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Fédération Internationale de la Précontrainte

Awards for

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Outstanding Structures
1998

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Awards for

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Outstanding S tructures
1998

if Fédération Internationale de la Précontrainte

11 Upper Belgrave Screet, London SWlX 8BH

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if b
All righi; rese rved .

No pan of chi, publicarion 111ay be

reproduced. stored in a rerrie1·al
sysrcm or tran smicced in any form
or by anv means without prior
permission in wriring from rhe
publish er.

All copv and phomgra ph s in 1hl'

L'JHrie:., in rhe book h.1 v e heen
su pp li ed by the s ubmi tt ing FI P
me mbers, and have been
reproduced on the underst.rnding
1 h a 1 1hev .ire reproduced with 1hc
knowle<lge an<l pri or consem of
the die11t. prac1icö. p howgr. 1ph cr .
il!u!'ltrawr J11<..l odu-r in t e r esrl.'J
p.1n ie� LOnccrneJ.

No re,pomibilitv is accepicd by
1he publisher or 1heir agcn1 fnr anv
infrin ge menr of cop�Tighr or
or herwise .1risi ng our of
publication nf the sa1m'.

Whilst e1-ery effon h.is been m.ide

co en..,ure accurac�·- the p u hli s he r
and their .igent do not a cc e pl
responsibilitv for error; or
Oll1JSSIOllS.

© Fédérnrion lmernarionale de la
l'récontrai11te 1998
11 U p per Bd gr;n-e Sr.
l .ond on SWIX 81\H. UI(.

ISBN: 1 871956 .lO -

Dc,ig nc·d and produced bv T,1ro1

,\lillbury. Kem MEl'J 'iAS. UK
Pri1H1.:d in Ln�d,rnJ hy N ew rime
Av"rn"iace' l td. F�'e'· UK

Ackn(l\\'IL·<l�111e11b:
The pu bl isher; wi,h 10 1hank
Ralph Andrew. Sally Rernolds
.md John Dougill for 1heir help in
1hc product ion of rhis book.
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Message from the
Chairman of the PIP Jury
ifb
In 1990 the Fl r Council inrroduced an
Award for Outstanding Structures as a
means of giving international recognition to
concrete structures which demonstrate the
versatiliry of concrete as a structural
medium. The awards are made ar rhe FIP
Congresses every four years and consist of a
bronze plaque and Cerrificares to rhe
principal parries involved.
The enuies for rhe 1998 FIP Ourstanding
Srructures Awards were exhibired and
judged by rhe FJP jury in London in March
1998. The jury, consisring of rhe
members of rhe FIP Praesidium, had an
onerous task due to rhe qualiry and
diversiry of the enrries.
Altogerher 35 enrries were received from 12
Member Groups, and of these 23 were
classifted as "Civil Engineering Srrucrures"
and 12 as "Buildings". The dividing line
berween these rwo caregories is ofren hard
to deftne. Some of rhe entries, alrhough of
norable qualiry, were regrerrably nor
considered for rhe awards due to
non-compliance wirh the rules of the
comperirion.
The jury selecred four enrries, rwo in each
of the rwo caregories, for the 1998 Awards.
In addirion six furrher entries were judged
to be worrhy of"Special Mention''. The
awards and the Special Menrions wil! be
announced ar the Xlllth FlP Congress in
Amsterdam in May 1998.
Under the rules of rhe competition rhe
judges have complete freedom to make the
selection of awards ar rheir discretion, and
rheir decision can not be challenged. This is
not a licence ro be flippant or parrial, bur
rather recognirion of rhe fact that ir is
difftcult to judge one concept against
another and to grasp from limired
information the parricular and
sometimes hidden qualiry of an entry.
The jury this year felr that many more of
the structures than the ones singled our for
awards should be given recognition in some
lasting form, and rhe idea was bom to
produce a book presenting the majoriry of
the entries to the industry and to the
public. Through this book we wish to
srimulate the creativiry and skill of our
profession and enhance people's awareness
of the merits of structural concrete in the
continuous development of rhe
environment. The structures we present
range from record-breaking large-span
bridges to small buildings, parking garages
and railway run nels. In many respects rhe
book can be seen as a "state of the arr"
document of concrete srrucrures as we go
forward inro the nexr millennium.
At the nexr Congress in Osaka, Japan i n
2002 I anricipate rhar rhe FIP Outstanding
Srrucrures Award wil! continue under the
auspices of ftb, and that we shall be judging
a large number of equally impressive
srrucrures.
I am delighred rhar the book has been made
available for the Amsterdam Congress in
record-breaking rime, and wish to express
my sincere thanks to the FIP Secretariar, the
designers Tarot Millbury, and to the FIP
Member Groups who have supported the
award scheme.
Jan Moksnes
3
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Previous Awards

if b
FIP Awards for Outstanding Structures 1990

The Pedestrian Bridge at Kelheim across the Altmühl, Germany

La Grande Arche in Paris, France

The Oosterschelde Storm Surge Barrier in the Netherlands

The Gullfaks C Oil Platform, Norway

In addition, seven entries were judged to be worthy of

"Special Mention"

FIP Awards for Outstanding Structures 1994

The Skarnsundet Cable Stay Bridge, Norway

The Footbridge over the Vranov Reservoir in the Czech Republic

The Administrative Building of the European U nion in Madras, India

The Tennis Center of Yale Universiry in New Haven,

Connecticut, USA

The Breakwater Jetry in Sakai, Japan

In addition, eight enrries were judged to be worthy of

"Special menrion"

4
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Contents

if b
3 M essage from the Chairman of the FIP Jury

4 Previous winners of rhe Award

Civil engineering structures Buildings

6 Bahrain - Shaikh Isa bin Salman 40 India - Bangalore Indoor Stadium

Bridge
42 Japan Yokohama International
-

8 Belgium - Namur relecommu,nicarions Stadium

tower
44 Japan Osaka Municipal Centra!
-

10 Canada - Confederarion Bridge G ymnasium

12 China (Hang Kong) Kap Shui Mun -

46 Japan - Osaka Pool
Bridge & Ma Wan Viaducrs
48 Netherlands Parkinggarage,
-

14 Denmark - Grear Belt Easr Bridge Laakhaven Hollands Spaar

16 France - Pont de Normandie

50 Netherlands Harbour rehabiliration
-

and school at The Hague

18 France - Pont du Morbihan

20 France - Truc de la Fare overpass 52 Netherlands - Corkscrew access to

parking roof
22 India - Dodan Nallah Arch Bridge
54 Netherlands - Villa VPRO, Hilversum
24 Japan Odawara Blueway Bridge
-

56 Netherlands - Office tower

26 Japan - Shiosai Bridge " Malietoren"

28 Netherlands - Rijswijk Railway Tunnel 58 United Kingdom - Belfasr Waterfront

Hall
30 Norway -Heidrun - the first concrete
T ension Leg Platform

32 Norway Troll Graviry Base Strucrure

-

34 Spain - The Bridge over the Lerez

river ar Pontevedra

36 United Kingdom - Second Severn

Crossing

38 USA - Rock Cut Bridge

5
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�-$%:/: FIP Awards for Outstanding Srructures 1 998
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Shaikh Isa bin Salman Bridge

