ADVANCED BRIDGE DESIGN

PCE-211

Dr. Shruti Sharma

Ph.D (INAE Award), M.E.(Structures-Gold Medallist), B.Tech (Civil- Gold Medallist)
Associate Professor
Civil Engineering Department
Thapar University,Patiala
 Scope of Syllabus
General: Bridge System, Considerations in alignment, Planning, Economic
consideration, Aesthetics and selection of type of bridge (Review).

Loading Standards: Standards followed in U.K., U.S.A. and Europe.

Super Structure Analysis: Bridge deck analysis using different methods, Load
distribution theories –Courbon specifications for loading, Geometrical proportioning
etc. of road, rail-cum-road bridges, Indian Road Congress (IRC) and Indian
Railway Loading standards and their comparison with loading, Hendry-Jaegar,
Morris-Little (Orthotropic plate theories) methods, Design of bridge decks.

Connections: Design of different connections, Bearings and joints.

Substructure Analysis and Design: Piers, Abutments, Wing walls and other
appurtenant structures.
Foundations: Well foundations and pile foundation,
Design and construction and field problems

Construction & Maintenance: Erection of bridge

super structure, Maintenance, Rating and Strengthening
of existing bridges.

Dynamics Behaviour: Behaviour of bridges under

dynamic loads, Discussion of code provisions for design
of bridges for wind and earthquake forces

Long Span Bridges: General discussion of suspension

and cable stayed bridge
 Recommended Books

Text Books
1. D. Johnson Victor, Elements of Bridge Engineering, Oxford and
IBH publishers, New Delhi (1980).
2. Vazirani and Ratwani, Design of Concrete Bridges, Khanna
Publishers, New Delhi (2002).

Reference Books
1. Krishna Raju, N., Design of Bridges, Oxford and IBH
Publications (1998).
2. Ponnuswamy, R., Bridge Engineering, Tata McGraw Hill (1997)
3. Relevant Road & Railway Codes for Bridges.
4. Raina, V K , Concrete Bridge Practice, Tata McGraw Hill
Publications (1991)
 Course Learning Outcomes
 Understand the concept of planning and
investigation for bridges ·
 Analyse and design superstructures for
various types of RCC bridges ·
 Analyse and design various types of
substructures and foundations·
 Perform dynamic analysis of bridges
Evaluation Scheme
 Mid Semester Examination : 30
 End Semester Examination: 45
 Sessionals : 25
Quiz 1: 7
Quiz 2: 8
Tute : 10
Assignment/Project
To design sub and super structure of RCC
bridge
INTRODUCTION

 Definition of a Bridge
 Concept of a Bridge
 Components of Bridge
 Different types of Bridges
 Need and the investigations to be
carried out for its suitable location
 Hydraulic Analysis and Estimation of
Design Discharge
DEFINITION OF A BRIDGE

 A bridge, in general, is defined as a

structure providing passage over an
obstacle without closing the way
beneath.
 Bridge can be a road/
railway/pedestrian/pipeline/canal
bridge
 The obstacle can also vary from a road
to a railway, from a river to a valley and
so on.
 BRIDGE
• A structure facilitating a communication
route for carrying road traffic or other
moving loads over a depression or
obstruction such as river, stream, channel,
road or railway.

• Communication route may be a railway

track, a tramway, a roadway, a footpath, a
cycle track or a combination of them.
 Components of a Bridge
Broadly a bridge can be
divided into two major parts:
 Superstructure

 Substructure

 Superstructure of a bridge is

analogous to a single storey

building roof
 Substructure is analogous to

that of walls and columns

and foundations supporting
it.
Components of a typical bridge

Deck Slab
Longitudinal Girders
Cross Girders
Hand Rails
Parapet

Piers
Abutments
Wing Walls
Foundations
 Superstructure consists of structural
members carrying the communication
route.

