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The paper titled Determination of bridge lifetime dynamic amplification factor using finite element analysis of critical loading scenarios will appear in the September 2008 edition of Engineering Structures. This journal has an impact factor of 0.986 for 2007.

This paper outlines the simulations behind the dynamic interaction model which was used in the bivariate extreme value work, detailed here.

The full reference for this paper is:

Gonzalez, A., Rattigan, P., OBrien, E.J. and Caprani, C.C. (2008), ‘Determination of bridge lifetime dynamic amplification factor using finite element analysis of critical loading scenarios’, Engineering Structures, 30(9), September, pp. 2330-2337. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.engstruct.2008.01.017.

Randy Pausch, a computer engineering lecturer from Carnegie Mellon University has died. He became kown for his Last Lecture wich has been viewed by over 6 million people on video and was turned into a book – The Last Lecture, which is how I came to know him.

He was diagnosed with Pancreatic cancer and following this gave his Last Lecture. He survived way beyond the 3-6 months given him by medics.  The book and lecture are moving and very memorable and leave you with a desire to achieve your childhood dreams. Well worth reading or viewing:

• Book
• Video
• Carnegie Mellon – In memorium
• Randy’s homepage.

  

Ok, so I can’t resist a bad pun. Anyway, this super example of tension field action is outside the structural laboratories of the Laboratoire Central des Ponts et Chaussées (LCPC) in Paris, which is the French Government body for research into roads and bridges.

This visit to LCPC was part of a European research project. Myself and my colleagues at UCD are working with researchers from LCPC on the Seventh Framework, HeavyRoute Project. In particular we are aiding them on Work Package 2.5: Impact of HGVs on Roads and Infrastructure.

Lectures have ended, exams have been sat, and students have cried with joy and sorrow… So my work is done for the year! But to keep the spirits up, here’s a scene from A Few Good Structural Engineers:

Engineer:

You want answers?

Architect:

I think I’m entitled to them.

Engineer:

You want answers?

Architect:

I want the truth!!

Engineer:

You can’t handle the truth! Son, we live in a world that has FLOORS. And those FLOORS have to be SUPPORTED BY COLUMNS. Who’s gonna DESIGN THEM? You? You, MR. ARCHITECT?

I have a greater responsibility than you can possibly fathom. You weep for LOST FLOOR SPACE and you curse the COLUMNS. You have that luxury. You have the luxury of not knowing what I know: that THOSE COLUMNS, while tragic, probably saved lives. And my existence, while grotesque and incomprehensible to you, saves lives…

You don’t want the truth. Because deep down, in places you don’t talk about at parties, you want me on that DESIGN TEAM. You need me on that DESIGN TEAM.

We use words like DESIGN, CODE, ANALYSIS…we use these words as the backbone to a life spent SUPPORTING something. You use ’em as a punchline.

I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain my DESIGN to a man who rises and sleeps under the blanket of the very STRUCTURES I provide, then questions the manner in which I provide it! I’d rather you just said thank you and went on your way. Otherwise, I suggest you pick up a STEEL MANUAL and DESIGN a post. Either way, I don’t give a damn what you think you’re entitled to!

Architect:

Did you SCHEDULE THE COLUMNS?

Engineer:

(quietly) I did the job you HIRED me to do.

Architect:

Did you SCHEDULE THE COLUMNS?!!

Engineer:

You’re goddamn right I did!!

Thanks to Ritchie for this gem!

The paper Characteristic traffic load effects from a mixture of loading events on short to medium span bridges has been published in Structural Safety at last. It was first submitted in June 2005 and eventually made available online in April 2007. So I’m delighted that it has eventully been given some page numbers! It has been published in Vol. 30(5) September 2008 issue of Structural Safety, pages 394-404.

Even though it’s been a long wait, Structural Safety is a well-reputed journal with an impact factor of 1.25 (2006) which is high for a civil-engineering journal. The journal home is here. The paper is available here, but may require a purchase if you don’t have an institutional login:

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.strusafe.2006.11.006

The abstract for the paper is:

In recent years, highway bridge load assessment has been recognised as an area through which savings can be made by avoiding unnecessary bridge refurbishment and replacement. Load effects in bridges result from single truck crossings or multiple-truck presence events which are, statistically, not identically distributed. Conventional approaches fit statistical distributions to mixtures of non-identically distributed load effects. Inaccuracies in the conventional approach are identified and an alternative approach is developed to find the characteristic load effects. Theoretical and field data are used to show the potential implications of conventional techniques and to demonstrate the application of the new approach.