems, service life prediction, maintenance and management strategies, structural health monitoring, non-destructive testing and field testing, safety, resilience, robustness and redundancy, durability enhancement, repair and rehabilitation, fatigue and corrosion, extreme loads, and application of information and computer technology and artificial intelligence for bridges, among others. This volume provides both an up-to-date overview of the field of bridge engineering and significant contributions to the process of making more rational decisions on maintenance, safety, management, life-cycle sustainability and technological innovations of bridges for the purpose of enhancing the welfare of society. The Editors hope that these Proceedings will serve as a valuable reference to all concerned with bridge structure and infrastructure systems, including engineers, researchers, academics and students from all areas of bridge engineering.

The purpose of this project is to validate the draft New York State Department of Transportation LRFR Engineering Instruction developed to provide guidance on application of the LRFR methodology as specified in the AASHTO Manual for Bridge Evaluation to the evaluation of bridges in New York State through the testing of Level II and Level I ratings to support LRFR implementation. This report documents the Level I ratings of 23 complex bridges and culverts using 2D and 3D finite element (FE) analysis methods. Ratings and load posting evaluations were determined based on both EI 05-034 and the Draft LRFR EI to compare the results of the Load Factor Rating (LFR) and LRFR methodologies. The impact of LRFR ratings on load postings and R-postings for NYS bridges is evaluated. The report provides guidance in load rating and posting requirements of AASHTO Specialized Hauling Vehicles (SHVs) for both LFR and LRFR methodologies, proposes updates to the LFR based EI 05-034 “Load Rating/Posting Guidelines for State Owned Highway Bridges,” documents suggested “Load and Resistance Factor Rating (LRFR) Blue Pages,” describes an approach to derive LRFR Condition Factors using AASHTO element inspection data, and documents recommended revisions to the draft LRFR EI. In addition, a statewide bridge inventory screening for SHV and the FAST Act Emergency Vehicles (EV) is performed and the results are presented.

The book includes peer-reviewed contributions selected from presentations given at the Istanbul Bridge Conference 2014, held from August 11 – 13 in Istanbul, Turkey. It reports on the current challenges in bridge engineering faced by professionals around the globe, giving a special emphasis to recently developed techniques, innovations and opportunities. The book covers key topics in the field, including modeling and analysis methods; construction and erection techniques; design for extreme events and condition assessment and structural health monitoring. There is a balanced presentation of theory, research and practice. This book, which provides the readers with a comprehensive and timely reference guide on current practices in bridge engineering, is intended for professionals, academic researchers and students alike.