 Handrails, barriers and flooring

supported by any structural system such
as deck slab, T-beams, L-girders, arches
and cables above the level of bearings
constitute the superstructure.
 Substructure
It is a supporting system for superstructure.
It consists of the following:
 Piers

 Abutments

 Wing walls

 Foundations for the piers and abutments

 Other main parts of bridge structure are

approaches, bearings and river training
works, like aprons, revetment for slopes at
abutments, etc.
Some Important Terms
 Approaches: Bridge design affects some
length of the communication route w.r.t
alignment level etc. called approaches.
 Abutment: End Supports of the
superstructure retaining earth on their back
 Wing Walls: Constructed on both sides of
abutment to retain earthen banks and
protection from water action.
 Piers: Intermediate Supports of the
Superstructure
 Foundations: abutments, piers and wing walls rest
on foundation which transfer the load to the subsoil
 Span: Centre to centre distance between any two
adjacent supports and clear distance between the
supports is called Clear Span
 Economical Span: Span for which the total cost of
the bridge structure is minimum.
 Waterway: Sectional area through which water
flows may be artificial (area under the bridge
superstructure)/ natural(Sectional area of the
stream at bridge site)
 Linear Waterway: Linear measurement of this area
along the length of the bridge
 Classification of Bridges
 According to road level relative to the H.F.L
of the river below

 Non-Submersible Bridge – H.F.L always below the

superstructure
 Submersible Bridge- H.F.L always above the
superstructure
 Important terms used in
Bridge Engineering
High Level Bridge or Non-Submersible Bridge

 It is a bridge, which does not allow the high floor waters

to pass over them.
 All the floodwater is allowed to pass through its vents.
 In other words it carries the roadway above the Highest
Flood Level (HFL) of the channel.
 Submersible Bridge

 A submersible bridge is a structure that

allows floodwater to pass over bridge
submerging the communication route.

 Its formation level should be so fixed as

neither to cause interruption to traffic during
floods for more than three days at a time nor
for more than six times in a year.
SUBMERSIBLE BRIDGE
Crossway
 Pucca submersible bridge that allows
water to pass over it.
 Provided over less important routes in
order to reduce construction cost of X-
drainage works
 It may have vents for low water flow.
 According to
Position of Bridge Floor
relative to Superstructure
Deck Bridges
 Bridges whose floorings are supported
or suspended above the level of
bearings.
Through Bridges
 These are bridges whose floorings are
supported or suspended at the bottom
of the superstructure.
Semi-Through Bridges
 Bridges whose floorings are supported
at some intermediate level of the
superstructure.
According to Inter-Span Relations
 Simple Bridges

 They include all type of beam, girder or

truss bridges supported at both ends
only.
 It is suitable for spans up to 8m only.
Cantilever Bridges
Bridges that are fixed at one end and free
at the other end and are used for spans
from 8-20m.

Continuous Bridges
Bridges that continue over two or more
spans
They are provided for large spans and
where unyielding foundations are
available.
According to Nature of Superstructure
Action

 Arch Bridges
 Portal Frame Bridges
 Truss Bridges
 Balanced Cantilever Bridges
 Suspension Bridges
TRUSS BRIDGE
Balanced Cantilever Bridge
• A cantilever bridge is a bridge
built using cantilevers, structures
that project horizontally into space,
supported on only one end.

• For small footbridges, the cantilevers

may be simple beams; however,
large cantilever bridges designed to
handle road or rail traffic use trusses
built from structural steel, or box
girders built from prestressed
concrete.

• Balanced Cantilever Bridge: One

portion of a span is suspended from
or rests over or is hinged with the
other portion of span
 Basic Bridge Types

Suspension bridges are used when the span of the bridge

exceeds 200m
Suspension Bridge
Suspension
bridge is better
suited for
crossing over a
very large
boat/ship
navigation.
 Akashi Kaikyō
Bridge

Suspension bridge is
a type of bridge in
which the deck (the
load-bearing portion)
is hung below
suspension cables on
vertical suspenders.

