Innovative Bridge Weigh-in-motion System for Enforcement Application

Overweight vehicles will accelerate the deterioration of the existing bridges. In identifying axle weights of commercial vehicles, bridge weigh-in-motion (BWIM) systems exhibit advantages over pavement weigh-in-motion (WIM) systems in acquiring actual live load data in many aspects. A latest developed BWIM system is introduced in this paper. With a field test on a concrete slab- girder bridge on highway I-78 in Alabama in the U.S., this paper presents the potential use of the concept of BWIM system in the application for screening overweight vehicles for enforcement by an assessment study of the installed BWIM system. The identified gross vehicle weights of moving heavy vehicles are compared with the static weights by weighing pads. The compared results demonstrate that the latest BWIM system was a good candidate in screening the overweight commercial vehicles for enforcement.