Table of Contents

• Abstract
• 1. Introduction
  • 1.1 Timber Bridges
  • 1.2 Background
  • 1.3 Description of an Open Deck Timber Trestle Bridge
  • 1.4 Background to the Research
• 2. Literature Review
  • 2.1 Railroad Bridge Load Testing
  • 2.2 Timber Trestle Railroad Bridge Load Testing
  • 2.3 Study of an Open-Deck Skewed Timber Trestle Railroad Bridge
  • 2.4 Testing and Analysis of Timber Trestle Railroad Bridge Chords
• 3. Description of Physical Bridge Model
  • 3.1 Bridge Model Design
  • 3.2 Scaling of Model Bridge Stringers
  • 3.3 Substructure Description
  • 3.4 Pile Spacing and Soil Container
  • 3.5 Pile Installation
• 4. Materials Testing
  • 4.1 Discussion of Important Properties
  • 4.2 Pile Materials Testing
  • 4.3 Bridge Model Component MOE Testing
  • 4.4 Simply Supported Beam Test
  • 4.5 Cantilever Beam Test of Tie Rail Members
• 5. Testing of Substructure Strength
  • 5.1 Load Application System
  • 5.2 Ultimate Capacity Testing of the Test Piles
  • 5.3 Results of the Pile Load Test
  • 5.4 Stiffness Testing of the Pile Groups of the Specimen
  • 5.5 Results of the Pile Group Load Tests
  • 5.6 Alternative Method to Calculate Substructure Stiffness
• 6. Testing of Bridge Model Specimen
  • 6.1 Measurement Method
  • 6.2 Leica NA2 Auto-Level and Leica GMP3 Optical Micrometer
  • 6.3 Measurement Devices
  • 6.4 Measurement Recording
  • 6.5 Load Application
  • 6.6 Load Testing of the Specimen
    • 6.6.1 Load Test #1
    • 6.6.2 Load Tests #2 and #3
    • 6.6.3 Load Test #4
• 7. Description of Computer Based Bridge Model
  • 7.1 AxisVM
  • 7.2 Description of Utilized Elements
  • 7.3 Description of Bridge Model
• 8. Comparison of Load Testing Results to AxisVM Prediction
  • 8.1 Comparison Methods
  • 8.2 Comparison of AxisVM Model #2 to Load Test #2
  • 8.3 Comparison of AxisVM Model #3 to Load Test #3
  • 8.4 Comparison of AxisVM Model #4 to Load Test #4
• 9. Observations and Conclusions
  • 9.1 Observations
  • 9.2 Conclusions
• References
• Appendices*
  • Appendix A: Construction Drawing for the Physical Specimen*
  • Appendix B: Material Property Tests for all Bridge Components*
  • Appendix C: Pile Tests*
  • Appendix D: Plots of All Load Test Results*
  • Appendix E: Plots of AxisVM Predictions*
  • Appendix F: Plots Comparing Load Tests and AxisVM Predictions*
  • Appendix G: Measured Gaps between Stringers and Crossties*
  • Appendix H: Proving Ring Calibration Plot*
  • Appendix I: Soil Data for Sand Used*
  • Appendix J: Substructure Stiffness Calculation Example using Method 2*

*Appendices available from:
Mountain-Plains Consortium - Colorado State University
c/o Dr. Richard Gutkowski, Director
Engineering Research Center
Colorado State University
Fort Collins, Colorado 80523