Moving Load and Fatigue Analysis of a Long Span High Speed Railway Bridge

Long span bridges, as cable-stayed and suspension bridges, have gained much popularity in recent decades for their structural shape, efficient use of materials and other optimal solution. A new phase is starting with main span lengths going over thousands of meter. As a matter of fact, small size substructures are required, the development of efficient construction techniques are growing on and faster progress in the FEM and design are evident. Ever since the dramatic collapse of the first examples of such long span structures, as the Tacoma Narrows Bridge in 1940, much attention has been given to the dynamic behavior of these structures. In this paper a moving load analysis performed on a cable stayed high speed railway bridge is presented together with a fatigue analysis of the cable stays, discussed according to the Italian code verification procedure.