AASHTO Method B Elastomeric Bridge Bearing Design 1

[abjr]

Does anyone know of any reference or guide material that will help in the design of elastomeric bridge bearings using AASHTO Method B? There is a wealth of information on Method A but we cannot find anything to help us design these bearings using Method B. An Owner is insisting that we use Method B. Thank you ahead of time for any help.

 

[71corvette]

I've found the following NSBA/AASHTO publication useful:

http://downloads.transportation.org/SBB-1.pdf

It contains a good summary of the code requirements but unfortunately doesn't give an example of the design process.

Once you get it all figured out I suggest creating a mathcad spreadsheet to help "automate" the design process. I'm sure you could do the design by hand but method B usually turns out to be a very iterative process.

Good luck.

 

[71corvette]

I checked my references at work and the following publication has an example of the method B design.

"Design of Highway Bridges Based on AASHTO LRFD Bridge Design Specifications" by Barker and Puckett.
ISBN 0-471-30434-4

This book is also a pretty good all-around reference.

 

[Andy10]

The Barker & Puckett book is a must have reference. The elastomeric bearing example is a simple example though.

You may want to look at Bridge Engineering Handbook edited by Wai-Fah Chen and Lian Duan. They also have a good example.

By web, check out Minnisota DOT LRFD Bridge Design Manual(

http://www.dot.state.mn.us/bridge/Manuals/LRFD/disc.html).

They have a good example as well. Florida DOT also have an example in mathcad format. I have modified this example for my own designs see (

http://www.dot.state.fl.us/Structures/StructuresManual/CurrentRelease/Design_Examples.htm).