Research on skew slab-and-girder bridges has had limited impact on practical bridge design. A literature study indicates that there is no information available that tells a designer exactly how to take into account the effects of skew when designing a slab-and-girder bridge. Thus, research on skew slab-and-girder bridges with the goalof developing design criteria that include the effects of skew is desirable. With this goal in mind, a parametric study is done in which the behavior of simply supported, right and skew slab-and-girder bridges is determined by varying the properties of the structural members and the bridge geometry. The results obtained from linear elastic finite element analyses on 108 bridges are used to develop an accurate, simplified analysis procedure for the maximum bending momentsin the girders. Bridges with five precast, prestressed, or steel i-beam girders subjected to two aashto hs20-44 standard trucks are considered, but the analysis procedure is suitable for bridges with more than five girders and with more than two traffic lanes. The proposed analysis procedure is based on improved aashto wheel load fractions for right bridges, which are modified for skew bridges. It is found that the aashto specifications for the distribution of wheel loads in right slab-and-girder bridges are sometimes unsafe and often too conservative. This paper appears in transportation research recordno. 1319, Bridge and hydrology research 1991.
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