SEMINAR REPORT

ON

CASE STUDY OF THE MILLAU VIADUCT

BY
NAME: MOHD RAFIQ MIR
ROLL NO. CE-14-54

DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING

ISLAMIC UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Awantipora 192122 (INDIA)
 SEMINAR REPORT
ON

CASE STUDY OF THE MILLAU VIADUCT

Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the award of the degree of

BACHELOR OF TECHNOLOGY

IN

CIVIL ENGINEERING

BY

Name Of Student Roll No.

MOHD RAFIQ MIR CE-14-54

DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING

ISLAMIC UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Awantipora 192122 (INDIA)
 Candidates Declaration

I hereby declare that the work which is being presented in the seminar report entitled,
‘Case Study Of The Millau Viaduct’ is for the partial fulfillment of the requirement for the
award of degree of Bachelor Of Technology in Civil Engineering and is submitted in the
Department Of Civil Engineering Islamic University Of Science And Technology
Awantipora Pulwama. This report has not been submitted by me for the award of any other
degree or diploma of this or any other University/Institute.

Name Roll No

Mohd Rafiq Mir CE-14-54

 Case Study Of The Millau Viaduct 2018

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I take this occasion to thank Almighty for blessing me with his grace and taking my
endeavor to a successful culmination. I extend my sincere and heart full thanks to
esteemed faculty members of Department Of Civil Engineering for providing me the right
guidance and advice at the crucial junctures and for showing me the right way.

Last but not the least, i would like to thank my friends for the support and encouragement
they have given me during the course of preparation.

Name Roll No

Mohd Rafiq Mir CE-14-54

ABSTRACT

Cable-stayed bridges have become very popular over the last five decades due to their
aesthetic appeal, structural efficiency, the limited amount of material usage and financial
benefits. The rapid increase of new techniques creating longer spans, slender decks and

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 Case Study Of The Millau Viaduct 2018

more spectacular design has given rise to a major concern of the dynamic behavior of
cable-stayed bridges. This has resulted in a more careful modeling procedure that will
represent the reality in the most particular way. A model is simply an approximation of the
reality, thus it is important to establish what simplifications and approximations that are
reasonable to make in order for the model to be as accurate as possible.

The Millau Viaduct is a cable-stayed bridge unique of its kind. At the time that it was built
it was breaking many records: span length, height of deck above the foundations and the
short construction time in just three years. Due to the slenderness of the structure, the
extreme height and the location in a deep valley, the viaduct is naturally subjected to
external loads. The models have been refined in order to be compared between the
programs and to the reality i.e. the measured mode shapes and frequencies obtained from
reports.

The viaduct required many specially designed solutions in order to obtain the elegance and
the aesthetic appeal. Approximations in geometry have been essential due to the many
details that the viaduct consists of, but the details are nonetheless
importanttocapturetogetthestructuralmechanicscorrect. Thesupportconditions have been
considered as important as these were designed to allow for moment that were caused by a
combination of the external loads and the slenderness of the structure. The most critical
support conditions were the deck-pier connection in which the piers are split into two
columns equipped with spherical bearings allowing for angular rotation. The two shafts
were modeled by one single column and the spherical bearings were simulated by creating
two alternative models; one assigned with a pinned constraint to allow for the angular
rotation and the second, since this support condition is in fact rigid has been assigned as
used.

Table Of Contents

TOPIC PAGE NO

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 Declaration 01

 Acknowledgment 02

 Abstract 03

 Introduction 06

 Construction 08

 Construction Statistics 12

 Engineering Specialties 13

 Innovations 14

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 Case Study Of The Millau Viaduct 2018

