What loading configuration is used to simulate heavy military vehicles passing over a bridge, also known as Alternative Military Loading?

• A. Movable Bridge
• B. Nail Laminated
• C. Military Loading
• D. PVC - Point of Vertical Curvature

Answer: (C)

In bridge design, you test the structure against specialized load patterns that represent extreme scenarios. Military loading is the explicit pattern used to simulate the effect of heavy military vehicles, such as tanks, crossing a bridge. This loading configuration, sometimes referred to as Alternative Military Loading, uses very high concentrated axle loads with specific spacing to create large local bending moments and dynamic effects, ensuring the bridge can withstand wartime or other extreme conditions beyond normal civilian traffic. The other terms point to a bridge type, a construction method, or a roadway geometry feature, none of which describe a loading pattern for simulating heavy vehicles.