engineering connections®

Innovative expansion joint and bearing solutions

for exceptional bridge structures

Bridges and Tunnels Asia 2014, Singapor, 19th – 20th March 2014
Presenter: Dr. Pascal Savioz, Head of Asia Pacific mageba, psavioz@mageba.cn
Current trends in bridge design

Longer …
Wider …

Strait of Messina Bridge (2016?) with main span of 3’300 m Port Mann Bridge (2012) with 10 traffic lanes and 65 m width

Fancier … More exposed …

Sheikh Zayed Bridge (2010) designed by architect Zaha Hadid 50 km sea-crossing Hong Kong–Zhuhai–Macau Bridge (2016)
Requirements for bridge performance

Safer… Faster …

Under-construction bridge collapses in Mumbai (2013) Modular bridge components design and construction

More economic… More durable …

Slim design of new Penobscot Narrows bridge (2012) Damaged expansion joints on Zhengzhou No.1 bridge (2008)
What is the expected age of bridges and key bridge
components?

And how old can bridge

Typically, how old can bridges
bearings and expansion joints
get?
get?

Bearings and joints can reach a life time

Generally, a steel or concrete bridge can
of
reach an age of
100 to 150 years 25 to 40 years,
depending on the product type, the
before it reaches its economical life
specified standard and the
time.
manufacturing quality.

Therefore, bridge bearings and expansion joints need to be replaced

at least twice during the life time of the bridge.
Challenges for critical bridge components

Bridge designs that push limits, as well as more demanding

performance requirements, call for innovative solutions of critical
components, such as bearings and expansion joints.

Engineering & design

High-performance materials

Clever applications

Minimum life-cycle cost

Case studies presented today

Golden Ears Bridge, Rhine Bridge,

Canada Switzerland/Germany

$$$

Incheon Grand Bridge,

South Korea

Tran Thy Li Bridge,

Vietnam
Markets supplied
with mageba
products
Agenda

Tran Thy Li Bridge

1 World record in loads of bridge bearing

Golden Ears Bridge

2 Bearing and Expansion joints for complex bridge design

Incheon Grand Bridge

3 Reduced life cycle cost

Rhine Bridge
4 Minimal invasive refurbishment
Tran Thi Ly Bridge – latest signature bridge in Vietnam

Span of cable stayed bridge: 430m

Pylon height: 145m
Tran Thi Ly Bridge – latest signature bridge in Vietnam

S5

The bearings in Position S5 have to transfer a huge load

mageba supplies the world’s most loaded bridge bearing ever
produced

250’000 kN = + +
 Main challenges
 Huge dimensions of the bearings issue a challenge for the producer in
terms of design, material purchasing, manufacturing and logistics
 The weight of 30 tons per bearing demands an unconventional procedure
for installation only to be performed by experienced technicians

The huge loads at the pylon base create a

new challenge for the bearing producer
What are the key components the spherical bearings?

Upper dowels (optional)

Upper shear studs (optional)
Upper anchor plate (optional)
Shim plates (optional)
Sliding plate (steel)
Sliding sheet (stainless steel)
Sliding element (ROBO®SLIDE)
Convex upper element (steel,
with polished hard chrome )
Concave lower element (steel)
Sliding element (ROBO®SLIDE)
Side-mounted guide bars (steel)
Lower anchor plate (optional)
Lower shear studs (optional)
Lower dowels (optional)

Instead of an elastomeric pad to allow rotations, this bearing has a curved steel
element (part of a sphere) at its core
Therefore the spherical bearing does not risk loss of elastomeric
material under pressure

Spherical bearings are made entirely of steel and sliding materials enhancing its
strength and durability
PTFE has for many years been the standard material used in
bridge bearings

PTFE can be inadequate

where

 Very large accumulative

movements occur

 Sliding movements are

uneven / erratic

 Pressures are very high

PTFE ROBO®SLIDE

ROBO®SLIDE is much more resistant to wear and shows zero abrasion even after
50 km of sliding distance
 Production process of world’s largest spherical bearing

Production of sliding plate Welding of stainless steel sheet High precision machining of
the sphercial surface (dia.
2‘724mm!) on a lathe

