Field Evaluation of Load Bearing Capacity and Embedment Depth of Existing Ballastless Plate Girder Bridge Foundations

Abstract

The ballastless plate girder bridge, classified as a structure type that requires an emergent replacement among domestic railway bridges, generally tends to upgrade to a ballasted track along with continuous welded rail (CWR). The axial forces of the CWR due to the temperature change need to be distributed to the bridge foundations. Because most of the existing ballastless plate girder bridges of over 50 years of age do not provide any design information, such bridge foundations are regarded as unknown foundations, and therefore, it is crucial to identify the structural adequacy and dimension. In this study, an effort was made to establish a correlation between the standard penetration test (SPT) and mid-size pneumatic cone penetration test (MPCP) to estimate the load bearing capacity of an unknown foundation. A field test was conducted to estimate the depth of the unknown foundation by employing SPT and MPCP as the source wave part. The magnitude of the shear wave was mitigated by the presence of PVC and steel pipes, such that it might be possible to identify the embedment depth of unknown foundations.