3.

3 VOID FORMERS
Above the span of 10m, the dead weight of a solid slab bridge becomes
excessive. One of the commonest ways of lightening a solid slab is to use void
formers of some sort. The commonest form is circular polystyrene void formers.
The Shear Stresses are likely to become excessive near supports, particularly if
discrete piers are used. However, this problem can be avoided by simply stopping
the voids off, leaving a solid section in these critical sections.
In the construction engineers always strive to make their designs and
structures better and stronger, not necessarily heavier because being heavy has
other implications on the structural integrity. A heavier structure
suspended on steel beams and poles have a great chance of caving in due to the
weight because no matter how strong the structure is, there are still chances of that
becoming heavier due to additional water content in the structure. No engineer
desires their bridges and buildings to cave in with a
lot of people on it, so they make it lighter with void formers.
Void Formers are made of polystyrene, which is very lightweight and has
quite appreciable load bearing capacity, now we do not mean that foam blocks,
which is what these void formers are, will withstand the load of huge cars and
trucks moving on the road, but it is strong enough to bear the load of concrete on it
until it settles and solidifies.
What Makes Foam Void Formers Better Than Metal Sheet
Alternatives?
It was found that concrete slabs, constructed completely of cement were too
heavy and did not make anything better. Engineers were able to achieve the same
degree of strength and durability with hollow structures with the use of pretended
steel cables and foam Void Formers. As a matter of fact, engineers found two
entirely different ways of forming voids, one that could be removed when the
structure took shape and another type that could be left in place without causing
any risk to the bridge or the building or whatever it was that they were building.
Before EPS (Expanded Polystyrene) was used for the job, builders relied primarily
on flexible metal sheet that could be rolled in cylinders and placed wherever
necessary. But that had a huge downside to it. Steel could not be shaped at will;
void makers back then were mostly cylindrical and heavy. Soon it became
apparent that there was the need for something better, lighter, stronger and
something that was dense enough to carry large loads despite being super
lightweight so EPS foam void formers were used.
Not just that there was more to that. Foam void makers are often left behind
instead of being destroyed or removed, which incidentally adds to the strength of
the monolith. During significant shifts and movements in structure an entirely
hollow structure has a greater chance of breaking in, but add a filler to it and the
risks are somewhat lowered. So in addition to making buildings and bridges
lighter, engineers are using void makers to stabilize them.
These frustums are used to cover void formers at the ends prevent entry of
anything in them
Advantages of Void Formers
Lighten the dead weight of the structure
Reduce the cost of the project by reducing usage of concrete
Preventing caving of structure
3.8 RETAINING EARTH PANELS

RETAINING EARTH PANELS stabilize unstable slopes and retain the soil on
steep slopes and under crest loads. The wall face is often of precast, segmental
blocks, panels that can tolerate some differential movement. The walls are infilled
with granular soil, with or without reinforcement, while retaining the backfill soil.
It can be used for retaining walls, bridge abutments, dams, seawalls, and dikes.
These have interlocking patterns between which these panels are stacked on one
another
On the site
These panels were cast in-situ by Brahmaputra infrastructure ltd
Specifications:
Width
Upper part=2215mm
Lower part=1835mm
Height=1610mm
Thickness=180mm