Lathed and milled calotte Lower bearing part The sliding material
ROBO®SLIDE is to be greased
accurately

ROBO®SLIDE is installed Mounted on special Installation on site

on the upper plain surface transportation frames
of the Calotte
Content of this presentation

Tran Thy Li Bridge

1 World record in loads of bridge bearing

Golden Ears Bridge

2 Bearing and Expansion joints for complex bridge design

Incheon Grand Bridge

3 Reduced life cycle cost

Rhine Bridge
4 Minimal invasive refurbishment
The Golden Ears Bridge, Canada

With 3 centre spans of 242m, and 2 end spans main structure has length of 968m
Photo © Matthias Götz
 Key factors influencing bridge design

Uplift bearings and Uplift bearings and

main expansion Tension in cables
main expansion
Low angle of thus prestresses
joints deck joints
Shorter tower cables to deck Limited height

Soft liquefiable soil

conditions
Deck fixed to Seismic area
central towers

Bridge design results in unusual hybrid cable stayed design:
 Behavior between that of true cable-stayed bridge and extradosed
bridge
 Deck integral with towers
 Cables at low angle to deck
 Cables act to prestress the deck as well as support each span
Consequences for bridge’s bearings and joints:
 Exceptional load & movement requirements
 Balanced design  deck rises and falls due to traffic
alone
 Seismic event performance

Role of bearings is impressive considering two bearings at each end are

the only ones under 968m of structure
Details of delivered bearings

Transverse section Longitudinal section

The long upper part slides

across and within
the short lower part

Plan view

Upper part is 4.9m long, allowing 3.1m of movement over lower part
Cross section of delivered bearings

Bridge deck
1,059mm
Bearing

The long upper part

slides across
the short lower part

Concrete pier

Consists of interlocking steel parts, separated by reinforced elastomeric pads

Single pad on lower level resists downward forces …
… while two elastomeric pads on upper level resist uplift
Elastomeric pads each have a PTFE surface to allow sliding
Further design and fabrication considerations

Elastomeric bearings have steel pins through their cores to limit deflection
Compressibility tested after fabrication to ensure required pre-stressing
Further design and fabrication considerations (cont.)

To ensure parallelness, which could have been lost during welding …

… it was decided to instead bolt critical plates together

Some impressions of the Golden Ears uplift bearing

Bearings so large that tightening of bolts View of a fabricated bearing

required six men

Due to size (18 tons weight), final assembly As soon as connected to bridge, upper part
on truck started to slide along lower part
Expansion joints for complex movements
Key movement requirements on the main expansion joints

(i) Longitudinal movement requirements

SLS Opening SLS Closing EQ 475 Opening EQ 475 Closing EQ 1000 Opening EQ 1000 Closing
+ 440mm - 270mm + 1,010mm - 910mm + 1,200mm - 1,035mm

(ii) Rotation requirements

EQ 475 EQ 1000
Rotation about a vertical axis +/- 0.0038 radians +/- 0.0050 radians
Rotation about a transverse axis +/- 0.0240 radians +/- 0.0300 radians

(iii) Service requirements (in cases of defined seismic events)

EQ 475 Joint can suffer minor damage, easily repairable. Joint and bridge must remain in service

Joint can suffer significant damage but must be repairable within a limited time and using limited
EQ 1000
resources
Key movement requirements on the main expansion joints

At SLS stage (i.e. under normal condition), the expansion joints work “normally”

At EQ475 stage (i.e. when heavy earthquake), the expansion joints opens and fully closes

At EQ1000 stage (i.e. when extremely heavy earthquake), the expansion joints fully opens and breaks out (fuses)
when closing
mageba’s innovative solutions to meet the 3-step requirement

1. Special fuse box on fixed side to

break out at defined movements
and loads at earthquakes

2. Engineered transverse beam

1 boxes on moveable side to allow
4
2 defined movements

3. Special gap limitation design

taking into account movements
and intended rupture at defined
earthquake stages

4. Kinematic rubber-spring system

to efficiently absorb quick and
3
multi-directional movement
 The Expansion joints of the Golden Ears Bridge

Modular expansion joint at the Transportation frames also Installation of expansion joint with
factory enabled pre-setting of joints to length 24m
be adjusted on site