 Loadings 15

 Structural Assessment 18

 Foundation Design 20

 Conclusion 23

 References 24

 Remarks 25

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INTRODUCTION
The Millau Bridge or Viaduct provides the final missing link in the A75 autoroute
ultimately connecting Paris to Barcelona. Prior the viaducts construction traffic would
have had to descend the Tarn Valley causing a bottle neck in the town of Millau especially
during the summer months of July and August. The multi-span cable stayed bridge passes
over the Tarn valley at its lowest point between two plateaus. In order to do this it had to
become the tallest road bridge in the world creating the world’s tallest bridge piers
standing at 242m, the structure rising to 343m at the top of the pylon. The bridge also
holds the title of the world’s longest multi-span cable stayed bridge with a total length of
2460m. There is a slight gradient of 3% from North to South as well as a slight curve
about a radius of 20,000m. The piers are of post tensioned reinforced concrete and the
deck and pylons are of steel. Several initial proposals were at first considered by the
French Highway Department in linking the existing autoroutes to the north and south of
the Tarn Valley. These included the idea proposed by initially by bridge designer Michel
Virlogeux. This included a route that would partially descend the valley, cross the Tarn
with a 700m span cable stayed bridge and then tunnel through the steeper North side of
valley until and joining up with the autoroute.

In 1990 the decision was made to pass the valley at the bridges current location with a
2500m bridge. Michel Virlogeux proposed a design very similar to the final structure
consisting of seven main piers with approach piers and a slightly different cable
arrangement. The only design similar to Virlogeux’s was forwarded by Foster and
Partners. In 1995 the second design phase took place in which it was decided that the

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design proposed by Foster and Virlogeux would be used. The decision to construct the
bridge under concession agreement was made in 1998 and the competition for
construction tender took place in 2000. It was announced in March 2001 that Eiffage
would be concessionaire under a new subsidiary company created for the construction -
CompagnieEiffage du Millau Viaduct. The company holds a 75 year operating concession
with income from the tolls paying for the construction. The bridge was inaugurated on
14th December 2004 and opened to traffic two days later.

Fig: Elevation Of The Millau Viaduct

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CONSTRUCTION
One of the most important phases of the building of a bridge. The construction phase is
wear mistakes on any prior steps will show through and the constant vigilance of the
engineers is required to make sure that every step is completed as it should. The
Construction of the Millau came in three parts the concrete, the steel and then the final
construction. The Viaduct used many different specialties in the field of civil engineering
and innovations in their approach to construction of the bridge, which in turn cut costs and
increased speed of construction.

Stages
 Concrete

o Foundation - The most important step in any major project is insuring that
a solid foundation is laid for the structure to rest on. In the case of the
Viaduct seven foundations had to be laid for each one of the piers.

 On December 14, 2001, the first stone was laid to begin the
construction process.

 The soil where the foundations were to be set on consisted of

mostly lime stone that contains holes and fissures.

 For a proper foundation to be developed a Geotechnical engineer

must assess the grounds strength and design a foundation that will
be able to support the immense weight of the bridge.

 The engineers came up with a design to help ensure solid

foundations.

 The foundations each consisted of a base plate and four piles. The
piles were 5 meters in diameter and 14 meter long. The bases were
made out of reinforced concrete and steel.

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Fig: One of the seven foundations for the piers

o Piers - The piers were the towering part of the structure with the tallest one
reaching over 245 meters tall. The piers hold the road way and the pylons.
 The piers were constructed using reinforced concrete. The piers had
the design of tapering down from top to bottom. The seven piers are
identical except for the length due to the valley bottom.

 The piers had to be constructed using an automatic rail climbing

system or ACS. The system required the bottom section the pier be
constructed then the climbing system attached to rail secured to the
pier. Allowing the system to move up the piers independently .

 The ACS would pour 4 meter sections of concrete at a time

allowing accurate pours and ensuring structural stability.

 The ACS enabled the piers to be built on schedule. The system

allowed for a correct pour each time it moved up the pier.

 Steel
o Road Deck - The most important part for the driver. The road deck
includes all the areas people will actually move on. The designers decided

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to go with a steel road deck instead of a concrete because of weight and

cost.

 The road deck if made from concrete would weigh near 200,000
metric tons and be 7 meters deep. Using steel the deck is only
36,000 metric tons and 4 meters deep.

 The design of the road deck is a trapezoidal box girder design. To

improve strength and weight reduction.

 The deck was built on site and using hydraulic movers the first of
eighteen 171 meter sections of the deck were slowly moved onto the
piers. Using GPS satellites the decks were each moved with
precision accuracy to their correct position.

 On May 28, 2004 the north and south sections of the deck conjoined
in the middle above the Tarn River.

