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Summary on Evolution, Test and Durability of Trough Girders in Rail Transit
Xun Wu1,*,Shan Zeng1,Dihang Ye1, Minjie Gu2
1. Department of Bridge Engineering, Tongji University, Shanghai, 200092, China
2. Shanghai Municipal Engineering Design Institute(Group) Co. Ltd.,Shanghai,200092,China
*corresponding author’s email: wuxuns@126.com
Abstract—Firstly, this paper briefly describes the evolution
process of rail transit trough girders, from traditional trough
girders to additional cross beams, then to the advent of U-
shaped girders in rail transit, and the theory of transverse
prestress applied to U-shaped girders. Then, combined with
the application of Engineering examples, the static load test
and fatigue test of rail transit trough girders conducted by
researchers are briefly described. Finally, the durability of U-
shaped girders is emphatically discussed. Combined with an
engineering example in Ningbo, the durability of U-shaped
beams applied transverse prestress is tested by finite element
analysis and experimental analysis. It is concluded that
transverse prestress is helpful to improve the durability of U-
shaped girder.
Keywords- rail transit; trough girder; U-shaped girder;
evolution process; durability
I. EVOLUTION PROCESS OF TROUGH GIRDER
With the development of urbanization, a large number of
rail transit viaducts have been built or renewed in many
cities in China, which promotes the diversification of the
structural forms of rail transit bridges. The trough girder was
first used in railway transportation, but with the rapid
development of rail transportation, this structural form
began to emerge in the design of rail transit bridges.
Compared with the traditional box girders and T girders, rail
transit trough girders have advantages in traffic height,
comprehensive cost, noise control, section utilization and
traffic safety [1], which makes trough girders become the
new favorite of rail transit bridges. With the development of
design concept and construction technology, the
requirements for the structural form of rail transit bridges are
more stringent, and the structural form of trough girders has
also evolved. The traditional trough girder is designed by
block design method, which is easy to calculate and can be
solved by elementary mechanics calculation method [2].
However, this method ignores the interaction between the
various components of the trough girder, which makes the
calculation results too conservative and deviates from the
actual situation. The trough girder designed by this method
is large in size and three-dimensional pre-stressed system,
which is uneconomical in cost and not beautiful in overall.
With the development of trough girders, designers began
to consider adding crossbeams under the bottom plate of
trough girders, which is a significant improvement on
traditional trough girders [3]. After adding crossbeams, the
trough girder system is transformed from "main girder +
bridge deck" to "main girder + bridge deck + cross girder"
system, from three-way prestressed state to two-way
prestressed state, which improves the shortcomings of

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traditional trough girder. After adding crossbeams, the total
concrete consumption has little change due to the reduction
of floor size and self-weight. On this basis, the center of
gravity of the structure moves up and the bending moment
caused by the prestressing force increases, which is
beneficial to the longitudinal force of the trough girder. The
state of bidirectional prestress also accelerates the progress
of construction.
In rail transit bridges, double-track arrangement is often
used, but the center line of double-line arrangement often
has some deviation from the center line of bridge structure.
When a vehicle travels on a single line, the internal structure
will produce larger bending moment due to the effect of
eccentric load, while the trough girder, which is an open
section, is not conducive to torsion resistance [4]. For single-
track lines, designers began to design the section of trough
girder as "U" shape, so as to keep the line center line
coinciding with the bridge structure center line, reduce the
torque caused by eccentric load, and avoid the shortcomings
of poor torsional performance of trough girder. Because the
U-shaped girder is a single line, the load is reduced, the
floor can be designed to be more thin, structural focus
further move, prestress effect is better, at the same time drop
makes the prestress amount reduced.. After canceling the
transverse prestressed tendons, the original structure is
simplified to one-way prestressed state, and the construction
difficulty is greatly reduced. After adopting U-girder, the
structure size is reduced, the construction process is fast, the
construction quality is high, and the overall shape is
beautiful, and the cost is low. During the application of U-
shaped girders, researchers found that with the increase of
operation time, longitudinal cracks began to appear on the
floor of U-shaped girders, which greatly reduced the
durability of the structure. In order to solve this problem,
Professor Wu Xun of Tongji University proposed a scheme
of applying transverse prestressing force, and carried out
relevant experimental research.
II. SUMMARY OF TROUGH GIRDER TESTS
With the wide application of trough girders in rail transit
and other fields, scholars at home and abroad have carried
out experimental studies on the structural form and
mechanical properties of trough girders, which are mainly
divided into static load test and fatigue test.
A. Static load test
The trough girder is first applied to the field of rail
transportation in China is in Shanghai Metro Line six. The
total length of Shanghai Rail Transit Line 6 is about 33 km
[5]. The Wulian Road Station to Boxing Road Station is a
noise sensitive area, and the line is transferred from elevated

