BAYLIS STREET BRIDGE LOAD TESTING
Baylis Street Bridge is a three-span two-lane road structure constructed in 1884 and modified in 1948. The bridge comprises 3-spans of 12m, with total length of approximately 36m, that crosses Wollundry Lagoon in Wagga Wagga.
The bridge deck has metal buckle plates infilled with reinforced concrete and is supported by metal rolled joint girders spaced at 400mm. The girders are supported on masonry piers and abutments. The previous assessment concluded that the overall bridge is in poor condition, resulting in a recommendation to implement a 16-ton load limit until bridge strengthening is completed.
A Level 4 bridge assessment and load testing by MLEI demonstrated the bridge to be in good condition, with only minor section loss and strong composite action of the superstructure.
MLEI provided the following services:
- On-site inspection, condition assessment and rating
- Condition assessment and reporting
- Level 4 bridge assessment
- Load testing and associated reporting
- Finite element (FE) analysis using ANSYS
- Load rating and recommendations
- Options assessment including maintenance, strengthening and replacement options
- Technical reporting and recommendations.