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Location: BAHRAIN

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Owner The Shaikh Isa bin Salman
Ministry o f Works & Bridge merits considerarion
Agriculrure, State of Bahrain because it successfully achieves
all the requirements of a good
Consulting Engineer
Dar al Handasah Consultants
design:
(UK) Lrd • Efficiency in strucrural
design
Contractor
• Economy in construction by
Saudi Archirodon
the extensive use of
precasting which is reflected
in the low cost of the bridge
in spite of the very strict
specification for durabiliry
• Elegance which has been
achieved as a by-product of
an efficient and economical
design.
The bridge was built to
connecr the rwo islands of
Manama and Muharraq and to
cope with rhe i ncreased traffic
to the airport.
Steel and concrete structures .
were examined in the initia!
stages of concept design.
Considering the highly
corrosive environment in
Bahrain and the need ro
provide an economie and
aesthetic solution, concrete was
found to be more suitable. lt
was also feit that the effects of
the aggressive environment
could be better controlled by
the use of a p restressed concrete
srructure.
should be kept as low as
possible for aesthetic reasons i n
keeping with the low clearance
of the bridge - to be reduced.
The 34m wide dual three-lane
deck is built as precast
segmental construction with
glued joints. lt consists of a
spine segment which is erected
as a first stage with the stays.
The precast side cantilevers
were erected as a second stage
afrer completion of the main
span and the adjacent spans
and rransversely post-tensioned.
The precast sail segments were
erected and the stay cables
finally 'runed'. The presrressed
concrete single plane sray in the
median gives strucrural stiffness
to the wide deck strucrure.
The economy of the structure
lies in the use of conventional
prestressing in the concrete
stays - as opposed to the use of
normal stay cables which are
considerably more expensive -
and in the economy of effort in
building a wide deck from
smaller segments.
Exceptional features
• The qualiry of concrete
finishes on all exposed
surfaces
• The use of single plane
prestressed concrete stays to
support a wide deck
The use of a precast spine
beam with precast side
cantilever combined with
precast split shells for the
sails - to reduce mobilisation
costs and ease construction
• The use of polyethylene
ducts for prestressing in the
deck and polyethylene­
coated strands i mpregnated
with grease for the stay
cables
• An extremely rigorous
specification for concrete was
used in an arrempt to
prevent corrosion of the steel
and enhance the durabiliry
of the structure. This
incl uded the use of
microsilica admixrure for
high-strength concrete
for all components, low
permissible chloride content
of constiruents, generous
cover to reinforcement,
controlled curing, anti­
carbonation paim to
concrete, cathodic protection
to piles, pile-cap, and piers
and waterproofing
membrane of bridge deck.

The concept of the bridge is

the designer's response to the
terms of reference for a design
wi th aesthetic elegance that fits
the location. The bridge with
its curved soffi r and shaped
pedestrian parapets and the
'sails' above the deck result in a
structure that resembles the
sailing ships historically
associated with Bahrain and the
Gulf region. With its low
clearance and sails in its
prominent location as part of
the causeway, the structure
gives an exceptional spectacle
viewed from the share. The use
of prestressed concrete sails
allows the height of the towers
- which the designer believed

6
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J��I ,.. �I jl.::..c.1

FIRST DAY COVER

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0priigmSl.ü1sams.i...lliilg!

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Civil engineering FI P Awards for Outstanding Structures 1 998

structures

Namur telecommunications
tower

b
Location : BELGIUM

if
History Realisacion to sire and resin-glued.
Owner
Belgacom Namur
There are three kinds of rail Design Erecrion was by crane fastened
buildings: religious strucrures The tower was designed to to the tower, wirh positioning
Architect such as cathedrals; towers for resist exceptional winds as controlled by lasers. Final
Belgacom housing or offices; and rele­ well as vibracion and solar adjusrmenrs were made
Consulting Engineer communication towers. Some effects. To avoid signa! difficulr by the crane
Ets E. Ronveaux S.A of rhe most famous were disrurbance, an exrremely movements and solar effeccs.
realised by rhe brillianr onerous defle crion resrricrion of The enrire tower was post­
Contractor engineer F. Leonhardr. His 0 . 5° was imposed, calling for tensioned with j ust 28 tonnes
Ets E. Ronveaux S.A
book Towers: civilisation s an exceprional sciffness of high-yield cables.
history through its highest modulus (inerria and elasciciry) .
buildings is one of rhe besr and Young's modulus for good Conclusion
the most complete summary of qualiry concrete exceeds 40,000 The record-breaking project
rhe subject. MPa. was carried our by Ronveaux in
a single season . Commissioned
As far as we know, the Namur
Precasting in December 1994, the tower
tower engineered by Ronveaux
To avoid air bubbles, the tower was completed in 199 5 . Shaped
is rhe world's rallesr precasr
rings were case verrically in racher like a rocker, the Namur
concrete tower. When
cylindrical steel reinforced tower grew ar almosr rocker
Belgacom decided to erect a
moulds 3m high. The rebar speed, with each of irs three
170111 high radio link tower in
and post-censioning duces were legs lengrhening by 12m a
Namur, specialist advice was
fixed before the high-srrengch week. Among orher rhings, the
soughr. Ronveaux (Belgium) -
concrete was poured, as were project demonsrrared how rhe
who had designed, precast and
anri-corrosion protection and use of precasting togerher wi th
erecred more rhan 120 towers -
accessones. rigorous conrrols can lead to
suggesred precasr elemenrs
efficienr consrrucrion, excellent
glued togerher and post­
Erection performance and the h ighest
rensioned. The design called
The precasr rings were brought qualiry.
for 800m3 high-strength con­
crete inscead of 2400m3 for the
same structure cast in situ.

Description
The tower is composed of chree
thin legs, 2.4m diameter, which
raper in ar a slope of 5 % up to
rhe 96m level. Each leg
conrains a helicoidal scaircase,
ladder and cables and counrer­
balance weighcs for the
elevators. The legs are bonded
every l 2m by a precast
concrete rhree-poinred star,
hollow in irs middle to allow
rhe panoramic lift to pass
through.

The junction of the legs

consisrs of precasr unies and a
minimum of connecrion joints
sealed by a special morrar.
Rising from the juncrion is a
3.4m diameter concrete core
housing an elevator and
anorher sraircase.

