Abstract
Most timber bridges are currently designed in accordance with the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) Standard Specifications for Highway Bridges, 17 th Edition (SSHB), which follows an allowable stress design (ASD) approach. However, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) will be requiring all highway bridges designed after October 1, 2007 to follow the AASHTO LRFD (Load & Resistance Factor Design) Bridge Design Specifications, 3 rd Edition. As the transition from ASD to LRFD nears, engineers need to be aware of the differences. Information about more recent changes to the design codes and differences between AASHTO's Manual for Condition Evaluation and Load Resistance Factor Rating (LRFR) of Highway Bridges and AASHTO's Manual for Condition Evaluation of Bridges, 2 nd Edition (MCEB) will be presented. This paper will provide an overview of the pertinent issues related to timber bridge design and load rating. An example is included that illustrates the dramatic reduction in rated load capacity when calculated by the LRFD method.
Published Version
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