the road bridge superstructures, the element could not work normally, and the redistribution of internal forces between elements in the whole system would happen. This phenomenon was not taken into account in the initial design calculation. In practice, it shows that many road bridges are subjected to greater loads than the calculated loads in the design process, but they still normally operate. This article proposes the other limit state criteria in evaluating the load capacity reserve of road-bridge superstructures using nonlinear analysis based on nonlinear deformational models of modern construction codes. The proposed calculation procedure is established to explain the load capacity reserve of long-time operating road bridge superstructures in the case of the lack of experimental evaluation. From the obtained results, the suitable limit state criteria for road bridge superstructures are suggested, and the conclusions about the accuracy of the proposed approach of nonlinear structural analysis are recommended.