8
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if b
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ifb
Owner
Public Works of Canada
Consulting Engineer
Jean Muller I nternational/
Stanley Consultants
Contractor
Strait Crossing J.V.
(Ballast Nedam International,
GTMI, trait Crossing Ine.)
10
F I P Awards for Oursranding Srrucrures 1 998
Confederation Bridge
Location: CANADA
The l 3km long concrete bridge
across the Nonhumberland
Srrait in Canada connects
Prince Edward lsland with the
mainland of New B runswick.
However, it was not the length
of the bridge chat made this
project something really
unique, but rather the chick
layer of ice chat covers the
Northumberland Strair every
winter for about five months.
This ice determined, to a large
degree, both the design and the
consrrucrion procedures. Local
fishermen were worried chat
the ice would be held in place
by me piers of the bridge, with
the resulr rhar the Srrair would
rake longer to become ice-free
in springrime. This would also
have had an adverse effect on
fish stocks and shorren rhe
fishing season.
The Government determined
chat the presence of the bridge
should not delay the so-called
' ice-out date' by more rhan rwo
days, which resulted in a
minimum span requirement of
200m wirh a maximum pier
widrh ar the warerline of 6m.
A span of 250m and a pier
widrh of abour Sm were finally
chosen.
Anorher important aspect is
rhar rhe ice is consrandy in
motion, because of ridal
influences. Wirh currents
reaching in excess of 3 knots ar
rhe bridge, a merre-rhick ice
field of many square kilomerres
pressing againsr these piers
causes enormous horizontal
forces. To limit these forces, a
conical edge, abour Sm high,
wirh a diameter of 9- l 9m was
required at rhe borrom of rhe
pier shaft.
This ' ice-nose' has rwo
significant contriburions. l r
limirs rhe pressure from me ice
by acring as an inverred ice
breaker, forcing rhe ice
upwards before ir breaks off.
Wirh a verrical pier face, rhe ice
first would have to be crushed,
imposing far grearer forces. The
second contriburion is rhar i t
prevents crushing of the ice.
Crushing ice again.s t a venical
pier creates a dynamic effect
with a frequency corresponding
roughly to the bridge's own
frequency, meaning the risk of
amplification which could
result in much higher forces.
Even with the ' ice-nose',
horizontal forces exerted by the
ice are still around 4,000 tomes
per pier.
The ice also restricred the
available construction time.
Total construction time wirh
so-called B.O.T. projects has a
major effect on the financing
costs. An extra year's
construction time is expensive
in terms of additional interest
payments and delay in income
receipt. A timetable was
therefore chosen where the
actual construction would be
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if b
complered in rwo summer
seasons of seven monrhs each.

1 r was decided ro prefabricare

as much of rhe bridge as
possible on land, and rhen ro
posirion rhese very large
elemenrs, some weighing up ro
8,000 ronnes, by a lifring
vessel, so minimising acriviry
on the warer.

The enrire bridge was

consrrucred by using only four
differenr componenrs: pier
bases, pier shafrs, main beams
and drop-in beams. For each
of rhese componenrs, one o r
more producrion lines were ser
up at the prefabricarion site.

11
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F I P Awards for Oursranding Srruccures J 9 9 8

Kap Shui Mun Bridge &

b
Ma Wan Viaducts

Locarion: HONG KONG, CHINA

if
Owner
Hong Kong Highways
Department
Architect
Greiner In e . & Leonhardr,
Andra und Parmer GmbH
Consulting Engineer
Greiner I n ternational Lrd. H K
Maunsell Consultanrs Asia Lrd.
Contractor
Kumagai/Maeda/Yokogawa/
Hicachi joint venture
lntroduction
The relocacion of Hoog Kong
Airport required a complecely
new syscem of access roads and
railways, of which the Kap Shui
Mun (KSM) B ridge farms pare.
The bridge was officially
opened on 27 April 1997.
Design
The KSM Bridge is a double
deck cable-scayed bridge with
spans of 80, 80, 430, 80 and
80m, making 750m
alcogecher. Road craffic is
carried by the upper deck while
the lower deck carries the rail­
way plus emergency l anes
giving vehicular access ra rhe
airport during a cyphoon. The
bridge deck is of prestressed
concrete in the side spans and
the first 2 I 4 . 2 5 m of the main
span. The weighc of the heavy
side span balances the weighc of
the lighcer steel composice
scructure of the main span. The
H-shaped cowers are concrete
with a prestressed cross-beam;
the cables are arranged as a half
fan.

Steel composite superstructure

of the main span
Steel structure
The steel scruccure consists of:
• inclined webs wich the cable
anchorages, segment lengch
8.70m
• Vierendeel type cross f1anges
and longicudinal bracings
• secondary f1oor beams
supporting the railway slabs
All che field joints of the steel
scruccure were bolted.
Top and bottom slabs
The 250mm chick slabs are of
reinforced concrete and span
longicudinally. In the Airport
Railway area, boch slabs have
l arge openings for ventilacion
in case of a fire.
Prestressed concrete superstructure
ofside spans and main span
The prescressed concrete pare of
the superstruccure is a
chree-cell box beam. Because
of the craffic arrangement on
the lower deck, the super­
scruccure is cransversely
sciffened by frame accion only.
At the piers, cross-beams had
co be provided beneach the
bridge deck.
Towers
The cowers consisc of rwo
shafcs and chree cross-beams.
Edges are rounded (R= 1 m)
and cables are anchored wich
loop cendons.
Cables
The cables consisc of 5 1 co 1 02
parallel mono scrands 0.6 in.
in diamerer wich a censile
srrengch of 1 720N/mm2 after
galvanizing. Corrosion
proceccion consiscs of hoc-dip
galvanizing, inhibitor grease
and a 1 mm polychene
sheathing. In addicion, the total
cable is enclosed in a polythene
sheach.
Construction
Side spans were incrementally
launched, the segment length
being 1 8.30m. A 2 1 . 2 5 m long
seccion of the final steel
struccure was used as the
launching nose. The cross­
beams were case later. The steel
composice deck was erecced by
cantilevering, the segmenc
weighc being 500 connes.

12
 © fédération internationale du béton (fib). This PDF copy of an FIP Report was purchased from the fib webstore.
Special features
Ldtest developrnents in
concrete strucrurcs were
considered, such as:
launching a very sriff and
heavy box
• usi ng a fl na! parr of the steel
composite structure as a
launching nose, flxed to the
This document may not be copied or distributed without prior permission from fib.
side span with PFF-bars
new types of a very efficient
cable anchorage at tower
b
head
• cooling concrete with
nirrogen to rninirnize cracks
• very shorr rirne pcriod for
design and consrruction:
if
4112 years.
l3
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Civil engineering FI P Awards for OutstanJing Struccures 1 998