 Masts (pylons) and stays - The final stage in the construction process is putting
up the final pieces. The masts and the stays are used in supporting the deck of the
bridge.

o Masts

 The masts were made out of the reinforced concrete the same as the
piers.

 The masts are 87 meters tall and each weighs 700 metric tons.

 Each mast holds 11 pairs of stays which vary in length.

o Stays

 The stays are used to support the deck of the bridge.

 Each stay is made out of 55 to 91 high tensile steel cables.

 The cables are protected with three layers of galvanization, a

coating of petroleum wax and an extruded polyethylene sheath to
prevent from corrosion and damaging of the cables.

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 The stays are coated with a double helix formation to prevent

running water and vibration that could cause deformation and
compromise the stability of the road deck.

Fig: The road way being moved onto the piers

 Adding The Final Touches - The Viaduct was structurally sound after the mast and
stays were put up but for people to be able to drive on the bridge certain safety
features had to be installed.
o At the end of September the final needed parts were added including road
surfaces, safety systems, lights, and the toll gate.

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Final Construction Statistics

 The performance figures
o Length: 2460 m

o Breadth: 32 m

o Maximum height: 343 m, 19 m higher than the Eiffel Tower

o Slope: 3.025%

o bending radius: 20 km

o height of the tallest pier (P2): 245 m

o Height of towers: 87 m

o Length bays: two side spans of 204 m span and 6 span current 342 m
span

o Cable-stayed Number: 154

o Shroud tension: 900 to 1200 t.

For the longest

o Steel deck weight: 36,000 tons, or 5 times the Eiffel Tower

o Volume of concrete: 85 000 m3, or 206,000 t.

o Construction cost: € 400 million (+ Viaduct toll gate)

o Duration of the concession: 78 years (3 years of construction and 75 years

of operation)

o Warranty of the book: 120 years

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Civil Engineering Specialties

Geotechnical Engineering

 Foundation: The bad soil conditions of the ground where the bridge was to built
made it challenging to be able to make a secure foundation. Geotechnical engineers
take soil tests to determine the type of foundation needed to safely support the
bridge.

Structural Engineering

 Design:
o The Chief engineer Michel Virlogeux of the design process was a structural
engineer. Working with an architect they were able to design a bridge that
was aesthetically appeasing while being structurally sound and innovative.

 Build process:

o During the construction stage the structural engineer will help the watch
over the construction and make sure that everything is going according to
plan. Also if any problems should arise they are on site to solve them.

TransportationEngineering
 Road design:
o Transportation engineers are used to design road ways that lessen traffic
and improve safety. A transportation engineer will work with the structural
engineers to help with the design of the road and areas such as drainage.

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Innovations

 Automatic Rail Climbing System

o Use

 The use of the ACS gave the construction crews the ability to work
faster and more efficient.

 The use of the ACS allowed the workers to repeat the same results
every time they poured the concrete on the seven piers.

 Deck Installation

o Pre-fabricated road deck

 The pre-fabricated road deck saved time and allowed the bridge to
be built on time.

o ENERPAC System

 A hydraulic system that was used to lift the pre-fabricated deck and
move it slowly forward using GPS and laser alignment to ensure
that the bridge was in the correct place during each phase of moving
the decks closer together.

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Loadings
In 1990 the initial study for the bridge was undertaken using French standards. The
loadings used in the actual design process are therefore likely to be different to those about
to be considered. As well as the basic loads applied to all bridges the geometry and design
of the bridge leads to other loads and effects which need to be considered. The constant
curvature introduces horizontal centrifugal loading and the single plane of cables requires
consideration to be given to torsion effects.

Dead Loads

The dead load is primarily just the steel deck. The cornice and wind screen can also be
considered as dead load as removing these will seriously affect the aerodynamics of the
deck so will never happen. The fixings for the cables and also the cables themselves may
be considered as dead loads as well as the pylons.

Super Imposed Dead Loads

The black top surfacing (a surface developed especially for this bridge), concrete and steel
crash barriers, handrails and all drainage can be considered as super imposed dead loads.
These are all considered permanent but can potentially be removed. When the bridge was
constructed the loads just mentioned were added after the main structure (dead load) had
been completed.