 to open ground section. Therefore, trough girders are used in
this section. In order to ensure the smooth use of trough
girder rail transit, Wen Zhiyun et al. of Pudong Transport
Construction and Development Company carried out full-
scale tests on it. Through the test, the stress and deformation
characteristics of the trough girder under the condition of
manufacture and normal use are analyzed, so as to guide the
design and ensure the smooth construction. The loading way
is water injection into the iron tank. The test results show
that the connecting position of the main girder and the cross
beam is in tension state. It is suggested that sufficient stress
reinforcement should be arranged in the design to avoid
cracks in the operation stage.
U-shaped simply supported girder structure is adopted in
the eastern extension of Nanjing metro line two. In order to
test the safety and durability of the U-shaped beam under
design load, cracking load and failure load, Wu Xun et al.
selected one of the post-tensioned pre-stressed concrete U-
shaped simply-supported beams with standard span of 25 m
to carry out 1:1 static load test, and carried out the strength
and durability of the bridge structure under design load and
cracking load respectively. Stiffness and crack resistance are
2 times and 2.5 times the design load, and the strength and
stiffness of the bridge structure. The test results show that
longitudinal cracks occur in the slab of U-shaped girder in
the normal operation stage. It is suggested that the number of
transverse non-prestressing tendons should be appropriately
increased in the slab to improve the transverse crack
resistance. At the same time, appropriate waterproof
measures should be adopted in the operation stage to avoid
affecting the durability of the structure due to cracks.
With the popularization of trough girder in railway
transportation, the combination of Trough Girder and other
structures has gradually become a development direction in
the field of engineering. Ningqi Railway adopts simple
supported trough girder tied arch composite structure [6,7],
which has unique shape and novel structure, but the overall
spatial effect is prominent, and the structural stress is
complex. In order to comprehensively discuss the overall
performance of the structure and systematically understand
the spatial behavior of the structure, Wu Xun et al. carried
out a 1:4 full bridge model test. Because of the model test, it
is necessary to consider the problem of dead load
compensation. The dead load compensation is realized on
the main girder by applying concentrated load to the actuator
by using the equivalent calculation method of cross-section
bending moment. The ultimate load of the test is 3.16 times
of the design load, and the structure has not been destroyed.
At this time, the width of the transverse crack reaches 0.18
mm. The test loading has exceeded the maximum loading
value of the specification, and the structure is safe and
reliable. The test results show that the stress distribution is
not uniform not only in the bottom slab but also in the top
edge of the main girder due to the shear lag effect. In order
to prevent concrete shrinkage and cracks at arch foot, it is
suggested that fiber concrete be used in concrete at arch foot.
B. Fatigue test
With the increase of the operation time of U-shaped
girder, longitudinal cracks often occur on the slab. Therefore,