After joint is correctly positioned View of joint from below shows Modular expansion joint ready for
and adjusted, reinforcement and its support beams and gap width traffic
concrete was placed control system
Content of this presentation

Tran Thy Li Bridge

1 World record in loads of bridge bearing

Golden Ears Bridge

2 Bearing and Expansion joints for complex bridge design

Incheon Grand Bridge

3 Reduced life cycle cost

Rhine Bridge
4 Minimal invasive refurbishment
With its main span of 800m it is one of the five longest bridges
of its kind …

Span of cable stayed bridge: 800 m

Main towers height: 230.5 m
Principle considerations in the design of very large expansion
joints

1. Required working life of an expansion joint

of min. 40 years
2. >200 Mio. heavy-duty load cycles / fatigue
design
3. Extreme movements of expansion joint
4. Life cycle cost considerations for lower TCO

Special features of the expansion joints to meet the requirements:

 Special sliding material ROBO®SLIDE
 Elastic and asymmetrical control system
 Extra-durable key components
 Anti-skid protection
 Automated structural health monitoring
(1) High grade sliding material ROBO®SLIDE

 Main characteristics of ROBO®SLIDE:

• low friction characteristics (friction level is approximately 5 times lower
than that of PTFE)
• excellent abrasion resistance (20 times more durable than PTFE, tested on
>60km)
• increased admissible contact pressure (successfully passed an extreme
pressure test of 220 N/mm2, 140 N/mm2 is allowed for dimensioning )

240

p 200
set ∆h *mm+
ZusammendrückungDh in mm

p in MPa
set Δh [mm]

Sliding gap [mm]

[N/mm
pp [N/mm ]
22]
160

Flächenpressung
120
Compression
Compression

Pressure
Pressure
Dh 97 h 80

40

0
0 20 40 60 80 100 120
Time t [h] Total slide path [m]
(2) Elastic gap control system

Elastic Control System

Elastomeric control springs

control the dynamic system
• Controlling the gap widths
• Distributing the loads to the
neighbouring lamellas
• Transferring horizontal loads
• Counter-balancing rotations
• Damping dynamic loads
(horizontal & vertical)
 Elastic control system
increases the stability of the
expansion joints
(3) Extra-durable key components

mageba steering springs at Fatigue test carried out

cold temperature test (-20°C) at mageba steering springs

450

400

350 Failure after 900’000

Dynamic Stiffness [N/mm]

movement cycles
300

250

200

150

100
0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000
Movement: 30mm +/-15mm
Cycles ( x 1000)
Gap: 55-85 mm

All components are tested to assure their 900’000 movement cycles correspond to
durability and longevity theoretically 2466 years life time (under
laboratory conditions)
(4) Anti-skid coating to prevent skidding

Technology from British Aircraft Carriers ROBO®GRIP Anti-skid coating

Advantage of ROBO®GRIP anti skid coating

Proven technology under comparable conditions (high loads, severe environment (sun, salt))
Durable product thanks to multi-layer system (total six layers)
Increased traffic safety in all weather conditions – high friction level
Proven on large modular expansion joints (over 10 years)
(5) Automated structural health monitoring

ROBO®CONTROL for Incheon Bridge:

1. Permanent real-time information

 Increased safety (early damage
recognition)
 Lower maintenance cost
 Statistics for large bridge engineering

2. On-line and user-friendly display

3. Independent system design

 No external power supply needed

 Wireless data transmission by UMTS

 No software needed with web

interface
Customer friendly user interface

ROBO®CONTROL for Incheon Bridge:

 Real-time information about

bridge behaviour

 Supports decision making for

maintenance

 Improved life-cycle cost

Content of this presentation

Tran Thy Li Bridge

1 World record in loads of bridge bearing

Golden Ears Bridge

2 Bearing and Expansion joints for complex bridge design

Incheon Grand Bridge

3 Reduced life cycle cost

Rhine Bridge
4 Minimal invasive refurbishment
Joints are subject to wear due to heavy and dynamic traffic
loads
Leading to severe traffic congestion

Cost of traffic congestion – Examples from SEA:

