×
INTELLIGENT WORK FORUMS
FOR ENGINEERING PROFESSIONALS

Log In

Come Join Us!

Are you an
Engineering professional?
Join Eng-Tips Forums!
  • Talk With Other Members
  • Be Notified Of Responses
    To Your Posts
  • Keyword Search
  • One-Click Access To Your
    Favorite Forums
  • Automated Signatures
    On Your Posts
  • Best Of All, It's Free!
  • Students Click Here

*Eng-Tips's functionality depends on members receiving e-mail. By joining you are opting in to receive e-mail.

Posting Guidelines

Promoting, selling, recruiting, coursework and thesis posting is forbidden.

Students Click Here

Jobs

Sidewalk live load

Sidewalk live load

Sidewalk live load

(OP)
Just curious how other engineers handle sidewalk live load on a typical I-grider bridge.  Seems to me that this could be handled a couple of different ways:

1.  Distribute live load evenly among all the beams with no reduction of load factors.

2.  Distribute the live load among exterior beam(s) and use the lower load factor allowed by AASHTO for the combined sidewalk/vehicular live load.

My question for method #2 is how many beams to distribute the sidewalk live load to.  Certainly more than just the exterior beam would carry sidewalk live load, especially since by code the sidewalk dead load can be distributed among all the beams.

I've always used method #1, but I was just curious what others have done.  Thanks.

RE: Sidewalk live load

No. 1 makes sense, since the load is applied after the bridge deck is placed (like SDL), and I've done this in the past.  At other times, I've distributed the load evenly to fewer (usually 3) beams.  I've gone to more beams if it's a very wide sidewalk (like the curb line near the second interior beam) or other unusual geometries.

Massachusetts specifies 60% of sidewalk LL to exterior beam, 40% to all the interior beams, and if a sidewalk spans over two or more beams, the 60% is distributed evenly among those beams, and 40% to the remaining beams.


RE: Sidewalk live load

No 1 is how I usually do it also.

I forgot about Massachusetts. I designed some bridges there in the early/mid 80's.

Red Flag This Post

Please let us know here why this post is inappropriate. Reasons such as off-topic, duplicates, flames, illegal, vulgar, or students posting their homework.

Red Flag Submitted

Thank you for helping keep Eng-Tips Forums free from inappropriate posts.
The Eng-Tips staff will check this out and take appropriate action.

Reply To This Thread

Posting in the Eng-Tips forums is a member-only feature.

Click Here to join Eng-Tips and talk with other members!


Resources