Book excerpt: Transport engineering structures are subjected to loads that vary in both time and space. In general mechanics parlance such loads are called moving loads. It is the aim of the book to analyze the effects of this type of load on various elements, components, structures and media of engineering me chanics. In recent years all branches of transport have experienced great advances characterized by increasingly higher speeds and weights of vehicles. As a result, structures and media over or in which the vehicles move have been subjected to vibrations and dynamic stresses far larger than ever before. The author has studied vibrations of elastic and inelastic bodies and structures under the action of moving loads for many years. In the course of his career he has published a number of papers dealing with various aspects of the problem. On the strength of his studies he has arrived at the conclusion that the topic has so grown in scope and importance as to merit a comprehensive treatment. The book is the outcome of his attempt to do so in a single monograph.