Long-span deck-type CFST arch bridge combinated with diagonal

cable
Y. Liu
Space Structures Research Center, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing, China
X. ShangGuan
Department of Civil Engineering, East China Jiaotong University, Nanchang, China
J. Liu
Guizhou Institute of Communications Science, Guiyang, China

ABSTRACT: Forty one reinforced concrete truss arch bridges have been erected in China over
past decades, with the longest span of 330 meters. In order to design longer span of arch bridge
than the former, a new type of structural system－deck type concrete filled steel tube arch
bridge combined with cable (Chinese invention patent) is put forward on the basis of successful
engineering practice on past forty one reinforced concrete truss arch bridges. Taking a deck type
arch bridge combined with diagonal cable with main span of 172 meters as an example, the
Tianzhishan Bridge, located in Hunan Province. The differences are introduced between deck
type concrete filled steel tube arch bridge combined with cable and reinforced concrete truss
arch bridge. The main arch ribs are made of cast-in-place concrete filled steel tube instead of
reinforced concrete box component; and the diagonal tensile members are made of flexible
cable instead of rigid tensile element. There is no need to add additional temporary cable during
construction. The axial force and deformation of permanent cable is adjusted according to
vertical displacement of main arch, so the engineering control on internal force and
displacement of main arch is carried out easily. The vertical stiffness of main arch is enhanced
by the cable, then the vertical deformation of main arch decreases and the spatial stability of the
arch bridge becomes better. Furthermore, investigation on the structure scheme has been made
for the purpose of working out extra long span arch bridge.

1 INTRODUCTION

Arch bridges are of a long history in China. There are four kinds of deck type arch bridge which
are double curved arch bridges, box section arch bridges, CFST arch bridges and trussed
combination arch bridges. A new type of deck type CFST arch bridge combined with diagonal
cable was brought forward by Shangguan Xing on the basis of trussed combination arch bridges
in 1999. The deck type CFST arch bridge combined with diagonal cable is in possession of
advantages not only of cable-stayed bridge but also of CFST arch bridge. Tianzhishan bridge is
just an actual engineering example of this kind of bridge in Hunan Province, China.

2 STRUCTURAL DESIGN
2.1 general layout ofTtianzhishan Bridge
Tianzhishan Bridge is a deck type CFST arch bridge combined with diagonal cable with the
main span of 125m. The span arrangement of the bridge is 7m＋2×9m＋125m＋9m＋8m. The
total length of the bridge is 172m, with the width of deck 12m. The bottom chord of the bridge
is the main arch ribs whose axis is an inverted catenary curve, giving a rise-to-span ratio of 0.2.
The middle part of the upper chord of the bridge is considered to be prestressed concrete
continuous beam, but two ends of the upper chord of the bridge are considered to be prestressed
concrete frames. There are two expansion joints between the middle part and the ends of the
upper chord in order to reduce internal temperature forces. The bottom chord is of main arch
made of CFST. Some reinforced concrete spandrel columns are the connections between the
164 ARCH’10 – 6th International Conference on Arch Bridges

upper chord and the bottom chord. Besides the reinforced concrete piers, the diagonal flexible
cables act as web members of truss to connect deck system with the main arch, as shown in Fig.
1. The bridge was completed and open to traffic in July, 2003.
17900

300 700 900 900 900 900 900 900 900 900 900 900 900 900 900 900 900 900 900 900 300

200 200

Prestressed concrete Expansion joint

2.6%

Cable

2500
CFST Reinforced concrete

7500

Figure 1 : General layout of Tianzhishan bridge

2.2 Cross section of structural components

The section of main arch is comprised of two ribs and each rib is made of welded tubes which
are composed of two steel tubes. The diameter of the tubes is 100cm, and the thickness is
12mm. So the height of dumbbell-shaped section of arch ribs is 200cm and the width of the
section is 100cm. Before the closure of main arch, the steel tubes are empty, as shown in Fig. 2.
Three hundred tons of steel are used to fabricate two arch ribs.
Diagonal cables are made of 85φ7 parallel wire stay cable.

Figure 2 : Cross section of arch rib.

3 CONSTRUCTION
3.1 Construction procedure
Two end decks of the bridge were constructed by cast-in-site method with scaffolds, otherwise
Y. Liu, X. ShangGuan and J. Liu 165

the middle segment was built using the cantilever method which consists of main arch ribs, deck
girders, spandrel columns and diagonal cables. The construction of main arch ribs and deck
girders were carried out simultaneously. The construction procedure may be divided into seven
stages. Each stage is similar to each other in general. The installation process of the main arch is
shown in Fig. 3.
The construction processes of each stage are as follows:
(1) Hoist the dumbbell-shaped section of steel arch ribs. Before hoisted, the steel arch ribs
should be precast-assembled;
(2) Install the diagonal cables, stretch them and adjust the cable force according to elevation
of cantilevered end, and anchor the strands;
(3) Hoist the spandrel columns;
(4) Cast concrete of deck girders in site, and stretch prestressing tendons.

Figure 3 : Installation process of the main arch

Figure 4 : Illustration of Tianzhishan bridge under construction

3.2 Concrete pouring of arch ribs

Pouring of concrete of arch ribs is very important process. With the steel arch ribs coming to
closure, the upper chord main girders were connected to continuous beam. The whole structure
has not been cantilever trussed structure, but a deck type arch bridge system. Before the
concrete become harden, concrete has very low strength, the weight of wet concrete is applied
to the empty steel tube structure. The empty steel tubes arch ribs bear great axial force and
moment due to weight load of wet concrete. Diagonal cable may be stretched or relaxed when
concrete could be poured continuously, so that the arch ribs would meet requirements of steel
strength.
Suppose that the arch rib is divided to three segments from arch spring to arch crown, cable
should be stretched when concrete of arch spring is poured, otherwise cable should be relaxed
when concrete of arch crown is poured, as is shown in Fig. 5. In other words, the axial force and
166 ARCH’10 – 6th International Conference on Arch Bridges

deformation of permanent cable may be adjusted according to vertical displacement of main

arch, so the engineering control on internal force and displacement of main arch can be carried
out easily.

stretch cable relax cable

A B C C B A A B C pouring concrete C B A

Pouring Concrete

L/4 L/2 L/4 L/4 L/2 L/4

Figure 5 : Stretching and relaxing of diagonal cable

4 CONCLUSIONS

It is six years since Tianzhishan bridge was open to traffic. The bridge has been in good
condition since then. Because there is no need to add additional temporary cable during
construction of deck type CFST arch bridge combined with diagonal cable, it is an economic
bridge solution for V-shape valley. The vertical stiffness of main arch is enhanced by the cables,
and thus the vertical deformation of main arch decreases and the spatial stability of the arch
bridge becomes better. Investigation on the structure scheme has been made for the purpose of
working out extra long span arch bridge.