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besides the static load test for the bearing capacity of U-
shaped girder, fatigue test for durability must also be carried
out.
In order to ensure the transverse crack resistance and
durability of 25m U-shaped girders in the southern section of
Shanghai Rail Transit Line 11, Shanghai Shentong Rail
Transit Research Consulting Company has carried out a full-
scale model fatigue test. The number of fatigue loading is 10
million. During the loading process, the upper limit and the
load amplitude are gradually adjusted. The maximum value
of the upper limit is 350 kN/axle and the maximum value of
the load amplitude is 178 kN/axle. Some visible cracks
(below 0.05 mm) were found after 8.74 million fatigue
cycles. Until the end of the test, the cracks did not develop
significantly, and the fatigue crack resistance was good. The
test results show that the longitudinal and transverse stiffness
of the structure decreases slightly with the number of fatigue
cycles, and the longitudinal and transverse crack resistance
and flexural bearing capacity after 10 million cycles meet the
requirements of the code.
Based on the engineering background of 30m U-shaped
girder of Chongqing Light Rail Line 1, in order to test the
working performance of post-tensioned prestressed concrete
U- shaped girder under fatigue loading, Pu Qianhui et al.
carried out 6 million fatigue cyclic loading tests as well as
bending, shear and crack resistance tests after fatigue loading
[8]. The attenuation law of performance parameters such as
stiffness of U-shaped girder under transverse loads after
various levels of fatigue loading is studied in depth. The test
results show that longitudinal cracks appear in the mid span
section when the loading times reach 800 thousand times.
After 6 million cycles of fatigue loading, the maximum
crack width at the bottom of the girder is 0.16 mm under the
maximum transverse bending static load. After unloading,
some cracks can not be closed.
The static load test and fatigue test show that the existing
U-shaped girder will produce longitudinal cracks in the floor
during the operation stage. With the increase of the operation
time, the external rainwater, oxygen and other substances
will enter into the concrete interior along with the cracks,
which will cause durability problems such as corrosion of
longitudinal prestressing tendons, and will affect the service
performance of the structure. Bearing capacity causes
hazards. Therefore, how to solve the problem of how to
avoid longitudinal cracks of U-shaped girders in the use
stage is worth further study.
III. DURABILITY PROBLEMS OF U-GIRDER AND ITS
SOLUTION
From the above discussion, as an open thin-walled
member, U-girder has complex forces. Especially under the
normal rail traffic load, longitudinal cracks will appear on
the slab of U- shaped girder, and the depth and length of
cracks will continue to increase with the increase of time,
which seriously affects the durability of U- shaped girder
structure. Longitudinal cracks are mainly related to the
transverse force of U-shaped girders. Under repeated loads,
the stiffness and crack width of components with good
performance may deteriorate as the number of repeated loads
 increases: stiffness decreases, cracks continue to develop and
deformation increases, thus affecting the normal use of
components. Even fatigue failure occurs below the limit
static load strength. In addition, with the appearance of
longitudinal cracks, the stiffness of U-shaped rail transit
girders will decrease, which will lead to the increase of
deformation under rail transit load and affect the comfort of
rail transit. Moreover, a large number of longitudinal
prestressing tendons are arranged longitudinally in the slab
of U-shaped girders. If the design is carried out horizontally
according to ordinary reinforced concrete members, once the
longitudinal cracks along the longitudinal direction of the
prestressing tendons occur, the durability of the prestressing
tendons will be greatly reduced, which will have a
significant impact on the durability of the overall structure of
U-shaped girders. 
Figure 2. Layout of prestressed tendons
Ningbo Airport Expressway South Extension Project is
an integrated double-deck viaduct, in which the upper level
Through finite element simulation, the results of
is urban expressway, the lower level is rail transit line, and
transverse stresses in mid-span under dead load and dead
the track structure adopts U-shaped girder. In order to solve
load plus live load are shown in the following figures.
the durability problem caused by transverse cracking of U-
shaped girders, Wu Xun et al. proposed adding transverse
prestressing to solve the problem thoroughly, and carried out
a comparative test of whether there is transverse prestressing
in U-shaped segmental girders. The length of the segment is
three meters. One is laid with ordinary steel bars horizontally,
and the other is laid with unbonded prestressed tendons
every other meter. The test results show that the fatigue
loading times of ordinary steel bar segments are about 6
million times, and longitudinal cracks appear at the mid-span
of the floor, at which time the crack width is about 0.02 mm.
With the loading times reaching 10 million, two cracks were
added to the bottom of U-shaped girder track slab, and the
maximum crack width was 0.06mm. However, no cracks
were found in the bottom slab until the end of fatigue
loading in the transverse prestressed section.
In order to ensure the safe construction of U-shaped (a) Dead load (ordinary steel bar)
girders on Ningbo Airport Expressway, the finite element
simulation analysis of U-shaped girders with common
reinforcement and prestressed reinforcement is carried out.
The U-shaped girder bridge model is shown in Fig1- Fig2.

