Abstract
This paper evaluates the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) line load and live load distribution factors. The standard AASHTO formulas for live load in some cases underestimate the live load moments by as much as 40%. The AASHTO distribution of line loads (dividing the loads equally among all girders) results in even larger underestimates of line load distribution, leading to unsafe designs. This paper shows how more reliable distribution factors can be obtained for line loads, AASHTO truck loads, and non-AASHTO live loads. A user-friendly computer program for calculating distribution factors is discussed. A useful concept for analyzing beams of variable section (equivalent girder) is also discussed.
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