struaures

Great Belt East Bridge

b
Location: DENMARK

if
Owner
NS Sroreb:elr
Architect
Dissing & Weirling
Consulting Engineer
CBR-Joinr Venrure
(COWJConsulr, Ramb01l)
Con tractor
Greac Belc Comractors
(Hochcief, Wayss & F reycag,
Hollandsche Beton en­
Waterbouw, E. Phil & Son,
KKS Encreprise)
Summary
Wich the construcrion of the
l Skm Grear Belr Link, a
project comprising the world's
second longesr suspension
bridge and Europe' s longesr
combined road and railway
bridge as well as Europe's
second longesr sub-sea tunnel
has been complered. Srructures
of such magnitude on a world­
wide scale will inevitably have
an impact on rhe environment,
rhe assessment of which is
more and more commonly
being included in the overall
design programme for polirical
and ecological reasons.
Throughour rhe Grear Belt
project, environmental
considerarions influenced borh
design decisions and
operarional procedures, which
led to the integrarion of the
srrucrures into the environment
- somerhing which is generally
accepred and appreciated by all
parries. The Link can make a
valid claim to being the most
environmentally friendly major
project underraken so far.
The effecrs on the seabed in the
immediare area of the
consrrucrion works, parricularly
in relation to the flora and
fauna, and the much wider
implications on the exchange
of water berween the Norrh Sea
and Balric were of particular
concern. Furrhermore, because
of rhe low lying ground on
eirher side of the Great Belt, ir
was recognised chat the
suspension bridge wirh irs
254m high pylons and massive
anchor blocks would make a
powerful visual impact.
From aesthetic and technica!
viewpoints, these aspects
influenced rhe design of the
East Bridge. Every effort was
made by the architects and
consultants to keep the
srructure as light as possible,
while still giving an impression
of srrengrh and stability.
Intensive studies based on wind
tunnel tests were undertaken to
reduce the weight of the box
beams which implied use of
mass tuned dampers. Special
attention was given to the
shape and moulding of the
concrete pylons to emphasize
the link berween form and
function. lt should be noted
rhar the conventional cross­
beam below the deck was
eliminated, demonstrating rhar
it is a suspended structure.
Even more unusual is the
design of the anchor blocks.
Positioned some 2.5km from
either coast, they are extremely
visible. However, instead of
being of mass concrete, they
were designed as hollow
triangles, resting apparently on
the surface of the water, wirh
the necessary weight for
stability provided below water
level by heavy ballast ar the
rear.
Project
Purpose
The Great Belt Link is part of
Denmark's overall transport
network known as the
'H-plan', the major feature
being the formation of a road
and rail link running norrh­
sourh through Jutland to
Germany, a second north-sourh
link running from Sweden via
the 0resund Link to Zealand
and from there to Germany via
the Fehmarn Link with the
final section of the 'H' being
the east-west Link berween
Zealand and Jutland which
incorporates the Great Belt
Link.

14
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Design approach Ar rhe anchor blocks, two J

The 6.7km East Bridge
includes a high bridge over the
wedge-shaped stone beds were
designed inclined at 1 6%
fr==iR==� -1
\

Great Belt Eastern Clunnel,
the main shipping lane
between the salty North Sea
and the brackish Baltic Sea.
Extensive risk analyses were
b
corresponding to rhe
inclinarion of rhe resulring
force from rhe pull of the cable t--
and rhe weight of the anchor
black, leaving the mid-part of
\

if
performed, including
computerised navigation
simulations. N umerous design
options were then invesrigared,
including cable-stayed bridges
as well as suspension bridges of
various main span lengths.
Evenrually, a suspension bridge
spanning l 624m between
pylons was adopted as the
optimum solution based on
these analyses.
the anchor black suspended
between the front and rear
parts.
Another unusual feature is rhe
2.8km conrinuous beam
crossing from anchor black to
anchor black wirhout
expansion joinrs ar the pylons.

Adopting concrete
construction
Tenderers were given the
option of pricing pylons made
of concrete or steel. At the
tendering stage, the lowest bids
were submitted for concrete
pylons, one of the reasons
being a smaller caisson
compared to a caisson
supporting a steel pylon.

Unusual features
A service life of 100 years was
specified together wi th
extensive use of qualiry
assurance according to ISO
900 1 and the use of a concrete
mix containing Portland
cement, fly ash and microsilica.
A h igh-performance concrete
was specified using advanced
curing technology and a
corrosion-monitoring sysrem.

15
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F I P Awards for Outstanding Srructures 1 998
Pont de Normandie
b
Locatio n : FRANCE
if
The ormandy B ridge crosses
Owner
che river Seine at ics mouch.
Chambre de Commerce et
The m ain span, 856m long, is
d' Industrie du Havre
che longesc cable-scayed span in
Architect the world. The bridge is a
Charles Lavigne
unique scrucrure, 2 1 4 1 m long,
crossing che river wich no
Consulcing Engineer
SETRA supporr in che scream. The
design was developed to
Contractor
produce a good balance of
Gie Pont de Normandie
permanent loads, to ease
erection and to limit wind
effects.
The bridge h as a prestressed
concrete deck in the access
spans and a steel deck in the
centra! part of the main span,
where ir is of major impor­
tance in limiting the self­
weigh t. The access spans are
on close supporrs up to the
pylons, because of che great
difference in weight between
concrete and steel decks. The
multiple supports distribute
the back scaying effecrs
between all rear cables, th us
16
sciffening che suspension.
The deck cross-section was
designed to reduce wind forces
and to give a h igh torsional
rigidiry. lts excernal shape is
idenrical whether in steel or in
concrete. To reduce wind
forces, che deck was stream­
lined. For torsional rigidiry, ic
is a box beam, with lateral
suspension because of the great
span length.
The concrete pylons are shaped
as an inverred Y with an
intermediate bracing where the
deck is rigidly connected. They
easily resist transverse wind
forces, either from the cab les
or rhrough the deck. This
shape is also much more effi­
cient rhan an H shape in
reducing torsional deformation
of the deck.
The stay cables are made of
parallel srrands, l S mm in
diameter, individually
prorecred. Each cable has an
exrernal duet, shaped by some
helical fillers designed to avoid
rain-induced vibrations. They
are anchored on the deck ar
inrervals varying from 1 4. S m
i n the concrete p arts to
l 9.65m in the steel part. Their
anchorages on the pylon cresrs
are disrribured over 60m
verrically in a centra! steel
element incorporared in the
concrete strucrure.
The concrete deck was
consrrucred by incremental
launching in the access spans
and by the balanced cantilever
method on borh sides of each
pylon. The centra! part of the
main span was built by the
canrilever merhod, with
segments l 9.65m long.
The Normandy bridge was
opened to traffic ar the
beginning of 1995.
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1. 6.10
8.00

