Evaluation and Repair of Wrought Iron and - Purdue e-Pubs ...

24Elleby, Wallace W. Sanders, F. Wayne Klaiber, and Douglas Reeves (1976) discusses thetesting that was performed on the eyebars from both of the bridges.The eyebars of the bridges were tested both cyclically and statically. Themajority of the testing concentrated on the fatigue testing of the wrought iron eyebars.Both fatigue and static type tests were performed on both undamaged and damagedeyebars. The damaged eyebars were actually undamaged eyebars that had beenpurposefully damaged in the laboratory and then repaired. Three types of repair weresimulated on the eyebars and investigated. The first type was repair of a fracture in theforging area near a turnbuckle. The second was a fracture at the neck of an eye that hadbeen welded together with splice bars. The third was a fracture in the eye where theentire eye was removed and a new eye was formed out of cold rolled bar stock.Of the fatigue tests performed, it was found that the repairs made to the eyes didnot significantly affect the fatigue life of the eye. Instead, the life of the eye connectionwas governed by the characteristics of the eye. For the static testing, the repairprocedures affected the resulting tensile strength of the eye. This is especially true whenadding a new eye with a welded splice plate connection. Failures in these tests weregoverned by the quality of the forges in the eye connection. From both the fatigue andstatic testing it can be concluded that the repair procedures used on the eyes areacceptable when repairing the eyebar members of a bridge.2.3.4 Norfolk and Western Railway Bridge, Wabash Railroad, 1888The Norfolk and Western Railway Bridge spans the Mississippi river betweenIllinois and Missouri and consists of seven truss spans and one continuous swing span fora total length of 1,580ft. The bridge consists of riveted built up compression membersand tension eyebars. It has undergone many repairs during its service life. These repairsincluded shortening of the spans and tightening of the eyebars. To tighten the eyebars, a