URGENT: AASHTO LRFD Luminaire/Sign spec vs. Standard spec

[rfehr613]

I've been assigned as urgent task to compare the AASHTO LRFD luminaire & sign structure spec to the Standard spec 6th ed. version. I'm focusing mostly on fatigue, as that typically controls the design of sign structures. I can also avoid the load factor differences when just comparing the fatigue chapters, so that should greatly simply things. That said, if the fatigue chapters are nearly identical in both codes, I'll need to dig into the strength design chapters of the codes.

I was wondering if anyone is aware of any existing comparisons, created by AASHTO or a third party, that might be useful for this work? Or if anyone has any particular insight into the code differences, that would also be greatly appreciated. I'm quite familiar with the standard spec, as that is what's prescribed for use on new designs by most of our clients, but I have never used the LRFD code at all.

 

[rfehr613]

I just finished comparing the Chapter 11 Fatigue requirements from the LRFD spec to Standard spec (both through 2020 interims), and the codes are virtually identical. They read almost exactly the same, verbatim, and the equations and tabulated values are identical. There are only a handful of changes to verbiage or organization, and the SI units are gone in LRFD.

I did not review the section on HMLTs though, and I did not compare the commentaries with the exception of the tables at the end.

I'll be working on comparing Chapter 3 Loads next, and I'll try to update this post after. Hopefully this helps someone in the future.