.1. 3.70 .i
if b
COUPE TRANSVERSALE

TH.AVEE PH.INCIPALE

21.20
80
•I f• 800 'l"I'BS'�
t3S

17
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F l r Awards for Oucscanding Scrucrurcs 1 998
Pont du Morbihan
b
Location: FRANCE
if
Summary
Owncr The Morbiha n bridge over the
Direcrion Déparcememale de
Vilaine is a rein forced concrere
l'Equipemem du Morbihan
arch supporting a composire
Architect box srructure.
Charles Lavigne
Concrete arches practically
Consulting Engineer
disappeared in the late fi fties
SETRA
with the developmenr of pre­
Con tractor stressed concrete, the balanccd
Campenon Bernard SGE canrilever sysrem eliminating
the need for extensive
scaffolding. I n the sixries,
pioneer engineers prepared a
later revival of arches, by the
same method. The major
achievemenr of this techniquc
is the K'rk bridge, completed
in 1 980.
The design o f the Morbihan
bridge has been developed with
the experience of these bridges,
but the conrracror and the
administration attached
considerable imponance ro the
18
architcctural quality of the
structure.
An original idea was also
developed for pedestrian
crossing: a side walk was
installed on each side of rhc
arch.
Description
This bridge is the last major
structure complercd in
connection with the upgrading
of France's national highway
165 between Nantes a n d
Brest. 1 t i s located near La
Roche Bernard, in southern
Brittany.
J uscificacion of the concrete
solution
Many solutions have been
taken inro consideration
during the preliminary srudies.
With a view to exploiting an
outcropping layer of granite,
and wishing to shun
conven tional solutions - which
were deemed to be too
ordinary - S.E.T.R.A. selectcd
an arch bridge.
Main characteristics
The srructure is a rein forced
concrere arch wirh an opening
of 20 1 metres. The deck, wirh
a total lengrh of 376 metres
and an effective width of 20.00
metres, carrics four lanes of
trafflc.
A wide single composite box­
girder, 2.00 metres depth, with
inclined webs and m ulriple
crossbeams, was designed to
reduce the deck weight in
order to limit compressive
stresses in the arch and incrcase
the buckling safety.
In addition, the strucrural
efficiency of the box-girder
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helped ro i ncrease rhe span

between supporrs on rhe arch
and on rhe ground, ro a

b
maximum of 36 merres.

Construction schedule
The srrucrure is builr from
each side of rhe river:

if
• Consrruction of the arch
foundation, concreted in
the rock.
The first segments of the
arch are concrered on
scaffoldings in a cofferdam.
The arch is then supporred
on a small remporary
supporrs, o utside of the
cofferdam.
rhe lefr bank, in three parrs,
• Then new segmenrs are
and the concrete slab was
builr by rhe cantilever
casr in a mobile carriage for
merhod, with the help of
rhe overhang, and on a metal­
another small temporary
lic plate in the central part.
support and a small pylon
Finally, rhe concrete slab
equipped with external
received a rransverse pre­
prestressing tendons.
srress111g .
• A steel temporary pylon is
installed on rhe arch
Conclusion
segment resring on the third
A special importance was
main remporary support,
given ro the aesthetic and i n re­
and rhe cantilever is
gration in the environmenr of
completed, segment afrer
this bridge, the consrruction of
segment, supporred by
which lasted 29 months, and
cables.
which was completed i n May
After the cenrral closu re, the 1 995 and opened ro traffic in
deck was launched from June 1996.

19
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Civil engineering FIP Aw.mJ, l(,r ()utst.rndin� Srructurc' 19'!8
structures
Truc de la Fare overpass
b
Locarion: fRANCE
if
The construction of the A75
Owner
motorway which crosst:s
Direction Départementale de
Ct:nrral France from Clermont
!'Equipement de la Lozere
Ferrand to Bézins was a
Architect fanrasric opporruniry to bridge
SOBERCO designers, nor only for tht:
major viaducts bur also for
Consulring Engineer
SETRA small bridges and some
ovcrpasses. As a counrerpoinr
Contractor
ro anorher overpass close by
Entreprise Gardiol
• a small arch bridge wirh a
steel tubular arch connecrcd
to a pn.:srrcssed concrete slab
• a ribbcd slab suspendcd from
hclow bv cables and
deviarion struts was designed
rocross a deep rrench.
C:learly, the rwo bridges
respond to each orher: the
'classica!' arch wherc
comprcssive srresses flow in
the· steel tubular member
crnd the inverred arch where
cables support loads wirh
rensile forces.
The A75 motorway passes
rhrough rhe sourhern pan of
the Massif Centra! at an
awrage alrirnde close to
1 OOOm. The 'Truc de la Fare'
overpass is in an area whcre the
20
mororway runs tn a cumng,
15111 Jeep and 50m wide, dug
inro the limcstone, wirh sreep.
nearly vcrtical sides. To bridge
rhis gap, it was necessary to
design a slencler strucrurc wirh
no intermediarc piers. This led
to a bridge wirh a presrressed
concrete deck supported from
bclow by cables anchored ar irs
ends, and dcviared by sr.:d
srruts.
The total span of 53m is
divided by supporring the con­
crete slab wirh cables and srrucs
ar rhree points. The disrancc
berwecn the end support and
the first strut - 13.50111 - is a
bit longer rhan rhe span
berween a lareral and cenrral
srruts, 1 3.00111. Srructurally.
rhc opposite would have been
more logical. bur the bridge
aspect is much bener wirh
Jonger 'side-spans' to babncc
the shapes of the rrianglcs and
quadrilarerals formed by slab,
cables and srrurs.
The length of the cenrral strut
was selecrcd for structural
efficiency and also to givc
elegant proporrion to the
srrucrure.
The deck is a concrerc slab
wirh rwo lareral longirudinal
ribs. Each rib is prestressed by
rhree tendons ( 12 x 15. 7111111
srrands). The slab is trans­
versely presrressed by tendons
made of four 15.7m111 srrands.
Each of the five suppurring
cables is made of 19 plasric­
coared and greased srrands in a
steel ducr. The ducts were
injecred wirh cement grour
before the srrands were srressed.
The anchorages are similar to
rhose of sray cables and allow
Fen later adfusrmenrs, which
may be necessary duc to crecp.
A special annular jack was
made for the project.
These cables are deviared by
rhree V-shaped steel srrurs, the
arms of which are small
box-beams connecred ro the
concrete ribs. The cables are
deviared at rhe lower part of
the V. Longirudinally, the
srruts are inclined to cxactly
balance cablc rension on borh
sides.
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The deck was builr on

scaffolding wirh rhree
temporary suppom. These

b
supports, as wel! as the
shutrering elements, were
removed a�er rhe initia!
tensioning of the five main
cables, strand by strand, using
the iso-tension method.

if
Finally, rhe cable rension was
precisely adjusred with the
annular jack to balance the
permanent loads.

The bridge was completed in

l 994 and the motorway
secrion opened to traffic in
May 1996.

