Abstract

Bridges are critical components of transportation infrastructure, as they ensure the continuity of road and railway networks. In Chile, the Ministry of Public Works manages more than 7,300 bridges. In several bridges, the need to conduct load testing has emerged. However, Chile lacks a national standard or regulatory framework governing load tests. These tests have been performed mainly to validate repair or strengthening projects and, to a lesser extent, to control the passage of overweight vehicles with special permits, to verify the performance of existing bridges, and to support the commissioning of new structures. This study compiles the state-of-practice of bridge load testing in Chile based on 11 case studies. The objectives, methodologies, test scopes, and key considerations for execution and result analysis are identified. The findings highlight the need to standardize load-testing programs. Recommendations on guidelines and best practices for test execution and acceptance criteria are provided. In addition, it is noted that load tests can generate valuable data for bridge engineering research, from which insights for future projects may be derived.