Economic Impact of Higher Truck Loads on Remaining Safe Life of Louisiana Bridges

Due to the limited amount of funds available for bridge inspection, maintenance and rehabilitation, the evaluation of load capacity for existing bridges is crucial to the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development. This paper includes the development of a methodology to assess the economic impact of overweight vehicles with permits, hauling Louisiana harvest products on state bridges. The proposed higher truck loads are applied on the existing bridges and their effects are determined using deterministic load capacity evaluations as well as reliability assessments. The target reliability level is derived from bridge structures designed to satisfy AASHTO Standard Design Specifications and also satisfy safe and adequate performance levels. The amount of harvest produced is used to select a representative sample of bridges to provide specific examples of expected changes in load ratings and safety levels. The bridges include simple and continuous span behavior. Strength and serviceability criteria are investigated under current legal loads and the expected changes, due to the proposed new weights, are determined. The results are used to assess the cost of crossing a bridge and the permit fees for the proposed truck weight regulation.