Part 2-Bridge Construction

1 1- Introduction & Investigation

 1.2. Investigation for Bridge
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1.2.4. Span Determination
A. EconomicSpan: Min span length where cost of superstructure = Cost of
substructure.
B. Hydraulic Requirement: bridges are designed to accommodate design discharge
at design flood.
C. Location of Piers: Piers should be located to cause minimum obstruction to flow
D. Free Board: water way belowsuperstructure should be designed to pass design
flood & floating debris with back water effect.
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2.2. Selection of Bridge Types
a. Geometric condition of the site (Road Alignment, Design flood and highest water
mark)
b. Aesthetics,
c. Traffic capacity,
d. Need for future widening,
e. Structural stability,
f. Foundation (sub-surface) conditions, and strength of abutments.
g. Erection procedures,
h. Available Material
i. Knowledge(skill) and Equipment(capacity) of the contractor
j. Clearance requirement above and below the road way
k. General civic requirements with respect to location, financing and community
values.
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2.2. Selection of Bridge Types
 For Curved Bridges continuous box girder and slab bridges are good choices because
They have pleasing appearance
Can readily be built on a curve
Have relatively high torsional resistance
 2.2. Selection of Bridge Types
52
Continuous reinforced concrete bridge
 Less number of bearings than simply supported bridge since on line of
bearings are used over the piers.
 Reduced width of pier, thus less flow obstruction and less amount of material.
 Requires less number of expansion joints due to which both the initial
cost and maintenance cost become less.
 Better architectural appearance.
 Lesser Vibration and deflection.
 Additional strength from moment redistribution due to continuity & rigid.
 Smaller cross section of bridge components both superstructure & sub structure
 Analysis is laborious and time consuming.
 2.2. Selection of Bridge Types
53
Simple Span reinforced concrete bridge
 Elastic moment capacities are used for design resulting in large cross sections
 Analysis and design is simple
 High maintenance cost
 Many construction joints at the discontinuities
 2.2. Selection of Bridge Types
54 Concrete Construction
Advantage
 Adaptable to wide variety of structural shapes and loads
 Low cost of maintenance (less than 1% of construction cost per year).
 Long life and better resistance to temporary overloads and dynamic loads than
steel bridges.
 Cast-in-place reinforced concrete structure are continuous and monolithic
 Easy construction, low cost and good seismic resistance.
 They can also be given the desired aesthetic appearance.
Disadvantage
 Large dead weight that require large foundation
 Difficulty to widen or rebuild
 Longer construction time
 Expensive formwork and false work
 2.2. Selection of Bridge Types
55 Steel Construction
Advantage
 Steel bridges can be built faster than reinforced concrete or pre stressed concrete bridge.
 They can be erected with ease and this minimizing construction costs.
 Steel superstructures are usually lighter than concrete superstructures which translate
into reduced substructures costs, which can be significant when soil conditions are poor.
 Steel superstructures can be designed with shallower depth than RC, which is an
important consideration when overhead clearance is required.
 Steel bridges are easy and faster to repair than RC.
Disadvantage
 Corrosion of steel is the major drawback which requires prohibitively high maintenance
cost. Corrosion can reduce cross section of structural members and weaken the
superstructure.
 The second disadvantage is that steel fatigues under repeated loading (its strength
decreases under repeated loading at high number of cycles of loading)