Live Traffic Loads

The two types of loading, HA and HB will be placed at their most adverse locations. HA
and HB loading is considered to act vertically only in the form of UDL’s, Knife Edge
Loads (KEL) and point loads. There are other secondary traffic loads which would have
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been considered for Millau. Below are two possible load combinations when trying to
determine the most adverse torsional effects. The HA loading would be factored
accordingly but as advantageous, the dead load would not. The possibilities show a
continuous unbalanced live load acting the entire length of the structure and the other
shows it alternating between spans. According to the British Standards the applied loading
for a span of 9.5kN/m.

Wind Loading

The British standards obviously only apply to the British Isles and also to bridges
spanning up to 200m. Designing to these or probably to any other standards is unlikely for
a bridge of this size. The deck of the bridge relies on aerodynamics to resist the wind
loads. Comprehensive wind tunnel testing was carried out to gain an understanding of the
decks response to the applied wind loads. Being located in a valley special consideration
should be given to funnelling effects acting to increase the wind speed and ultimately the
wind load. Increases wind speeds and in particular gusting may occur at the height the
bridge is constructed to. The standards may be of some use when considering the effects
on the piers. Standard drag coefficients apply to various cross sections, for an octagon (the
closest thing to a hexagon) the drag coefficient would be 1.3. These may have been used
for an initial analysis before using an advanced computer model in conjunction with wind
tunnel results. The importance of wind tunnel testing is crucial as in terms of dynamics it
may prove impossible to successfully model the interaction of the whole structure.

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Temperature Loading

As with wind loading the British Standards are unlikely to be of much use as all maps and
data apply to the British Isles only. With the deck 2460m in length temperature effects are
extremely important. The design process would have into account the stresses induced
with the expansion joints clogged. With the effective temperature range for the design
process taken to be from -35ºC to 45ºC these stresses will be substantial and will
considerably increase compression in the deck. Another issue is the temperature difference
between the upper and lower surface of the deck. This will introduce bending into the deck
for which the effect will vary depending on the time of day.

Other Load Effects

With substantial amounts of concrete involved in the design one of the most important
loads to be considered is that associated with creep of concrete. For Millau the highest
bridge pier in the world was being constructed so any changes in height, particularly if
uneven across the 7 different piers would lead to adverse effects as well as potentially
aesthetic problems. The construction technique used probably generated worse loading as
the deck continuously spanned 171m between piers and temporary piers unsupported by
any cables as it is in its final state. Thedeck is likely to have experienced more adverse
tension and compression than can be expected from the various load combinations during
its serviceability lifetime. When looking at pictures of the bridge during its construction
the undulations caused from these forces are obvious.

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Structural Assessment
The bridge takes the form of a multi-span cable stayed bridge. Having multiple spans there
are no back stays as with most cables stayed bridges to anchor the pylons to a rigid
support. Instead adverse loads on one span directly interact with the next as the pylons
bend to accommodate this. Due to the height of bridge it is important that the pylons have
a relatively low bending stiffness compared to the piers. If this is not the case and large
bending moments may be transferred to the pier, huge bending moments would result at
the base of the piers. Considering the poor bedrock of limestone containing significant
cavities the piers are founded on, this would potentially cause problems. The shapes of the
pylons seem to be significant in reducing the bending moment transferred to the piers. The
longitudinal A frame appears to encourage the resolution of moments into vertical forces.

With thecables inducing a bending moment in the pylon, one ‘leg’ of the pylon will go into
tension and the other compression. These forces can be transferred to the ground by the
split piers. The steel deck is placed into compression by the cable stays. The expectancy
here would be to use a pre- stressed concrete deck due to its good compressive strength.
However the chosen launching methoddictated that the deck is of steel. During the launch
effective spans where 171m so the ductility of steel was taken advantage of. A concrete
deck may have been susceptible to cracking under its own weight which may have lead
problems during its serviceability lifetime. Preventing such cracking during the launch
would mean pre-stressing the deck in advance using tendons and also completely erecting
the pylons and cables prior to launch, effectively pre-stressing the deck superstructure.
This would prove time consuming and the steel deck was considered the more efficient
option.

The steel deck was seen to undulate during construction but due to its high ductility this
did not result in any lasting structural problems. As a result the deck needs to be able resist
any associated buckling with the anticipated compressive loads which may not have been
such an issue aswith a concrete deck.