Also known as the Pearl Bridge,

It has the longest central span of any suspension
bridge at 1,991 metres (6,532 ft).
It is located in Japan and was completed in 1998.
 Golden Gate
Bridge

 The Golden Gate Bridge is a suspension bridge spanning

the Golden Gate, the opening of the San Francisco Bay
into the Pacific Ocean.
 It has been declared one of the modern Wonders of the
World by the American Society of Civil Engineers.
 The Frommers travel guide considers the Golden Gate
Bridge "possibly the most beautiful, certainly the most
photographed, bridge in the world“.
Lakshman Jhula,
Rishikesh,
Uttarakhand
Components of a Suspension Bridge
 Light and strong, suspension bridges can span
distances from 2,000 to 7,000 feet far longer than
any other kind of bridge.
 They are ideal for covering busy waterways.
 Suspension bridges tend to be the most expensive to
build.
 Main Elements are
o Cables
o Decking
o Suspenders
o Supporting Tower
o Anchorages
 Cable is the main load carrying member, curvature of
which changes as the load moves over the deck.
 Traffic load of the decking is transferred to the
cable thru’ the suspenders.
 Decking is supported by stiffening girders .
 Most Efficient Structural Load Carrying Member

 Suspension bridges in their simplest form were

originally made from rope and wood.
 In the early nineteenth century, suspension bridges
used iron chains for cables.
 Modern suspension bridges use a box section roadway
supported by high tensile strength cables.
 High tensile cables used in most modern suspension
bridges were introduced in the late nineteenth
century.
 Today, the cables are made of thousands of individual
steel wires bound tightly together.
 Steel, which is very strong under tension, is an ideal
material for cables; a single steel wire, only 0.1 inch
thick, can support over half a ton without breaking.
 Stiffening Girders transfer a UDL or
equal load to each suspender and hence
to the cable.
 A suspension bridge suspends the
roadway from huge main cables, which
extend from one end of the bridge to
the other.
 These cables rest on top of high towers
and have to be securely anchored into
the bank at either end of the bridge.
 The towers enable the main cables to be
draped over long distances.
Load Transfer Mechanism
 Suspension cables pass over a smooth
frictionless pulley and anchorage on either
sides.
 Tension on either side of the cable is equal.
 If it passes over a saddle on a pulley, horizontal
components of the tension on two sides is same
since the cable cannot have a movement
relative to saddle.
 Most of the weight or load of the bridge is
transferred by the cables to the anchorage
systems.
 These are embedded in either solid rock or
huge concrete blocks.
 Inside the anchorages, the cables are spread
over a large area to evenly distribute the load
and to prevent the cables from breaking free.
 Typical Structural Failures
 When it was opened in 1940,
the Tacoma Narrows Bridge
was the third longest
suspension bridge in the
world.

 It later become known as

"Galloping Gertie" due to
the fact that it moved not
only from side to side but up
and down in the wind.

 Attempts were made to

TACOMA NARROWS stabilize the structure with
853 m – 1940 cables and hydraulic
“Galloping Gertie” buffers, but they were
unsuccessful.
 Eventually on November 7, 1940, only four
months after it was built the bridge
collapsed in a wind of 42 mph.
 The bridge was designed to withstand
winds of up to 120 mph.
 Some experts have blamed the collapse of
the bridge upon a phenomenon called
resonance.
 Today all new bridges prototypes have to
be tested in a wind tunnel before being
constructed.
 The Tacoma Narrows bridge was rebuilt in
1949.
 Structural Analysis
 The main forces in a suspension bridge of any
type are tension in the cables and compression
in the pillars.
 Since almost all the force on the pillars is
vertically downwards and they are also
stabilized by the main cables, the pillars can be
made quite slender, as on the Severn Bridge, on
the Wales-England border.

