Development of a bridge bumper to protect bridge girders from overheight vehicle impacts Academic Article uri icon

abstract

  • Abstract: Bridges with low clearance are vulnerable to collision with overheight vehicles. Collisions of overheight vehicles can cause fatalities and injuries to the drivers and passengers of the overheight vehicles, and damage to bridge girders. The repair of the damaged bridges can be costly and time consuming. This article investigates the feasibility of developing a bridge bumper that minimizes the physical injuries and the likelihood of fatalities and protects the structural elements of bridges by absorbing the impact energy. The article presents the results of smallscale impact experiments using the proposed bridge bumper with several options of energyabsorbing materials to protect a reinforced concrete beam. Finite element analyses are carried out to simulate the smallscale impact experiments. Optimization of the finite element model is conducted for the response quantities of interest with respect to the geometrical parameters and the material properties of the proposed bridge bumper. Such analysis can guide the design of an optimal bridge bumper that maximizes the energy dissipation and minimizes the damage to the bridge girder and the likelihood of fatalities and injuries. A possible fullscale implementation of the proposed bridge bumper is also described.

published proceedings

  • COMPUTER-AIDED CIVIL AND INFRASTRUCTURE ENGINEERING

author list (cited authors)

  • Sharma, H., Hurlebaus, S., & Gardoni, P.

citation count

  • 25

complete list of authors

  • Sharma, Hrishikesh||Hurlebaus, Stefan||Gardoni, Paolo

publication date

  • August 2008

publisher