Safety Inspection of In-Service Bridges Practice Test

Dead load is the permanent, static weight of the structure and fixed components. This includes the weight of all structural members, decks, rails, and any permanently attached equipment or finishes that contribute to the structure’s own weight. It stays essentially constant over time, unlike loads from use or occupancy. Live loads come from people, vehicles, and movable objects and can vary; wind and snow are environmental loads that also vary. A rotating moment about an axis is a rotational effect, not a load itself. So dead load is defined by the static weight of the structure itself.