BOX GIRDER SPECIFICATIONS,

ADVANTAGES & DISADVANTAGES

Thecontinuingexpansionofhighwaynetworkthroughouttheworldislargelytheresult
ofgreatincreaseintraffic,populationandextensivegrowthofmetropolitanurbanareas.
Thisexpansionhasleadtomanychangesintheuseanddevelopmentofvariouskindsof
bridges.Thebridgetypeisrelatedtoprovidingmaximumefficiencyofuseofmaterialand
constructiontechnique,forparticularspan,andapplications.AsSpanincreases,deadload
isanimportantincreasingfactor.Toreducethedeadload,unnecessarymaterial,whichis
notutilizedtoitsfullcapacity,isremovedoutofsection,thisresultsintheshapeofbox
girderorcellularstructures,dependinguponwhetherthesheardeformationscanbe
neglectedornot.SpanrangeismoreforboxbridgegirderascomparetoTbeamGirder
Bridgeresultingincomparativelylessernumberofpiersforthesamevalleywidthand
henceresultsineconomy.
Aboxgirderisformedwhentwowebplatesarejoinedbyacommonflangeatboththe
topandthebottom.Theclosedcellwhichisformedhasamuchgreatertorsionalstiffness
andstrengththananopensectionanditisthisfeaturewhichistheusualreasonfor
choosingaboxgirderconfiguration.
Boxgirdersarerarelyusedinbuildings(boxcolumnsaresometimesusedbuttheseare
axiallyloadedratherthaninloadedinbending).Theymaybeusedinspecial
circumstances,suchaswhenloadsarecarriedeccentricallytothebeamaxis
Whentensionflangesoflongitudinalgirdersareconnectedtogether,theresulting
structureiscalledaboxgirderbridge.
Boxgirderscanbeuniversallyappliedfromthepointofviewofloadcarrying,totheir
indifferenceastowhetherthebendingmomentsarepositiveornegativeandtotheir
torsionalstiffnessfromthepointofviewofeconomy.


Historicaldevelopmentanddescriptionofboxgirder:
Thefirstboxgirdercrosssectionpossesseddeckslabsthatcantileveredoutonlyslightly
fromtheboxportionshowninfigsatoe.Withtheprestressedconcretethelengthof
cantilevercouldbeincreased.Thehighformworkcostscausedareductioninthenumber
ofcellsfig(f,g,h).Inordertoreducetheconstructionloadstominimumpossibleextent
ortorequireonlyonelongitudinalgirderinworkingstatesevenwithmultipletrafficlanes.
Itwasonlywiththedevelopmentofhighstrengthprestressingsteelthatitbecame
possibletospanlongerdistances.Thefirstprestressedconcretebridges,mostofIcross
sectionswerebuilttowardstheendofthe1920s.Thegreatbreakthroughwasachieved
onlyafter1945.THESCLAYNbridgeovertheriverMaas,whichwasbuiltbyMagnelin
1948,wasthefirstcontinuousprestressedconcreteboxgirderbridgewith2spansof
62.70m.Infollowingyearstheratioofwagestomaterialcostsclimbedsharply.This
therebyshiftedtheemphasisofdevelopmentofconstructionmethod.Theboxgirder

crosssectionevolvedstructurallyfromthehollowcelldeckbridgeorTbeamBridge.The
wideningofthecompressionzonethatbeganasastructuralrequirementatthecentral
pierswasintheextendedthroughouttheentirelengthofbridgebecauseofadvantages
transverseloadcarryingcharacteristics.

EvolutionofBoxGirder:
Thespanningofbridgesstartedwithsimpleslabs.Asthespansincreased,thedesign
depthofslabisalsoincreased.Itisknownthatmaterialnearcentreofgravitycontributes
verylittleforflexureandhencecanberemoved.Thisleadstobeamandslabsystems.
Thereinforcementinbottombulbofbeamprovidedcapacityfortensileforcesandtop
slabconcrete,thecapacitytoresistthecompression.Theyformedacoupletoresist
flexure.
Asthewidthofslabisincreasedmorenumberoflongitudinalgirdersarerequired
resultinginreductionofstiffnessofbeamsintransversedirectionandrelativelyhigh
transversecurvature.Thewebsofbeamsgetopenedoutspreadingradiallyfromtopslab.
Underhightransversebendingthesewillnolongerbeintheiroriginalposition.Tokeepit
intheiroriginalpositionthebulbsatbottomshouldbetiedtogetherwhichinturnleadsto
evolutionofboxgirder.Longspanswithwiderdecksandeccentricloadingoncross
sectionwillsufferincurvatureinlongitudinalandtransversedirectioncausingheavy
distortionofcrosssection.Hencethebridgesshouldhavehightorsionalrigidityinorder
toresistthedistortionofcrosssectiondecktoaminimum.
Accordinglyboxgirdersaremoresuitableforlargerspansandwiderdecks,boxgirders
aretobesuitablecrosssection.Theyareelegantandslender.Economyandaesthetics