(b) Dead load+ live load (ordinary steel bar)

Figure 1. The finite element model of whole bridge



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 IV. CONCLUSIONS
Firstly, the evolution of trough girders is introduced.
Secondly, the static load test and fatigue test of domestic
trough girders are discussed. Aiming at the durability
problem caused by longitudinal cracking of U-shaped
girders, a detailed analysis is made, and an appropriate
solution is put forward. Several conclusions can be drawn.
1.The U-shaped girder has small size, simple prestressing
system, fast construction progress, high construction quality,
beautiful overall shape and relatively low cost.
2.Due to repeated loads, there are often longitudinal
cracks in the bottom slab of U-shaped girder. With the
increase of time, harmful substances will enter into the
concrete along the longitudinal cracks, causing corrosion of
the longitudinal prestressing tendons in the concrete,
(c) Dead load (prestressed reinforcement) seriously affecting the service performance and safety
performance of the structure.
3. Layout of transverse prestressing can solve the
problem of longitudinal cracking of U-shaped girder, and
transverse ordinary reinforcement can be reduced
appropriately. Layout according to the structural
requirements will not greatly increase the overall cost.
REFERENCES
[1] Kuangzhang Hu, Xinyuan Jiang, Guanglv Lu. "Trough Girder" [M].
Beijing: China Railway Publishing House, 1987. 180.
[2] CHEN Wenyan, GU Mingjie. "Research on double-track trough
girder of rail transit" [J], Metro and light rail , 2001, vol.02, pp.15-19.
[3] En-huai He. "Application of channel girders in project of urban rail
transit" [J]. Journal of Railway Engineering Society, 2003, vol.20, no.2,
pp.16-19.
[4] Huang Zhengnan. "Application and popularization of railway
prestressed concrete channel girder" [J]. Railway construction, 1996,
vol.12, pp.32-34.
(d) Dead load (prestressed reinforcement) [5] Wen Yunzhi, Ai Lieqi, Liu Zuhua. "Experimental study on trough
Figure3. Finite element calculation results beam of Shanghai rail transit line 6" [D]. China Municipal Engineering.
2006, vol.01, pp.35-37.
[6] Zhang Yonglan. "Research on mechanical properties of concrete-
The calculation results are shown in the table below. filled steel tubular trough girder arch bridge" [D]. Tongji University,
2017.
Table 1 Stress Comparison of transverse and prestressed full [7] Wu Xun. LI Hui. "Experimental and analytical behavior of a
bridge models (MPa) prestressed U-shaped girder bridge" [D]. Structural Engineering and
Mechanics. 2017, vol.61, no.3, pp.427-436.
Model species Dead load Dead load+live load [8] Wang Binli, Pu Qianhui, Bai Guangliang. "Fatigue model test and
Transverse calculation analysis of 30 m U beam on Chongqing light rail" [D].
0.72 1.40 Railway Engineering, 2011, vol.07, pp.25-28.
Prestressing
No transverse
2.11 5.14
prestressing

Therefore, the maximum transverse tension stress of the

slab is 1.40 MPa, which is far less than the concrete tensile
strength. That is to say, there will be no longitudinal cracks
under the operation load, and there will be no durability
problem. At the same time, the transverse layout of pre-
stressing tendons, transverse ordinary steel bar can be in
accordance with the requirements of the structure
reinforcement, the amount of ordinary steel bar is greatly
reduced. Comprehensive consideration, the overall cost will
not be much improved.



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