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The paper describes load and resistance factor design (LRFD) calibration for the resistance factor used in the Stiffness Method internal stability soil failure limit state for geogrid mechanically stabilized earth (MSE) walls. The Stiffness Method was recently adopted in the current American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials LRFD Bridge Design Specifications in the US, and will appear in the next edition of the Canadian Highway Bridge Design Code. The paper describes the details of the calibration of the soil failure limit state which is unique to the Stiffness Method. Calibration outcomes include consideration of the concept of level of understanding in the selection of nominal load and resistance values which is unique to LRFD foundation engineering practice in Canada. A practical conclusion from these calculations is that if product line-specific creep test data are available to estimate the reinforcement secant creep stiffness used for design, then a resistance factor of 1.0 is reasonable for US practice. If only minimum average roll value tensile strength data are available, then a value of 0.95 is recommended for US practice. For Canadian practice, the corresponding values for typical level of understanding are 0.90 and 0.85, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Canadian Geotechnical Journal is the property of Canadian Science Publishing and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Canadian Journal of Civil Engineering is the property of Canadian Science Publishing and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Canadian Journal of Civil Engineering is the property of Canadian Science Publishing and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Canadian Geotechnical Journal is the property of Canadian Science Publishing and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Canadian Journal of Civil Engineering is the property of Canadian Science Publishing and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Canadian Journal of Civil Engineering is the property of Canadian Science Publishing and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

During the past decade, composite steel-free deck bridges came to reality in Canada through the construction of five bridges. The new structural system enables the construction of a concrete deck that is totally devoid of all internal steel reinforcement. Traditionally, reinforced concrete bridge decks are designed to sustain loads in flexure. The steel-free deck bridge system develops internal compressive forces "internal arching," which leads to failure by punching shear at substantially higher loads than the flexural design load. The fibre-reinforced concrete deck is usually attached to the steel girders through flexible shear connectors. These steel girders are transversely tied together by steel straps and cross frames. In this paper, the concept of the new bridge system is briefly discussed. The generations of the deck slabs are introduced. Brief outlines of the bridges built to date with this new technology are presented. A three-dimensional finite element model is then proposed to study the behaviour of the main structural component of the new system. The model is verified against previous experimental results and is used to perform a parametric study on some aspects which are thought to significantly affect the behaviour of the new steel-free deck bridge system.Key words: bridges, composite girders, finite element method, steel-free deck, steel straps.Durant la dernière décennie, les ponts à tablier composé sans acier sont devenus réalité au Canada grâce à la construction de cinq ponts. Ce nouveau système structural permet la construction d'un tablier en béton qui est complètement dépourvu de tout renforcement interne en acier. Traditionnellement, les tabliers de pont en béton armé sont conçus afin de supporter des charges en flexion. Le système de tablier de pont sans acier développe des forces internes en compression « cintrage interne » et résulte en une rupture par poinçonnement en cisaillement pour une charge substantiellement plus grande que les charges en flexion de conception. Le tablier en béton renforcé de fibres est habituellement attaché aux poutres d'acier à l'aide de connexions de cisaillement flexibles. Ces poutres d'acier sont attachées ensemble transversalement à l'aide de liens d'acier et de contreventements. Dans cet article, le concept de ce nouveau système est brièvement discuté. Les générations des tabliers en dalles sont introduites. Un bref aperçu des ponts construits à ce jour avec cette nouvelle technologie est présenté. Un modèle par éléments finis tirdimensionnel est par la suite proposé afin d'étudier le comportement des composants structurels principaux du nouveau système. Le modèle est confronté aux résultats expérimentaux obtenus par d'autres dans le passé. Ensuite, il est utilisé afin de performer une étude paramétrique sur quelques aspects qui sont suspectés d'affecter de façon significative le comportement de ce nouveau système de tablier de pont sans acier.Mots clés : ponts, poutres composées, méthode par éléments finis, tablier sans acier, liens d'acier.[Traduit par la Rédaction] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One option to mitigate the seismic risk of highway bridges in Quebec is to replace typical elastomeric bearings used there with natural-rubber seismic-isolator devices. To support this alternative, this paper assesses the seismic vulnerability of typical bridge classes retrofitted with seismic-isolator devices through the development of fragility curves. Retrofitted-bridge fragility curves provide a powerful tool to evaluate the impact of a retrofit measure on the performance of different bridge classes. The analytical fragility approach uses nonlinear time-history analysis with 3-D detailed models for typical configurations of highway bridges. Experimental results of square bearings with different sizes and shape factors are used to account for uncertainties related to the mechanical properties of seismic-isolators. Critical load tests are conducted on slender seismic isolation bearings and a finite-element model is calibrated with the test results to define the seismic-isolator limit states. The fragility curves of different key components of the bridge system are compared and the results reveal that seismic isolation is effective significantly in reducing the probability of damage to columns and foundations. Due to insufficient clearance between the superstructure and abutment wing walls, however, the probability of damage in wing walls is increased and the fragility of this component controls the bridge-system fragility for all bridge classes evaluated. Concrete-girder bridges are found to be more vulnerable than steel-girder bridges due to the larger superstructure mass involved in the seismic response. The results from this work can be used to evaluate and select bridge retrofits, and can form the basis for cost-benefit retrofit studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Canadian Journal of Civil Engineering is the property of Canadian Science Publishing and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Canadian Journal of Civil Engineering is the property of Canadian Science Publishing and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Canadian Journal of Civil Engineering is the property of Canadian Science Publishing and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Damage often causes changes in the dynamic characteristics of a structure such as frequencies and mode shapes. Vibration-based damage identification techniques utilize the changes in the dynamic characteristics of a structure to determine the location and extent of damage in the structure. Such techniques are applied in this study to the Crowchild Bridge, a steel-free deck continuous bridge located in western Canada. While the numerical models of the bridge are correlated with the measured dynamic characteristics, computer simulation is used to study the identification of a number of different damage patterns, and the effects of measurement errors and incomplete mode shapes on the quality of results are evaluated. The effectiveness of some selected damage identification techniques is examined; the potential difficulties in identifying the damage are outlined; and areas of further research are suggested. A three-dimensional finite-element model and a simple two-dimensional girder model of the bridge have been constructed to study the usefulness of the selected damage identification methods. Another promising damage detection method proposed here is based on the application of neural networks that combines a vibration-based method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Canadian Journal of Civil Engineering is the property of Canadian Science Publishing and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Canadian Journal of Civil Engineering is the property of Canadian Science Publishing and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)