21
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Civil engineering FIP Awards for Oucscanding Srrucrures 1 998
structures
Dodan Nallah arch bridge
b
Location: I NDIA
if
Owner
H imachal Pradesh PWD
Consulting Engineer
Tandon Consultants PVT Lcd.
Concractor
S.K. Saini
Summary
With the successful
implementation of the Dodan
Nallah Bridge, more arch
bridges are now being proposed
in hilly terrains in India insread
of convenrional beam bridges
rhar are dull and monoronous
in comparison. The project
demonsrrares how innovative
strucrural design and analytica!
rechniques coupled with
meticulous planning and
appropriate construcrion
merhodologies can make the
concrete arch a reality in the
comperirive world of roday.
l n novarions ar the design srage
crystallised in the use of simple
forms and in the visualisarion
of rhe proporrions of rhe bridge
and irs elemenrs rhar would
resulr in an arcracrive, durable
and eminendy buildable
srrucrure. lnnovarions in
construction rechniques paved
rhe way for deployment of
exclusively local labour, skills
and materials wirh minimum
22
financial resources and rhe
avoidance of heavy
consrrucrion machinery.
Description
The Public Works Deparrment
of the State Government of
Himachal Pradesh in India
invited design-and-build bids
for the Bridge ar Dodan
Nallah: an arch was obligatory.
Siruared on rhe state highway
connecring rhe Srare of Punjab
ro Dharamsala - rhe abode of
the Dalai Lama in exile - the
rwo-lane bridge has a 7.5111
carriageway. The terrain
dicrared a srrucrure rhar would
be suired ro high embankmems
(20111) and shorr spans (40111 ) .
The aestherics o f rhe bridge i n
irs scenic mounrain setting and
irs imegrarion wirh the
environmem were of primary
concern in rhe implememarion
of rhe project. An open
spandrel ' rransparem' arch
bridge wirh srrucrural elements
of slim proportions was
selecred for the purpose. The
employmem of local labour,
ski lis and marerials cou pied
with the face chat furure regular
inspecrion and maimenance
were unpredicrable made in­
siru concrete a natura! choice.
Sophisrication in design and
simpliciry in construcrion
remained the specific areas of
concemration throughour the
project.
U nusual features
Durabiliry and mainrenance­
free characreristics were
considered of paramoum
importance, given the
remoreness of site and
difficulties of access in
moumainous terrain. Tirns, rhe
arch bridge was conceived as a
monolirhic srrucrure, wirh no
expansion joims or hearings.
The rarher large inward lareral
forces on rhe aburmems, due ro
earth pressures on rhe high
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if b embankmenrs from eirher side,

cancel each orher by 'srrur
acrion' of rhe srrucrure irself.
This solurion was found ro be
much more economical and
aesrherically pleasing rhan
orher alrernarives such as
elongaring rhe arch span or
exrending rhe deck srrucrure
lengrh beyond rhe arch
spnng1ngs.

Consrrucrion joi ms are

poremial weaknesses ar
inclined or verrical planes.
Concrering was planned ro
ensure the arch and deck were
construcred in single pours,
doing away wirh the need for
consrrucrion joinrs.

Being in a seismic zone, the

monolirhic concrere arch
incorporared special design
fearures rhar improved rhe
ducrile behaviour and hence
de-cemering of rhe arch. The
combination of steel cribs and
beams made ir possible co
avoid obstructions in the fasr­
Aowing Dodan Nallah, prone
co Aooding.

resistance ro ground
movement.

l nnovations in rhe design and

erection of a tailor-made
formwork system ensured
efforrless assembly and safe

23
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Civil engineering F I P Awards fur Outstanding Srructures 1 998

structures

Odawara Blueway Bridge

b
Location: JAPAN

if
Owner
Japan Highway Public
Corporation
Architecr
M & M Design Office
Consulting Engineer
Sumicomo Consrruction Co,
Ltd. and Kajima Corporation
Contracror
Sumicomo Consrruction Co,
Ltd. and Kajima Corpo ration
The Odawara B lueway Bridge
is rhe firsr extradosed pre­
srressed concrete bridge - a
concept inrroduced by
J . Mathivat - in the world.
Although it has th.e superficial
appearance of a cable-stayed
bridge, ir is strucrurally more
akin to an ordinary beam
bridge. Several new
technologies, the use of epoxy­
coated strands as stay cables
and saddles at the top of
towers, were incorporated in
this bridge. The bridge design
may be said ro be an
economical strucrure, as the
dead l oad can be reduced to
less than thar of ordinary beam
bridges.
Design
The ratio of the tower height
to the centre span length of the
Odawara Blueway Bridge is
1 1 1 2, much lower than the 1 1 5
normal in cable-stayed bridges.
Therefore, the changes in stay
cable stress due to live load can
be reduced to about one­
quarrer of those in cable-stayed
bridges. Accordingly, an
allowable stay cable stress of
0.6fpu has been adopted in this
bridge. Moreover, the saddle
strucrure at the top of the
tower is the first application in
prestressed concrete bridges in
Japan. Stay cables are anchored
outside the saddle to sarisfy the
requirement of not allowing
them to slip, which would
create a difference in cable
force in the right and lefr sidcs.
Since rhe allowable stay cable
stress of 0.6fpu is used, it is
necessary to suppress sray cable
vibrations. Thcrefore, high
damping rubber dampers were
installed ar the bottom of each
stay cable.
Construction
The free canrilevering method
was used in the Odawara
Blueway Bridge. Cable force
adjustment during and afrer
construction was not required,
since all forces on stay cables
decreasc with the progress of
creep and shrinkage, the same
as internal presrressing tendons.
The elevation of beams and
stay cable forces were
monirored during construction
to confirm the design values.
Experiments
The validity of srrength of the
saddle structurc was first con­
firmed by resting on a full-scale
model of the bridge. In
addition, the flexural fatigue
test for stay cables and the
performance test of the
dampers were carried out to
confirm the validiry of the
safety factor allowed in rhe
design for the stay cables.

24
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., if b
25
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. ·
�· � �. . " "
FIP Awards for Oucscanding Srruccures 1 998

.;."�:�:.� Y,;,·.:��· ":�

T he Shiosai Bridge
•

b
Location: JAPAN

if
Owner
Shizuoka Prefectural Office

Consulting Engineer
Shizuoka Construcion
Technology Cen ter

Contractor
Sumiromo Construction
Co, Ltd.

lntroduction
The S hiosai Bridge in Shizuoka
Prefecture, Japan, is a
prestressed concrete four-span
stress ribbon bridge with
roadway slab decks, which
forms an 'inverted suspension
bridge'. The b ridge, for cyclists
and pedestrians, is now p are of
a 1200km cycle path along the
Pacific Coasc.
Design
The bridge consists of roadway
slab decks, columns which
support the slab decks, and
four 'stress ribbons' wirh span
lengrhs of 5 5 , 6 1 , 61 and 55m.
The overall width is 4.4m.
To minimize the horizontal
forces acting on the aburments,
while at the same time making
the structure more economical,
lighrweighr concrete was used,
with the basic sag/span ratio
being set at 1 I 1 0. The overall
stiffness of the structure was
increased in rwo ways. First,
rigid connections were used
berween the stress ribbons, the
support columns and the
roadway slabs. Second, elastic
connections with horizontal
neoprene hearings and
prescressing rendons were
insralled berween the ends of
the roadway slabs and the
aburments.
Materials
Most of the superstrucrure was
precast, using l ighrweight
concrete with a specified
compressive strength of
40N/mm2. The unit weight of
the plain lighrweight concrete
was 1 .8 5 tonnes/mJ.
Epoxy-coated, l 5mm diameter
prescressing strand was used for
the hearing cables and the
prescressing cables for the stress
ribbon, to protect against
corros1on.
Construction
The stress ribbon segments
were erecred using crane trucks
and h angers specially developed
for rhis rype of bridge. These
devices were designed to adjust
the angle of a segment easily to
match the angle of the cables
for efficient installarion. The
stress ribbon segments were
used as working platforms on
which column segments and
roadway slab decks were
erecred.
Stress ribbon sag was
monitored using an intelligent
monitoring system consisting
of a laser beam projector and
relared laser beam receptors,
chat gave a high level of
accuracy during the super­
srrucrure erection.
Field observations
Statie load tests and dynamic
tests were performed. The
strucrure was loaded by a truck,
and excired eirher by a
mechanica! rotarian exciter,
human force, or a moving
truck. For example, the
logarithmic decrement of
damping investigared varied
from 0.04 to 0.06 for the
longitudi nal bending modes.
The oscillarion speed of the
srructure was below the
recommended limits at which
users experience unpleasant
motion sensarions.
Conclusion
The successful complerion of
the bridge shows that new
srructural concepts of stress
ribbon bridges are possible and
that the best structural
solutions can also be both
architecrurally pleasing and
cost-effective.

