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Components of Bridges
Components of Bridges
concrete and steel bridges, their types, importance, functions are discussed.
Basic Components and Parts of Bridge Structures
The bridge structure consists of the following components:
Decks
The decking is considered as the road or the rail surface of the bridge. The decks are
supported by the girders or the huge beams that is in turn supported by the piers. The whole
arrangement is supported with a deep foundation mainly piles and cap arrangement.
Bearings in Bridges
The loads received by the decks are properly and safely transmitted to the substructure with
the help of bearings. These are components of bridge that enables even distribution of load on
the substructure material. This transmission is very essential in situations where the
substructure is not designed to take the load action directly.
The bearings in bridges allow the longitudinal movement of the girders. This movement is
created due to the forces acting on the longitudinal direction. The forces due to the moving
loads and the variation in temperature are the main causes for longitudinal forces.
The selection of bearing is dependent on certain parameters, which are: Loads acting, the
geometry, the extent of maintenance, the clearance available, the displacement, rotation and
deflection policy, availability, preference of the designer, the construction tolerances, and the
cost criteria.
For the bridge design, all the above-mentioned aspect is considered for the design and the
choice of bearings. The designer must consider the bearing arrangement in the bridge
construction as a separate system.
In most of construction practice, the bearing is selected or the decision for bearing is done in
the last moment. This results in increase of maintenance in the future, which must be avoided.
1. Piers
2. Abutments
3. Wing Walls and the Returns
4. Foundation
Piers
The piers are vertical structures used to support deck or the bearings provided for load
transmission to underground soil through foundation. These structures serve as supports for
the bridge spans at intermediate points.
The pier structure has mainly two functions:
Most of the piers are constructed using concrete. Steel for the construction of pier is used in
very few cases till now. Use of composite columns i.e. steel columns filled with concrete is
used as new technology of pier construction.
The pier is a vertical member that resist the forces by means of shear mechanism. These
forces are mainly lateral forces. The pier that consist of multiple columns are called as bent.
The special care has to be provided for the foundations of abutments. The abutment
foundation must overcome the problems of differential settlement and excessive movements
caused due to lateral forces or loads.
The below figure shows the components of abutments.
The rear of the wall must consider three design loads while designing. This includes:
Foundation of Bridges
Foundation are structures constructed to transmit the load from the piers, abutments, wing
walls and the returns evenly on the strata.
The foundation provided for bridge structures are deep in sufficient manner to avoid scouring
due to the water movement or to reduce the chances of undermining.