Vertical Stress in the Gravel Decking of Log Bridges

As the forest industry moves into second growth stands with smaller tree diameters the design of gravel-decked log stringer bridges becomes more critical. This article considers the stress field at the base of the gravel decking. The results of this article indicate that stress equations derived fro...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inWestern journal of applied forestry Vol. 21; no. 2; pp. 61 - 67
Main Authors Lyons, C.K, Lansdowne, M
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Bethesda Oxford University Press 01.04.2006
Subjects
bridges
diameter
equations
finite element model
forest engineering
forest roads
forest trees
linear elasticity
load distribution
loads
log bridge
logs
mechanical properties
mechanical stress
tire contact
vertical stress
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Summary:As the forest industry moves into second growth stands with smaller tree diameters the design of gravel-decked log stringer bridges becomes more critical. This article considers the stress field at the base of the gravel decking. The results of this article indicate that stress equations derived from elastic theory for a semi-infinite solid underestimate the magnitude of the maximum vertical stress at the base of the gravel decking. Therefore, a finite element model (FEM) was used to estimate the stress field at the base of the gravel decking. A single equation was fit to the FEM results for a range of gravel depths using a unit load. This equation provides a method for estimating the vertical stress at the base of the gravel decking that is a function of the horizontal distance from the center of the tire contact patch and the total depth of the gravel decking.
ISSN:0885-6095
1938-3770
DOI:10.1093/wjaf/21.2.61