26
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if b
 © fédération internationale du béton (fib). This PDF copy of an FIP Report was purchased from the fib webstore.
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Civil engineering FI !' A\\"ards for Ou"ranJ i n g Srrucrurc' 1 ')98
structures
Rijswij k Railway Tunnel
b
Locarion: N ETH ERLAN DS
if
The Nerherlands municipal­
Owner
ities of Rijswijk (ZH) and Best
NV Nederlandse Spoorwegen
have somerhing in common:
Architect rhey both found a n under­
ARCADIS Bouw/Infra ground alternative solurion to
whar appeared to involve an
Consulting Engineer
unavoidable curring in rwo by
ARCADIS Bouw/Jnfra
four railway tracks. With
Con tractor station and platforms below
Kombinacie Scrukcon - Ballast ground level - a n Arricon
Nedam v.o.f.
development specialitv - the
quality of lifè within municipal
boundaries is guaranrced.
Building underground is
topica!, thanks to various track
doubling schemes being
carried our in the Nerherlands.
Where space is limited,
thinking soon turns to rhe
underground alternative. But
the quality of life has also
bccome a key factor. Local
aurhorities wish i ng to
elimi nare the d rawbacks of
doubl i ng rracks - wi rh thei r
physical and psychological
harriers and dangetous social
situarions - have to allow for
subsranrial cosrs. Rijswijk and
Besr have made rhe efforr and
achieved resulrs.
28
The solution arrived at in
Rijswijk in 1996 was an under­
ground srarion, topped by a
pyramid of glass and steel ar
ground level. The barrier of a
surface crack was avoided, and
instead Rijswijk acquired a
square around an idenrificarion
point which will figure for a
long rime ahead on the
'Grecrings from Rijswijk'
postcard.
Polder principle
Arrico n's archirects and
engineers i nregrared the
Station i n to a runnel with four
tracks l . 5 km long. The tun nel
in Rijswijk was built on rhe
' polder principle' using the day
and peat layer in Rijswijk soil
which is narurally fairly
impcrmeable ro warer. The
presence of this sealing layer
and rhe relarively high position
of rhe run nel was one factor in
being able to dispense with the
need for an underwarer
concrere slab beneath rhe
rracks.
lt was i m porranr to avoid rhe
dangerous social situarions
rypically associared wirh under­
ground building. The 9000
passengers that o n average pass
rhrough the station each
working day must feel
comforrable and safe at all
times. The pyramid-shaped
station hall is by its narure rhe
main elemenr in the solution,
offering plenty of open space
and giving passengers an
unimpeded view of the tracks
one floor below. The glazed
steel srrucrure allows a large
amount of daylight to penetrate
through to rhe tracks.
The reporr of the j u ry awarding
the Durch Concrete prize
described the project as follows:
"The design makes i n venrive
use of the low-strucrure of rhe
local sub-grade. Consisrenr use
of concrete in deep sunk walls,
p i les, columns, roof panels and
other elemenrs has resulred in a
spacious and attracrive station
i n construction terms. One
special feature was that rrains
werc able to conrinue ro pass
through virrually u n i mpeded
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if b
during construction. As a
result of a combination of
urban planning insight,
architecrural design and civil­
engineering commonsense, an
exciting square has been
created in the middle of
Rijswijk, below which a larger
train station than in the past lrn
has found its home."

Dffl.

OF't: N OEEL N
UESlOTEN CEEL

1
OPE

29
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Civil engineering F I P Awards for Oucscand i n g Srruccures 1 998

structures

Heidrun -the first concrete

tension leg p latform

b
Locari on: N O RWAY

if
Owner The Heidrun Field, which is in
Conoco water 345m <leep in the
northern part of the
Consulting Engineer
Halrenbanken area, about 1 00
Olav Olsen NS
nautical miles from the west
Con tractor coast of mic.1-Norway, has been
Norwegian Contracrors developed by means of a
concrete rension l eg platform
(TLP) by Conoco N orway Ine.
The TLP is rethered by 16 steel
cables, securing the
subsrrucrnre (huil) to the
concrete foundations. Ir is the
northernmost platform and
operares in the deepest waters
in the North Sea.
Nor.vegian Contractors a.s
(NC) carried out the
engineering, procurement;
construcrion and insrallarion
contract for the subsrructure.
This included the complete
delivery of rhe huil with two
module support beams,
including all mechanica!
ourfirring.
Directorare, the Norwegian
Maririme Directorare and
Conoco N orway Ine.
Configuration
Substructure
The huil is essenrially a space
frame consisring of ring
pontoons, columns and module
support beams. The pontoons
and columns are buoyant,
supporting the payload, rhe
weighr of the huil and rhe
rension of the rerhers.
Outer dimension - 1 1 1 x 1 1 1111
Cenrre-cenrre column spacing -
80 x 80m
Heighr - 1 09.6m
Column diameter - 3111
The rerhers are attached to
concrete fixings on the ourside
of the columns at ponroon
level. For safery reasons the huil
was compartmenralised in the
splash zone.
Mechanica! outjitting
The huil accommodares the
following types of m echanica!
ourfitting:
• Sysrems conrrolling the
behaviour of the huil in
operation (e.g. trim ballast
and de-ballast water sysrem).
• Platform systems, mainly
seawarer and fire water
sysrems and storage tanks.
These are transferred from
the platform modules into
the upper part of the
columns.
• Auxiliary sysrems to provide
adequate power and a safe

Design basis
The design basis for the sub­
strucrnre can be summarised as
follows:
Water deprh - 345m
Ground condirions - soft
day wirh boulders
Sea state for in-place operarion
phase - 15.5m significant
Genera! sea state for offshore
tow and installation - 2-2.5m
significant
Operaring weighr of platform
modules - 65,700 tonnes
Tow-our weighr of platform -
43,200 tonnes
Number of rigid risers - 64
Number of flexible risers (ried
back to the ponroon) - 2
Design life - 50 years
Farigue life for tethers 1 000 ' [.
years r ' 11 rl

The platform was designed to

meet all requirements from the
Norwegian Petroleum

30
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•
working environment in the
manned parts of the
platform.
Temporary systems to
control the behaviour of the
huil during Aoating phases
and marine operations
during construction and
installation.

