STUDY ON HEAVY VEHICLE (TRUCK AND TRAILER) CONFIGURATION IN MALAYSIA AND ITS IMPLICATION TO ACCIDENTAL IMPACT ON BRIDGE PIER DESIGN

The purpose of the study is to investigate the implication of accidental impact to bridge design, especially the bridge piers. In the event of accident between heavy vehicles and bridge pier, huge accidental impact will be developed due to their massive mass. The increase of these accidents cases has caused structural engineer to consider the accidental impact of lateral load in the bridge design. Besides providing safe and economical bridge design, the other objectives are to reduce fatality and also economic loss. It is essential to assess the bridge pier that had been constructed before to test their ability to withstand the accidental impact of lateral load. The scopes of study under this research project involve the identification of various types and configuration of heavy vehicles, specifically trucks and trailers, the codes used to analyze the accidental impact of lateral loads on bridge piers and also the analysis of the bridge piers section based on the codes. The methodology of this study was divided into four main parts, which includes defining the problem statement, objectives, and chosen area of this study, literature review, data collection, and finally, the analysis and interpretation of data. At the end of the study, based on the analysis of the accidental impact to the bridge piers, it is anticipated that structural engineers that design bridges can provide adequate protection for the bridges to avoid collapse or failure of the bridge.