Abstract
AbstractA regular inspection of a bridge carrying U.S. Route 422 over the Schuylkill River in Berks County, Pennsylvania, revealed cracks in the floor beam–to–cantilever bracket tie plates. Similar fatigue damage of this type has been observed over two decades ago in other bridges. During this period, much advancement has taken place in structural evaluation through finite-element analysis. This paper presents a comprehensive procedure for the examination and retrofitting of tie plates using analysis and field measurement. A field and forensic investigation was conducted to examine the cause of the crack formation and the behavior of the bridge. The results of the field study and a fractographic examination confirmed that the cracks had occurred because of cyclic horizontal bending of the tie plates, which was generated by secondary out-of-plane bending of the top of the floor beam and cantilever bracket. Field measurements and evaluation indicated that some of the as-built tie plate details had exceeded ...
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