Bridge Load Testing as Per IRC SP 51

Abstract

Abstract: Bridge load testing is popular means of demonstrating bridge’s capability to carry safely design loads. It is commonly used to determine the issues which cannot be resolved by only visual inspection or analysis. This paper deals with the study of load testing of major Bridge on River of 17.20 meter span Between Pier P5 and Pier P6. Under this project bridge was loaded with vehicular loading and tested for design load. Deflection of bridge is measured by dial gauges and recorded for bridge analysis. This study consists preparation of load test on bridge for deflection load as per IRC SP 51(2015) and how load testing is carried out by visual inspection, by applying vehicular loading or dynamic loading , its behaviour under loading and unloading conditons, behavior of bridge under the different temperatures to check how bridge is going to behave under weather conditions , maximum permissible deflection of girders , total deflection of girders, total recovery and percentage recovery of deflections after removal of load and comparison between theoretical deflections and actual deflections to find out testing bridge capability and its structural integrity. Keywords: Bridge Load Test, Dial Gauge, vehicles, Loading, Unloading, Deflection, Design load, Temperature effect, Temperature correction, Total recovery, Total Deflection, Theoretical Deflection, Percentage recovery.