Ruytenschildt Bridge: Field and laboratory testing

A large number of existing reinforced concrete solid slab bridges in the Netherlands are found to be insufficient for shear upon assessment. However, research has shown additional sources of capacity in slab bridges, increasing their total capacity. Previous testing was limited to half-scale slab specimens cast in the laboratory. To study the...

Beam Experiments on Acceptance Criteria for Bridge Load Tests

Loading protocols and acceptance criteria are available in the literature for load tests on buildings. For bridges, proof load tests are interesting when crucial information about the structure is missing, or when the uncertainties about the structural response are large. The acceptance criteria can then be applied to evaluate if further loading...

Stop Criteria for Flexure for Proof Load Testing of Reinforced Concrete Structures

Existing bridges with large uncertainties can be assessed with a proof load test. In a proof load test, a load representative of the factored live load is applied to the bridge at the critical position. If the bridge can carry this load without distress, the proof load test shows experimentally that the bridge fulfills the requirements of the...

Defining loading criteria for proof loading of existing reinforced concrete bridges

As the bridge stock in The Netherlands and Europe is ageing, various methods to analyse existing bridges are bemg studied. Proof loading of bridges is an option to study the capacity when crucial information about the structure is lacking. This information could be related to the material (for example, the effect of alkali-silica reaction on the...

Proof load testing of the viaduct De Beek

Proof load testing can be a suitable method to show that a bridge can carry the required loads from the code without distress. This paper addresses the preparation, execution, and analysis of a proof load test on a four-span reinforced concrete solid slab bridge, viaduct de Beek. The bridge has one lane in each direction, but was restricted to a...

Stop criteria for proof load tests verified with field and laboratory testing of the Ruytenschildt Bridge

As the existing bridge stock is aging, improved assessment methods such as proof load testing become increasingly important. Proof load testing involves large loads, and as such the risk for the structure and personnel can be significant. To capture the structural response, extensive measurements are applied to proof load tests. Stop criteria,...