The slender lines of the Severn Bridge

 Cables support loads over long spans such as
suspension bridges and only force in them is
direct tension.
 They are too flexible to carry moments.
 Analysis involves straight forward application
of equilibrium equations to various free
bodies.
 Cable under a given loading takes the shape of
a funicular polygon which represents to some
scale the BMD of a simple beam under the
same loading.
 If the hangers are large, the load
transmitted to the cables can be
approximated as UDL for which the cables
assume the shape of a parabola, similar to
BMD of a simple beam under UDL.
Advantages over other bridge
types
 A suspension bridge can be made out of simple
materials such as wood and common wire rope.
 Longer main spans are achievable than with any
other type of bridge
 Less material may be required than other
bridge types, even at spans they can achieve,
leading to a reduced construction cost
 Except for installation of the initial temporary
cables, little or no access from below is
required during construction, for example
allowing a waterway to remain open while the
bridge is built above
 May be better to withstand earthquake
movements than heavier and more rigid bridges
 Disadvantages compared with
other bridge types
 Considerable stiffness or aerodynamic profiling
may be required to prevent the bridge deck
vibrating under high winds
 The relatively low deck stiffness compared to
other (non-suspension) types of bridges makes
it more difficult to carry heavy rail traffic
where high concentrated live loads occur
 Some access below may be required during
construction, to lift the initial cables or to lift
deck units. This access can often be avoided in
cable-stayed bridge construction
Problem 1: Analysis of Cable
Carrying Point Loads
 Analysis by equilibrium
equations
A suspension cable supporting a bridge
deck is shown below.
Determine the reaction components at 1
and 5 and tension in the cable in different
segments.
CABLE ANALYSIS RESULTS

• Horizontal equilibrium of any part of free body

shows that the horizontal component H of cable

tension is constant throughout the cable.

• Maximum cable tension occurs always occurs in

the segment with greatest slope.

 According to Alignment of
the Superstructure relative to
the Obstacle
Right Bridges
These are bridges at right angles to the axis of
the river.
Skew Bridges
These are bridges that are not at right angles to
the axis of the bridge.
Underbridges
It is a bridge constructed to enable road to pass
under another work or obstruction.
Overbridges
It is a bridge to enable one form of land
communication over the other.
 According to Material of
Construction
• Timber
• Masonry
• Steel
• RC
• Prestressed
• Composite
 According to Purpose of Use/Function

• Aqueduct (A bridge that is constructed to convey water over an obstacle,

such as a ravine or valley)
• Viaduct (Bridge composed of several small spans of road/railway for crossing
a valley or a gorge. It is derived from the Latin via for road and ducere to lead
something. Many early viaducts comprised a series of arches of roughly equal
length.
• Highway
• Railway
Footbridge
 Bridge exclusively used for carrying
pedestrians, cycles or animals.
According to method of clearance for
navigation

Fixed or Movable
• Navigable Channels where permanent
or clear waterway cannot be provided,
movable bridges are provided.
Movable Bridges
Swing Bridges
A swing bridge has balanced girders swinging round a quadrant of a
circle or horizontally over a pier or a pivot.
It is used for road traffic and when desired to permit for navigation , the
bridge rotates thro’ an angle of 90 deg.

Bascule/Draw Bridge
 Bridge whose deck is composed of two spans joining each other at the
middle of the bridge and pivoting around a vertical axle at each
abutment.
 Can be lifted up at will to allow for boat or streamer traffic under it.
 Movable Bridges
Pamban Bridge,
Rameswaram

• Can be readily raised or lowered by rack and pinion

arrangement as they are counterweighted at the ends.

• As the bridge opens , the counterweights lower into a

pit called Bascule Chamber.
Double-leaf Strauss fixed-trunnion bridge

Tower Bridge , London

 Lift Bridges
 A vertical-lift bridge or just lift bridge is a type of
movable bridge in which a span rises vertically while
remaining parallel with the deck.
 The vertical lift offers several benefits over other
movable bridges
 They cost less to build for longer moveable spans
 Although most vertical-lift bridges use towers, each
equipped with counterweights, some use hydraulic jacks
located below the deck.


Bridgewater Bridge is one of the last remaining

operational vertical-lift bridges in Australia
 DRAW BRIDGE FOLDING BRIDGE CURLING BRIDGE

Vertical Lift Bridge Table Bridge Retractable Bridge

SUBMERSIBLE BRIDGE TILT BRIDGE

TRANSPORTER BRIDGE
According to Span Length
 Culverts with spans less than 8m
 Minor Bridges with spans between 8-
30m
 Major Bridges with spans above 30m
 Long Span Bridges with spans above
120 m: Suspension and Cable Stayed
Bridges
According to Degree of Redundancy

 Determinate
 In-determinate
According to Type of Connection

 Riveted
 Welded
 Pin- connected
 Permanent and Temporary Bridges
Permanent Bridges
Constructed to serve for centuries to come and
designed on scientific lines

