| dc.description.abstract | Twin steel tub girder bridges are an aesthetically pleasing structural option, offering long span solutions in tight radii direct connectors. However, these bridges require a routine two-year inspection frequency, as well as a thorough hands-on inspection, because of their fracture critical designation. The heightened inspection requirements for fracture-critical bridges come at a significant cost to the Department of Transportations (DOTs). Recent research has shown that tangent, or nearly tangent, twin steel tub girder sections can redistribute load to the intact girder after fracture of one of the girder bottom flanges. Additional research is required to develop recommendations for practical analysis of typical twin steel tub span configurations with the degree of curvature common to twin steel tub direct connectors.
A key objective of this research is to develop more rigorous modeling and analysis methods. These analysis and modeling methods shall take into account the capacity of the fractured girder, especially at support locations, and realistically model the load distribution between the intact girder and the fractured girder. However, the modeling and analysis methods need to be sufficiently straightforward to be applied on a large scale to the inventory of steel tub bridges. The analysis method developed should meet the requirements outlined in the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Memorandum (FHWA 2012).
Reprinted with permission from “Fracture Critical Steel Twin Tub Girder Bridges Technical Report” 0- 6937-R1 by Hurlebaus S., Mander J., Terzioglu T., Boger N., Fatima A., 2018. Texas A&M Texas Transportation Institute, Copyright 2018 by Texas A&M Texas Transportation Institute | en |
