Ensuring the Passage of Freight Trains with Increased Axle Loads on Railway Bridges

Abstract

Assessment of load-carrying capacity of metal and reinforced concrete railway bridges of different length built in 1930 - 2007, operated under modern heavy-weight trains, is considered in the article. To understand and cause the occurrence of deformations in structural elements, it is necessary to analyze the operation of bridge spans under conditions of increasing axial loads and traffic speeds. Deformation processes cause the appearance of defects, structural failures and accidents, which leads to material and environmental damage. The funds spent on bridge serviceability reconstruction are much more than those invested in protective measures. The main task is to study the interaction of bridges and rolling stock (bridge-train system), namely, the greatest influence from dynamic deformations and movements. The purpose of this work is to study the possibility of making way for heavy-weight rolling stock over the bridge spans. The research is based on the study of their load-carrying capacity estimation by test and classification methods. The paper presents the results of the measurements of the stress-strain state of bridge structures, obtained by the authors, using strain-measuring hardware-software complex (SMHSC). Depending on the results obtained, the decisions on the possibility of making way for heavy rolling stock with the axle load of 245-275 kN on the metal and reinforced concrete bridge spans are made.