Safety assessment of bridges for transportation of power plant generator

Abstract

In this paper, the case of the transportation of an extremely heavy equipment of the combined heat & power generator is presented with the application of the live load factor for the assessment of the bridge for the special permit vehicle. The live load model (KL510) of the domestic highway bridge design code is used as the nominal live load and the statistical characteristics of the load model are reviewed for the application of the evaluation for the special permit vehicle. An example of the special permit for the modular transporter vehicle which carries an extremely heavy equipment for a power plant facility is presented. After the precision safety diagnosis with load test and the numerical analysis using a commercial finite element program, most of the bridges are short of the capacity and needed additional strengthening. After the completion of the transportation, a manual for permit process of the extra-heavy vehicle operation was written. © 2018 Taylor & Francis Group, London.