Bridge Design Practice The main purpose of bridge design specifications is to ensure bridge safety such that minimum

resistances or capacities, in terms of strength, stiffness, and stability of each bridge component and the whole bridge structural system exceed the potential maximum demands or force effects due to various loads during its design life. The first national standard for highway bridge design and construction in the United States, Standard Specifications for Highway Bridges and ncidental Structures! was published by the "merican "ssociation of State Highway #fficials $""SH#% in &'(), the predecessor to the "merican "ssociation of State Highway and Transportation #fficials $""SHT#%. *esign theory and practice have evolved significantly due to increased understanding of structural behavior and loading phenomena gained through research. +rior to &'),, the sole design philosophy was allowable stress design $"S*%. Beginning in early &'),, a new design philosophy referred to as load factor design $-.*% was introduced. The latest version entitled Standard Specifications for Highway Bridges! $Standard Specifications% is the final &)th /dition $""SHT# (,,(% and includes both "S* and -.* philosophies. 0eliability1based and probability1based load and resistance factor design $-0.*% philosophy was first adopted in ""SHT# -0.* Bridge *esign Specifications! $-0.* Specifications% $""SHT# &''2% and continues in the 3th /dition $""SHT# (,&,%. The -0.* Specifications had not been widely used until ""SHT# discontinued updating of its Standard Specifications in (,,4. "S*, -.*, and -0.* are distinct design philosophies and methods. "S* does not recogni5e that some loads are more variable than others. -.* brings the ma6or philosophical change of recogni5ing that some loads are more accurately represented than others. -0.* is a logical extension of the -.* procedure and provides a mechanism to more systematically and rationally select the load and resistance factors with uniform margins of safety. The -0.* Specifications with 7alifornia "mendments has been implemented for the all new bridge designs in the State of 7alifornia since (,,8. The latest version of 7alifornia "mendments to the -0.* Specifications $""SHT# (,,)% was published in (,,9 $7altrans (,,9%. This chapter will briefly describe the general concepts and bac:grounds of "S* and -.* but primarily discuss the -0.* philosophy. " detailed discussion may be found in ;ulic:i $&'''%. <isit our site to download http=>>code1pdf.com>bridge1design1practice