AASHTO Method B Elastomeric Bridge Bearing Design 1

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

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.

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.

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( 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 (