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Fig: Simplified Moment Distribution

When analyzed, the deck would have been considered continuous over a series of fixed
cable supports. Although technically not the case as the cables are elastic, this allows for a
rough idea of the tension in each cable to be obtained using the worst load case. When
analyzed computationally an iterative process will be used to obtain the optimum values of
tensions in the cables and compression and bending in the deck. The areas of the deck
closest to the pylons will experience the most compression as the cables acting over the
rest of the span will incrementally increase the compression up to this point. There is a
‘window’ in the cable stays here as the increased compression effectively acts as a pre-
stress improving bending stiffness. As mentioned the bending moments will alter the
compression force in the deck. Ideally the deck will be acting solely in compression with
the bending being considered and how it will affect the compression across the section. A
careful balance is required taking into account the various load conditions ensuring the
deck remains predominantly in compression but to avoid buckling. Having a steel deck
means that if adverse loading causes the deck to go into tension at some point, this is not a
problem due to steel’s ductile properties.

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FOUNDATION DESIGN
The piers of the viaduct rest on different types of soils as shown in fig

The marls not only have weaker mechanical properties than the limestone, but also show
superficial slide which affects the upper part.Spread foundations were chosen for
abutments C0 and C8 which are founded on limestone. The foundation system is a
monolithic set composed of a 1m thick raft foundation for each rear abutment with the
abutment platforms at different levels.

The foundation design for each of the 7 piers is composed of 4 reinforced concrete piles
with a diameter of 5m and a depth of 10-15m drilled in the rock and bonded together at the
top by a 3.5m thick reinforced concrete footing, which is itself bonded to the pier. In
marls, the foundation is thicker and the piles are deeper, with their base diameter being
increased to 7m.

Foundation of the highest pier (2) is founded in limestone, while that of medium height
pier (6) is founded in marls. The behavior of this type of pier foundation system is
complex. It is a piled raft foundation system in which part of the load is transferred to the
footing. The way that this behavior was simplified is particularly assuming that footing
bears no load and no skin friction is created along the shaft except in case of tensile
stresses.

This comes down to assuming that bearing capacity depends solely on the ultimate
pressure on the rock at the bottom of the shaft and that settlement results only from
deformations of the rock at the bottom of the shaft, which make the foundations more
flexible than they really are.

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Bearing capacity was defined using Terzaghi’s equations adapted to take into account the
inclination of the load and the proximity to the hillside, to which an overall stability
calculation was added for shafts drilled in marly hillsides, as well as for the foundation of
pier 3 in limestone whose overall stability had to be improved by a reinforcing soil
retaining wall.

Several pile loading trial tests were carried out in the marly soils to assess the skin friction
along the shaft.

The load bearing capacity and settlement of the foundations were calculated taking least
favorable combinations for the ultimate limit andserviceability limit states. Vertical load
distribution was applied at the centre of thefoundation to evaluate normal and horizontal
strains and the longitudinal and transverse bending moments.

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Fig: Standard cross sections of piles in marls and limestone

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Fig: Loads applied to pier 2

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CONCLUSION
From initial conception until the end of its lifespan, the Millau Viaduct was always huge in one way or
another. First required to solve a huge problem, and then designed to be huge in order to overcome huge
obstacles, before finally emerging as one of the hugest structures in the world where it will remain for the
next century and beyond. Therefore, the construction of the Millau Viaduct can be seen as a grand
solution to a big problem. Many challenges were faced, but through clever design, competent
construction, andcreative use of resources, they were overcome. The result was an amazing structure that
not only looks amazing but also serves an important purpose. The engineers responsible can be proud of
the fact that their hard work has contributed to the existence of a structure that will continue to inspire
generations from now.

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REFERENCES

 Scribd
 Journal Of Rock Mechanics And Geotechnical Engineering
 Wikipedia
 A Simulation of the Millau Viaduct by CathrinaBergsjo and Marcus Pettersson.
 Proceedings of Bridge Engineering University Of Bath, Bath, UK.
 Mega Transport Projects planning, appraisal and delivery: A review of case study
experiences and research finding

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REMARKS

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