Typical installations, design practices, a wheel load distribution factor study, structural component tests, and a review of galvanized steel performance data are described for a galvanized cold-formed steel bridge system designed for low-volume roads. A number of these short-span bridges have been designed and built in ecuador recently. Box sections used as longitudinal girders were shown analytically to provide better lateral distribution of wheel loads on bridge plank decks than conventional wide-flange beams or i-girders. Effective torsional stiffness of the box girders used in the study was determined from laboratory tests on two full-scale, 11.7-M-span, prototype box girders. One girder was spliced by a field welding procedure and the other by a bolted splice design. Test results confirmed that strength and stiffness can be accurately predicted using state-of-the-art cold-formed steel design technology with some restrictions on geometry and welds. Durability performance data and life-cycle costing analyses on galvanized steel bridges in the united states indicate that the subject bridge system offers a durable, maintenance-free, and economical system when site environmental conditions are suitable for galvanized coatings. This paper appears in transportation research record no. 1291, Fifth international conference on low-volume roads, may 19-23, 1991, raleigh, north carolina, volume 1.
Abstract