Temporary Bridges
 Shorter life span and limited to use
 Resorted specially in India to facilitate execution
of permanent works for crossing of rivers and
streams where want of time, money or skill
prevents construction of permanent nature.
 Cable Stayed Bridges

 According to Leonhardt, Cable Stayed Bridges are technically,

economically, aesthetically and aerodynamically superior to
the classical suspension bridges.
 A cable-stayed bridge has one or more towers (or pylons), from which
cables support the bridge deck.
 A distinctive feature are the cables or stays, which run directly from the tower
to the deck, normally forming a fan-like pattern or a series of parallel lines.
 Contrast to the modern suspension bridge, where the cables supporting the
deck are suspended vertically from the main cable, anchored at both ends of
the bridge and running between the towers.
 The cable-stayed bridge is optimal for spans longer than cantilever bridges and
shorter than suspension bridges.
 This is the range within which cantilever bridges would rapidly grow heavier,
and suspension bridge cabling would be more costly.
 Suspension Bridge Cable Stayed Bridge

 In suspension bridges, large main cables hang between the towers and are
anchored at each end to the ground. This can be difficult to implement when
ground conditions are poor.
 In the cable-stayed bridge, the towers are the primary load-bearing structures
that transmit the bridge loads to the ground.

Key Advantages of the Cable-Stayed Form

 Much greater stiffness than the suspension bridge, so that deformations of the
deck under live loads are reduced
 Can be constructed by cantilevering out from the tower – the cables act as
supports to the bridge deck
 For a symmetrical bridge (i.e. spans on either side of the tower are the same),
the horizontal forces balance and large ground anchorages are not required
 Various Designs

Mono Design Harp Design

Fan Design Star Design

Akkar Bridge, Sikkim India
• Length 157 m
• Single Pylon 57.5m

 Vidyasagar Setu,
which is famously
called Second
Hooghly Bridge over
the River Hooghly is
a 3-lane highway
bridge.
 It is reckoned as one
of the longest bridges
of its type across
India.
 It is acknowledged as
one of the longest
bridges of Asia.
 Main Span of 457m
and two side spans of
183m deck of 35 m
width.
 Economical Span Ranges &
Configurations for Bridge Decks

 Materials like timber and steel have

been replaced by new materials
 High Strength and High Performance
Concrete
 Reinforced and Prestressed Concrete
 High Tensile steel wires, bars, strands,
cables and polymeric materials.
Modern Trends in Bridges Engineering
 New Types of Prestressed Concrete and Cable
Stayed Bridges
 Long Span Cable Stayed Bridges with Hybrid
Decks using steel girders, concrete slabs, high
tensile steel cables
 Cantilever method of construction is the latest
and most popular method generally adopted for
construction of long span pre-cast or cast in –
situ prestressed segmental bridges
 PSC cellular box girder bridges for urban
flyovers
 The Millau Viaduct is a cable-stayed bridge
that spans the gorge valley in southern
France.
 In a Franco-British partnership, designed
by the English architect Lord Norman
Foster and French structural engineer
Michel Virlogeux.
 It is the tallest bridge in the world, having
a structural height of 343 metres.
 Bridge pillars gracefully rise to more than
300m
 Extending over a length of 2.46 km , it is
an engineering feat.
 Worlds tallest and longest bridge

 Second Vivekananda PSC

cable stayed bridge over River
Hooghly
 Hybrid Structure
 Cable stayed post tensioned
PSC box Girders
 Nine Spans
 Asia’s 1st Multispan extradosed
bridge
An extradosed bridge employs a structure that combines the main elements
of both a prestressed box girder bridge and a cable-stayed bridge.
Span Range Type of Bridge

 4m-7m Reinforced Concrete (RC) Slab Culvert

 7m-15m Prestressed Concrete (PSC) Slab Bridge
 15-25 m RC/PSC T-Beam and Slab Bridge
 25m-60m PSC Beam and Slab/Steel plate girder
 50-100m Balanced Cantilever Bridge(RC/PSC)
 75m-150m PSC box girders using cantilevered
construction /Steel Truss
 150m-500m Cable Stayed with RC/PSC decks
 500m-1800m Suspension/Cable Stayed with steel decks