Effects of Traffic Loads on Road Bridges - Preliminary Studies for the Re-Asessment of the Traffic Load Model for Eurocode 1, Part 3.

WIM has developed greatly in the last ten years and confidence in the accuracy of recorded data has increased significantly. Traffic data recently obtained from a number of representative European sites are used to re-calibrate the codified main load model of the European bridge loading code, Eurocode 1 Part 3. A wide range of real and virtual bridge forms were chosen for the study. Simulations were performed using free-flowing and jammed traffic. Load effects generated were determined and statistical extrapolations were performed, where appropriate, to determine characteristic values for the load effects. Some of the assumptions used in the derivation of the original loading model were reassessed.