1

SCHOOL OF CIVIL AND ENVIRONMENTAL

ENGINEERING

Session 2, 2007


CVEN 9818 Bridge Engineering




COURSE DETAILS

Contact hours 3 hours per week (6UoC)
Class Lecture/Tutorial: (check Time Table)
Lecturer Professor F. Tin-Loi
email: f.tinloi@unsw.edu.au
Room: 615

HANDBOOK DESCRIPTION

Introduction to bridge engineering; site selection, type selection, bridge hydraulics, design
philosophies. Transverse load distribution. Simple supported and continuous slabs on beam bridges.
Box girder bridges. Cable-stayed bridges.

Virtual handbook: www.student.unsw.edu.au/handbook

OBJECTIVES

To provide the fundamentals of bridge engineering, including the design of standard composite slab-
on-beam superstructures.

TEACHING STRATEGIES AND ASSESSMENTS

Private Study
Review lecture material
Do suggested tutorial problems
List difficulties
Lectures
Listen carefully and ask questions
Try to understand principles as well as details
Tutorials
Practice solving set problems
Resolve difficulties
Assessments (homework, exam)
Demonstrate your knowledge and skills
Demonstrate application of concepts learnt

EXPECTED LEARNING OUTCOMES

To be familiar with bridge site and type selections.
To be able to carry out the hydraulic design of constricted, high level bridges in accordance with
simple design criteria.
To be able to carry out the preliminary structural design of simply supported concrete slab on
beam (either of steel or pretensioned prestressed concrete sections) bridges.
To appreciate why continuous bridges are used and to be aware of associated key design
principles.

For each hour of contact it is expected that a student will put in at least 1.5 hours of private study.

2
ASSESSMENT

Assignments HW %
(includes 4 homework assignments and handin tutes)
Final 3 hr exam (open book) EX %

Final mark for the course (10 * HW * EX) / (7 * HW +3 * EX) %

The effect of using this harmonic mean is to ensure that a minimum performance (at least about 41%)
is achieved in the exam component.



TEXTS

Nil.

COURSE PROGRAM

The following topics will be covered:

1. Fundamentals of bridge engineering (bridge form; site selection; standard components for
superstructures and substructures; bridge type selection; bridge hydraulics).
2. Bridge codes; load distribution in bridges.
3. Preliminary design of simply supported beam-and-slab bridges.
4. Continuous beam-and-slab bridges.
5. Introduction to cable-stayed bridges.

Approximate schedule as follows:

Week Topic
Homework
~ Due Date
01
Introduction: motivation, course contents.
Fundamentals of bridge engineering: site selection.

02 Fundamentals of bridge engineering: standardization, type selection.
03 Fundamentals of bridge engineering: bridge hydraulics. #1
04 Bridge codes.
05 Load distribution in bridges, grillage model.
06 Preliminary design of simply supported steel beam and slab bridges. #2
07 Preliminary design of simply supported steel beam and slab bridges (ctd).
08 Preliminary design of simply supported PSC beam and slab bridges.
09 Preliminary design of simply supported PSC beam and slab bridges (ctd). #3
10 [ Engineering Week to be confirmed]
11 Introduction to design of continuous PSC beam and slab bridges.
12 Introduction to design of continuous PSC beam and slab bridges (ctd). #4
13 Introduction to design of cable-stayed bridges.
14 Revision.


F. Tin-Loi : 7 August 2007