Load Rating and Permit Review Using Load and Resistance Factor Philosophy

The objective of NCHRP Project 12-46 is to develop a manual with supporting commentary and illustrative examples for the evaluation of highway bridges that will be consistent with the AASHTO LRFD Specifications in using a reliability based limit states philosophy. The primary goal of this project is to produce a practical evaluation manual that is easy to understand and use, which will receive broad support for adoption and distribution by the AASHTO Subcommittee on Bridges and Structures. The reliability aspects will remain invisible to the evaluation engineer through the use of calibrated load and resistance factors, as was done in the LRFD Specifications.