The current American Railway Engineering and Maintenance-of-Way Association (AREMA) Manual provides live load impact formulas for the design of steel railroad bridges. The only variable in those formulas is span length and do not include other parameters that bridge engineers know affects live load impact factor. Years of use in practice and research have shown that these formulas are reliable, safe and simple to apply, though often very conservative. In order to make the nation’s transportation more efficient and energy efficient, a significant effort is underway in the U.S. to enhance its railroad infrastructures. Bridges built before the 1950s, many of which are still in service, were designed to sustain the effects of steam engine hammer blow, and consequently slow speed. Yet, most of these bridges may not be replaced and may be required to carry high speed passenger equipment. This raises the question of what effects higher speed trains will have on old, long span truss steel bridges. This paper presents finding from the detail literature review on the current live load impact factor on truss railroad bridges and its implication to the future.
Skip Nav Destination
2013 Joint Rail Conference
April 15–18, 2013
Knoxville, Tennessee, USA
Conference Sponsors:
- Rail Transportation Division
ISBN:
978-0-7918-5530-0
PROCEEDINGS PAPER
Review of Live Load Impact Factor for Existing Truss Railroad Bridges in the United States Available to Purchase
David W. Jacobs,
David W. Jacobs
University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT
Search for other works by this author on:
Ramesh B. Malla
Ramesh B. Malla
University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT
Search for other works by this author on:
David W. Jacobs
University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT
Ramesh B. Malla
University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT
Paper No:
JRC2013-2567, V001T01A020; 9 pages
Published Online:
November 4, 2013
Citation
Jacobs, DW, & Malla, RB. "Review of Live Load Impact Factor for Existing Truss Railroad Bridges in the United States." Proceedings of the 2013 Joint Rail Conference. 2013 Joint Rail Conference. Knoxville, Tennessee, USA. April 15–18, 2013. V001T01A020. ASME. https://doi.org/10.1115/JRC2013-2567
Download citation file:
16
Views
Related Proceedings Papers
Related Articles
An Underactuated, Magnetic-Foot Robot for Steel Bridge Inspection
J. Mechanisms Robotics (August,2010)
Dynamic Interaction Between Freight Train and Steel Bridge
J. Dyn. Sys., Meas., Control (March,1985)
Minimizing Fatigue and Fracture in Steel Bridges
J. Eng. Mater. Technol (January,1980)
Related Chapters
Energy
Machines That Made History: Landmarks in Mechanical Engineering
Land and Sea Transportation
Machines That Made History: Landmarks in Mechanical Engineering
Transportation
Engineering the Everyday and the Extraordinary: Milestones in Innovation