What does E-80 loading refer to? 1

[wpr]

Or any of the similar designations? Is there a readily accessible reference on the web? thanks

 

[JedClampett]

Cooper E-80 is a loading due to railroad locomotives and is the standard for designing railway bridges. You'll need to get the design manual from AREA (American Railway Engineer's Association?) for exact information.

 

[PEinc]

E-80 surcharge has various axle loadings and spacings, but the heaviest is an 80 kip axle load at 5 feet on center. Spread over the rail ties, the vertical surcharge is 1882 psf or 80,000# / (5'LF x 8.5' tie width).

 

[francesca]

I was taught that E-80 stood for Equivalent 80kN axial load, the maximum allowed load per axle for trucks. As trucks cause the damage to pavements, E-80s are used to design road pavements, at least in South Africa. A car counts a 0 E-80s, while a truck would be 1 (one truck) or 5 (five axles per 18-wheeler), I do not remember, with other vehicles being fractions (or multiples) of E-80s.

See this TRL pdf file for further (and more clear) details.

 

[cvg]

good point, except if you are in north america - it is cooper railroad loading.

 

[PEinc]

The Cooper E-80 surcharge I described above is specified by Conrail, Amtrak, Norfolk Southern, CSX, and others.

The 80,000# axle load acts on a 5 foot axle spacing and 8.5 feet wide ties. Therefore, the railroads are looking for an 1800 to 1882 psf, vertical, strip pressure used with the Boussinesq equation for a RIGID wall.

 

[PEinc]

Some railroads, such as Amtrak, also specify an impact factor of 1.5 be appiled to the Cooper E-80 surcharge.

 

[SlideRuleEra]

wpr - Your also asked for "readily accessible reference on the web". Take a look at US Army Corps of Engineers "Railroad Design & Rehabilitation" (free .pdf download) at this link

http://www.hnd.usace.army.mil/techinfo/UFC/UFC4-860-01FA/850-02.pdf

Information on pages 7-23, 6-12, and 2-3 may be of interest.

http://www.SlideRuleEra.net