Statewide Vessel Collision Design for Bridges

Design Method II for vessel collision design is recommended by AASHTO specifications for most bridges. With its required resources more elaborate than Method I, Method II classifies vessel traffic passing under a specific bridge into different categories. To achieve an economical vessel collision design, a strategy is proposed to perform design Method II analysis on a statewide basis. In association with the waterways of Florida, the vessel traffic data are collected from available resources and a synthesizing methodology is developed to statistically process these data by vessel types, sizes, and loading condition. This study provides statewide input data ready for vessel collision analysis adopting Method II. As a numerical example, an illustrative bridge with multiple piers is designed in accordance with Method II. Waterborne traffic data from Indian River in Florida are utilized as input data. Comparison among annual frequencies of collapse due to various vessel categories indicates that barge trains are statistically significant in the collision design. Future traffic growth is considered using two different approaches and the possible difference is studied.