Fatigue Life of Steel Bridges

Steel bridge structures are subjected to repeatedcyclic stresses due to traffic load. The damageaccumulation of these cyclic stresses can initiatecracks and lead to the fatigue failure of a bridgemember. Generally a certain safety level can beachieved by using the procedures specified in theAASHTO bridge design standards.However changes in the service condition such as anincrease in vehicle weight and traffic volume canimpact the service life of a bridge structure. Thisbook provides an evaluation procedure for fatiguereliability-based analysis of steel bridgestructures. The procedure can beutilized to evaluate the remaining fatigue life at aprescribed confidence level. An application of bridgeinstrumentation weigh-in-motion measurement andtraffic monitoring on a fatigue evaluation is alsopresented. The book will be of interest toresearchers bridge engineers and those involved inthe field of structural evaluation and maintenance.