Capability of Italian existing bridges to resist the impact against safety barriers

ABSTRACT: The aim of this paper is to investigate whether bridges designed according to Italian Standards in place since 1962 may resist the impact loads measured during crash tests of real bridge barriers. Their capacity has been assessed comparing the strength of overhang decks with the maximum values of the internal forces calculated by FEM analyses. Results show that bridges according to the current standard are able to sustain almost all the loads due to impact only if the design values of the internal forces are calculated by a simplified method. On the contrary, the capability to resist of bridges designed according to previous standards depends on barrier containment level, design methodology, cross section considered, impact position, strategy adopted for the reinforcement and width of overhang deck. The results obtained can be used both to check existing bridges and to design the new ones