STRUCTURAL ASSESSMENT. THE USE OF FULL AND LARGE SCALE TESTING. A STUDY OF A CENTRAL STRINGER BRIDGE DECK

A series of load tests on a large scale model of a bridge deck are described. The deck was designed with a central stringer which had a flexural rigidity that was considerably lower than that of the main plate girders. This cast doubt on the validity of a standard grillage idealisation of the structure. The tests show these doubts to have been well-founded since the local effects in the stringer were not correctly represented by the grillage analysis. (Author/TRRL)