Dynamic testing of a soil–steel composite railway bridge

Actual dynamic response of a long-span corrugated steel culvert railway bridge is studied. The bridge, which is a type of soil–steel composite structures, has a span of 11 m. Tests were carried out by measuring strains and displacements during passages of a locomotive at different speeds. Vertical ballast accelerations as well as the effects of braking forces were also measured. The tests showed that the speed has a large influence on the displacements, thrusts and moments. The measured dynamic displacements and thrusts are as much as 20% larger than the corresponding static response. This is greater than the values specified in bridge design codes. Dynamic amplification factors as high as 1.45 were obtained for the moments at the quarter point which is found to be much larger than the values for the crown point. This type of bridge structure is believed to be less sensitive to resonance from passing trains than other common bridge types, due to the high damping values obtained from the forced vibration tests.