furtherleadtoevolutionofcantileversintopflangesandinclinedwebsinexternalcellsof
boxgirder.Thedimensionofcellcouldbecontrolledbyprestressing.
Asthespanandwidthincreasesthebeamsandbottomslabsaretobetiedtokeepthe
geometrywhichinturnleadstoevolutionboxgirder.
Anyeccentricloadwillcausehightorsionalstresseswhichwillbecounteractedbythe
boxsection.Theanalysisofsuchsectionsaremorecomplicatedduecombinationof
flexure,shear,torsion,distortion.Butitismoreefficientcrosssection.Itisusedfor
largerspanswithwidecrosssection.Itcanbeusedforspansupto150mdepending
upontheconstructionmethods.Cantilevermethodofconstructionispreferredmost.
AdvantagesAssociatedwithBoxGirders:
Inrecentyears,singleormulticellreinforcedconcreteboxGirderBridgehavebeen
proposedandwidelyusedaseconomicaestheticsolutionfortheovercrossings,under
crossings,gradeseparationstructuresandviaductsfoundinmodernhighwaysystem.
TheverylargeTorsionalrigidityoftheboxgirdersclosedcellularsectionprovides
structuresbeneathismoreaestheticallypleasingthanopenwebtypesystem.
Incaseoflongspanbridges,largewidthofdeckisavailabletoaccommodate
prestressingcablesatbottomflangelevel.
Interiorsofboxgirderbridgescanbeusedtoaccommodateservicesuchasgaspipes,
watermainsetc.
Forlargespans,bottomflangecouldbeusedasanotherdeckaccommodatestraffic
also.
Themaintenanceofboxgirderiseasierininteriorspaceisdirectlyaccessiblewithout
useofscaffolding.
Alternativelyspaceishermeticallysealedandenclosedairmaybedriedtoprovidea
noncorrosiveatmosphere.
Ithashighstructuralefficiencywhichminimizestheprestessingforcerequiredtoresist
agivenbendingmoment,anditsgreatTorsionalstrengthwiththecapacitythisgives
torecentreeccentricliveloads,minimizingtheprestressrequiredtocarrythem.
Disadvantages:

Oneofthemaindisadvantagesofboxdecksisthattheyaredifficulttocastinsitudueto
theinaccessibilityofthebottomslabandtheneedtoextracttheinternalshutter.Either
theboxhastobedesignedsothattheentirecrosssectionmaybecastinonecontinuous
pour,orthecrosssectionhastobecastinstages.
Specifications:
Itcancoverarangeofspansfrom25muptothelargestnonsuspendedconcretedecks
builtoftheorderof300m.Singleboxgirdersmayalsocarrydecksupto30mwide.For
thelongerspanbeams,beyondabout50m,theyarepracticallytheonlyfeasibledeck
section.Below30mprecastbeamsorvoidedslabdecksaremoresuitablewhileabove
50masinglecellboxarrangementisusuallymoreeconomic.
Singlecellboxgirdercastinsituareusedforspansform40mto270m.Thebox
arrangementisdoneinordertogiveaestheticappearancewherethewebofboxwillact
asaslenderappearancewhencombinedwithaslimparapetprofile.Singlebox
arrangementsareefficientforboththelongitudinalandtransversedesigns,andthey
produceaneconomicsolutionformotmediumandlongspanstructures.Thistypeofdeck
isconstructedspanbyspan,usingfullheightscaffoldingortrusses,orasbalanced
cantileverusingformtravelers.Thiscouldbeparticularlyimportantformediumlength
bridgeswithspansbetween40mand55m.Suchspansaretoolongfortwinribtype
decks,andtooshortforcastinsitubalancedcantileverconstructionofboxgirders,while
atotallengthofboxsectiondeckoflessthanabout1,000mdoesnotjustifysettingupa
precastsegmentalfacility.
Haunches:
Theuprightshavetocarrythesamebendingmomentasthehaunch,butwiththebenefit
ofacompressionforceduetotheweightoftheroof.Thustheymaybeslightlythinner
thanthehaunches.Haunchesarealwayseconomical.Theyprovidethetwinbenefitsof
attractingmomentawayfrommidspanandthenprovidingagreaterleverarmtoresist
thismomenteconomically.Evenveryshorthaunchesarevaluableinreducingthehogging
reinforcement.

Related Topics