TOLERABLE MOVEMENT CRITERIA FOR HIGHWAY BRIDGES. FINAL REPORT

This investigation included (a) a state-of-the-art assessment of tolerable bridge movements based on a literature review, an appraisal of existing design specifications and practice, the collection and analysis of field data on foundaiton movements, structural damage and the tolerance to movements for a large number of bridges (314) in the Unites States and Canada, and an appraisal of the reliability of the methods currently used for settlement prediction; (b) a series of analytical studies to evaluate the effect of different magnitudes and rates of differential movement on the potential level of distress produced in a wide variety of steel and concrete bridge structures of different span lengths and stiffnesses; and (c) the development of methodology for the design of bridges and their foundations that embodies a rational set of criteria for tolerable bridge movements. (Author)