SPR 10-408 Effect of Thermal Loads on bridge Substructures

The objective of this study is to instrument, on a multi-span bridge, the bottom horizontal surface at the base of the footing of the pier with five soil pressure cells and temperature gages, and instrument the vertical face of the footing and pier with temperature gages, and to continuously monitor the soil pressure and temperatures and compare the soil pressures with ones derived using the AASHTO code. The data collected from the instrumentation will lead to more effective design of footings for bridge piers. The design of footings for short bridge piers is primarily controlled by the AASHTO thermal loads requirements. Accurate estimates of the thermal loads on footings is essential for proper design and can be achieved by instrumenting footings in new bridges andmonitoring the soil pressure on the footing under different ambient conditions.