Indonesia: In 2010 traffic congestion cost Jakarta $5.2 billion

in lost productivity and extra fuel costs
Source: The Jakarta Post http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2011/03/16/congestion-costs-jakarta-rp-46-trillion.html

Malaysia: Penang Bridge congestion costs annually 328 Mio.

hours in delay, 10 Mio. liter of wasted fuel
Source: Private Vehicle Ownership and Transportation Planning in Malaysia, IPCSIT vol. 26 (2012) © (2012) IACSIT Press, Singapore

Vietnam: Economic losses caused by traffic jams are

estimated at 14.3 trillion dong ($841 million) per year
source: http://www.lookatvietnam.com/2009/07/in-hcm-city-traffic-jams-have-become-a-way-of-life.html

Road congestion already costs Asian economies an

estimated 2–5% of GDP every year due to lost time
and higher transport costs. Source: Asian Development Bank 2013
Issue and potential trade-off

How to minimize intervention time for replacement

while
maximizing quality and durability of joints?

 Faster fitting
 If required, an existing expansion joint can be replaced in less than 24 hours
 Low cost solution
 Low overall costs as all assembly work can be carried out in the workshop
 No additional concreting or asphalt work is required
 Robust and durable construction
 The RE-LS joint was successfully tested for fatigue (2 x 106 load cycles) at the University of
Innsbruck
 "Quiet" construction
 Up to 80% less noise generation in comparison with traditional joints thanks to fitting with
patented sinus plates
 Improved driving comfort
 Joint can be installed at the exact level of the road surfacing (no more bumps for vehicles)
Fridolin Rhine Bridge –
links Stein (Switzerland) and Bad Säckingen (Germany)

Bridge length: 244 m

Bridge width: 12,9m
TENSA®CRETE Type RE-LS easy installation & high resistance

Joints ready for installation Joint lifted in and leveled ROBO®FLEX polymer concrete
placing

Quartz sand spread in top Smooth transitions to road at Within just 4 to 6 hours after
before final leveling each side installation traffic can pass
the bridge again
Dynamic fatigue testing with ROBO®FLEX concrete

ROBO®FLEX main
characteristic values:

• Compressive strength:
22.3 N/mm2 (prism)
• Adhesive tensile
strength: 1.8 N/mm2
(concrete)

• 2106 load cycles of -9.5 kN / + 31.6 kN with no sign of damage

• Downward loads gradually increased until failure occurred at a loading level of -9.5
kN / + 110.6 kN, after a total of 2.44106 load cycles
• Downward force 3.5x the specified test load
(University of Insbruck, 2004)
ROBO®FLEX adhesive tensile strength tests

Failure occurs in the concrete

and not at the interface
Average value 1.8 N/mm2
measured at 20°C
(University of Innsbruck 2004)
Noise reducing capability of RE-LS joints

Noise reduction by means of patented sinus plates

Benefits of expansion joint

with Sinus Plates:
Traffic noise reduction
Improved driving comfort
Improved safety

Forged “sinus plates” reduce traffic noise and impacts on the expansion joint
It is important to consider the “concept of life cycle costs”

High-End Standard Low-Tech

Working Assumptions Product Product Product 1300% 
Lifetime (years) 40 25 10
Initial investment value 120% 100% 70% 2.6 MEUR
Maintenance per year 2% 4% 6%
Major overhaul at mid-life

50 years
40% 70% n.a.
(closure of one lane)
Replacement investment 120% 110% 90%
Traffic interruption cost during
100% 100% 100%
850% 
replacement (=user cost)*
*) only part of effective user cost (works combined with bridge mainten.)

1.7 MEUR

25 years
600%

500% 
Low-Tech Product 450% 1.0 MEUR
Standard Product

200%
High-End Product

Sources:  Haardt, BMS Stufe 1 und 2, 2002, Germany  Federal Office for Spatial Development, Switzerland, 2007  Spuler T.,
IABMAS 2012, Stresa, Italy

Over time, a high quality bridge bearing or expansion joints

is much more economical, as replacement costs increase exponentially.
Conclusion

1 High loadings

Complex
2 movements

Sliding gap

3
[mm]

Life cycle cost

Total slide path [m]

Quick
4 refurbishment