Analysis and Evaluation on Safety of Old Stone Arch Bridge Based on Current Specification

Abstract

This paper examines the bearing capacity and stability of a catenary axis uniform cross-section multi-span stone arch bridge with solid spandrels in the cold areas. Taking the West Ulanhot Large Bridge built in cold area of Inner Mongolia in 1960s as an example, the bearing capacity and stability of early-built stone arch bridge were calculated,in consideration with the effect of dead load, live load and temperature variation as well as multi-arch action on the main arch ring, in the light of current specification, i.e., the Code for Design of Highway Masonry Bridges and Culverts (JTG D61-2005) published by the Ministry of Communications of the People's Republic of China. The aim was to evaluate the safety of the old multi-span arch bridge through the theoretical analysis and checking calculation based on the current specification.