Anderson (2006) showed that there is a shortcoming in NA Loading of TMH7 Part 2 to cater for normal traffic load effects on short span bridges. Furthermore, it was shown that the use of NB loading to derive load effects due to normal traffic does not correspond with rationally based live load model (Anderson, 2006). However, recent research conducted shows that TMH7 is producing similar results to international codes (Viljoen, 2013).

Therefore, utilising selected data made available in Anderson (2006), two of the most critical objectives of this study are:

 

1. To confirm the extent of shortcommings in TMH7 Part 2 with regards to short-medium span bridges; and

2. Compile a reveiw of the two codes of practice based on their design philosophy (i.e. TMH7- a deterministic approach, and Eurocode 1991-3 - a probabilistic approach)

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Note: For the full list of objectives see attached document.