Coopers Loading System
Cooper is also responsible for developing in 1894, a system of calculations and standards for the safe loading of railway (railroad) bridges. Cooper's loading system was based on a standard of E10, meaning a pair of 2-8-0 type steam locomotives, pulling an infinite number of rail cars. Each locomotive was given an axle loading of 10,000 pounds (4,536 kg) for the driving axles, 5,000 pounds (2,268 kg) for the leading truck, and 6,500 pounds (2,948 kg) for the tender trucks. Each trailing rail car was given an axle loading of 1,000 pounds per foot (1,488 kg/m) of track. During the 1880s, railway bridges were built using an equivalent rating of E20. By 1894, when Cooper presented his standard, he recommended a standard of E40, or four times the E10 standard. By 1914, the standard had increased to E60. By the mid 1990s, the American Railway Engineering Association was recommending E72 (7.2 times the E10 standard) for concrete structures, and E80 for steel structures.
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