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Cast in Situ vs Segmental Construction

Comparison of Cast in Situ vs Segmental Construction
The cast in situ construction of bridges is done on ground supported staging at project site while in segmental
construction, precast segments of superstructure are brought at site and then launched and placed together with the
help of launcher. The main advantage of segmental construction is the time saving of construction as segments are
precast. However cast-in-situ segmental construction is also popular in long span bridges such as cantilever type
construction. However the precast segmental construction is economical only when there is large number of span to
be constructed in a single stretch because the launcher is very large. The cast in situ construction is useful in small
projects where number of span is less. In cast-in-situ construction precast I-Beam with insitu deck slab is very
popular. The cast in situ technique is very at interchanges where spans are curved. Segmental Construction is not
feasible for curved spans having sharp radius. Time consuming is large in cast-in-situ construction as it involves
following steps.

a) Erection on ground supported staging.

b) Casting of Concrete.
c) Dismantling of staging.

The cast-in-situ construction is preferable if there is no problem in diversion of traffic from project site and also in
small projects.

Cantilever Construction is a method of progressive construction of a cantilever in segments and stitching them to
the segments already completed by prestressing. It is an example of segmental construction. The cantilevering
segments are constructed/erected from pier outwards one on either side and stitched back simultaneously. The
segments normally 2.5 to 3.0 m long can be either cast-in-situ on traveling gantries or can be precast in yard and
erected by launching truss or floating cranes. In Situ construction is economical only in case of bridges having
fewer spans. Usually it takes about 4 months to complete a 120m long superstructure by cast in situ segmental
method. Hence for bridges when many long spans are involved, prestressing can really speed up the work.

Though precasting involves additional investment as plant machinery and organization for a longer bridge this
investment ultimately proves economical over the cost of time saved. The use of precast concrete segmental offers
the following advantages.
(1) Control of high quality concrete.
(2) Manufacture of segments at casting yard instead of project site where the quality control may not be there.
(3) Great accuracy of section and profile can be obtained and problem of deflection during construction can be
better overcome.
(4) Shrinkage can be practically eliminated and creep reduced by high quality of concrete.

Deep indentation shear key shall be employed at match cast joints at segments face in precast segmental
construction. These shear keys shall cover as much area of the cross-section as possible. Shear keys in the webs
shall be smaller in size and more in number whereas those in top and bottom flange may have larger sizes with
lesser number. Shear keys shall be dimensioned in the form of trapezium.

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