New technology
Not only is a concrete TLP
novel but, in this case, it was
constructed using lightweight
concrete on a scale never
produced before. Lighrweight
aggregate concrete offers better
fatigue resisrance, lower
permeability and reduced
cracking. The lightweight
aggregate LC60 used on
Heidrun had an average densi­
ty of l .9-2.0kg/m3, about 20%
less than for n ormal density
concrete. N orwegian Design
Code NS 3473 covers the
application of lightweight
aggregate for concrete
strucmres. Tests confirmed the
if•

•
b The slip-forming techniques
were developed to a more
advanced stage than for
orher projects in normal­
weight concrete.
Additional data has been
obrained about steel/concrete
interaction through the
design of the connection
berween modules and
support beams.
' Exotic' materials have been
used to a greater extent than
on previous normal-weight
concrete projects.

applicability of NS 3473 when

supplemented by Norwegian
P etroleum Directorate's
regulations and guidelines for
offshore concrete structures. In
addition:

31
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Civil engineering F I P Awards for Oursranding Srrucrures 1 998

structures

Troll gravity base structure

b
Location : N ORWAY

if
Owner The giant T roll gas concrete
NS orske Shell platform was posirioned in the
North Sea in M ay 1 995. The
Consulcing Engineer
platform has a total heighr of
Olav Olsen NS
472m (including the flare
Con tractor boom), the concrete gravi ry
Norwegian Concractors base srrucmre irself measuring
369m from the tip of the
concrete skirrs to the top of rhe
shafts and containing
245,000m 3 of high-srrengrh
concrete, 1 00,000 ton nes of
reinforcing steel and 1 1 ,000
tonnes of prestressing steel.

The Troll field, some 80km

norrh wesr of Bergen, was
discovered in 1 97 9 and was
subsequendy shown to be the
largesr offshore gas field in
Europe. During the l 980s
many different conceprs were
developed, unril i n 1 990
Norske Shell opred for a rail
and slim concrete graviry base
producrion platform connecred
by mulri-phase pipelines to an
onshore process plane.

The contract to design, build

and insrall the concrete
platform was awarded i n
March 1 99 1 a n d was a t the
rime the largest single
consrrucrion contract ever
awarded in Norway (4. 1 billion
Norwegian krone). From a
design point of view, the main
challenges were:
• a water deprh of 303m
• large wave loads (! 00-year
wave of 30m) and strong
currenrs
• very soft soils (day) to a
deprh of almost 40m at the
offshore locarion
The chosen solurion was a
Condeep rype strucrure
consisring of a 1 9-cell low
caisson wirh 40m deep skirrs or
skirr piles and four rail, slim
shafrs sriffened ar mid-heighr
by a Riegel or bracing. The
30m rall Riegel also gave added
buoyancy to i mprove rhe
floaring srabiliry during towing.
Flexi-joint connecrions, like
bridge hearings or ball joints,
were introduced ar the top of
the rwo drill shafrs to stop
moments from wave loads on
the shafrs being rransferred
into the deck frame. The rwo
drill shafts each containing 20
conductor pipes were flooded
during operarion, whereas the
orher rwo - rhe riser and the
seawarer/uriliries shafr -
remained dry and subject ro an
exrernal pressure of 300m head
of water. The design life of the
srrucrure is 70 years, abour
rwice rhat of previous
platforms.
Exrensive finire element (FEJ
srrucrural analyses were
performed for the design. The
full model had 1 70,000
elemenrs and 12 such models
were invesrigared. Nearly 200
laad cases were analysed, wirh
a powerful computer program
enabling the srresses anywhere
in the structure to be
calculated.
Consrrucrion srarred in rhe
l 4m deep dry doek near
Stavanger in July 1 99 1 wirh
rhe slipforming of rhe 40m ral!
skirrs and the casting of the
lower domes of the caisson.
The lower srrucrure, nearly
50m rail, was made to float ar
a drafr of l 3m by means of a
large air cushion produced by
inrroducing compressed air
undernearh the skins. The
caisson and the ral! shafrs were
casr by advanced slipform
rechnology permirring a
varying cross-secrion to be
obrained wirh srricr
geomerrical tolerances.
The rail shafts were slipformed
in a fiord more rhan 400m
deep norrh of Sravanger where
rhe complered srrucrure was
submerged to a deprh of some
360m in January 1 995 for rhe

32
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mating of the 22,500 ton nes

deck.
The strucmre relies on
high-strength concrete, dense
steel reinforcement and
if b
In May 1995 ten tugs towed
the platform the 174 nautical
miles from the Norwegian
coast to the T roll field at a
draft of some 227m, averaging
1. 5 knots. On location, the
I • �-<t7��:"
1

The Troll GBS is the sixteenth

prestressing to achieve the
required strength. To achieve
the required floating stability
during towing into place, a
special high-strength light­
weight concrete was developed
for the shafts.
penetration of the skin piles
through the soft soil to a final
depth of 35.7m beneath the
sea floor was achieved in five
days by means of water
ballasting.
concrete platform delivered by
Norwegian contractors to the
Nonh Sea over the past 22
years. lt will produce a
significant part of Europe's
demand for gas for at least 50
years at up to 100 million
m3/day.

33
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Civil engineering F I P Awards for Outstanding Structures 1 998

structures

T he Bridge over the Lerez river

b
at Pontevedra

Location: S PAIN

if
Owner
Xunra de Galicia, Conselleria
de Politica Territoria!, Obras
Publicas y Vivielida
Consulting Engineer
Carlos Fernandez Casado S.L.
Contractor
Ferrovial S.A. 7 Castro
Marelo S.A.
The bridge over the Lerez river
can be considered unique
among cable-stayed bridges
because of the spatial
arrangement of its cable system.
Firsrly, the cable system is
arranged in three fans which
form an angle of about 1 20° to
the deck axis where the main
fan of cables is located.
Secondly, the back stays fans
form a hyperbolic paraboloid.
1 t is also special because the
bridge has j ust a main span.
This meant chat the main
cable-scays had to be b alanced
by the back stays which are
anchored to concrete
counrerweights chat are
rhemselves anchored to the
rock. The equilibrium is
ach ieved partially by the
concrete weighr and partially
by the rock anchorages.
Ponrevedra is a city whose
name has always been linked to
bridges. lts Roman name was
Dues Pontes and its present
name derived from the XJI
century name of Ponte Veteris
(Old Bridge). The coat of arms
is a bridge with rhree towers.
When the estuary is viewed
from the new bridge, the sheer
width of the river - from bank
to bank a disrance of some
l 25m - can be appreciared. lt
was this dimension togerher
with the morphology of the
estuaty whose boundaries are
marked by two srreets chat run
alongside, slighrly above the
water line, chat led to the
proposal of a single-span bridge
supported only on the river­
banks with no intervening piers
to disrupt the calm water
surface.
Since the bridge is in an urban
landscape it must be on the
same level as the existing streets
chat run along the river bank.
Because of rhis, a solurion was
sought chat would permit the
bridge deck to have the smallest
possible depth. This called for a
strucrure supporring the deck
above the deck irself. Of the
possible solutions such as an
arch bridge, lattice beam,
suspension bridge and so on, a
cable-stayed variant was
chosen. This modern design
was selected on the grounds
chat it would best suit the
locarion and make the bridge
more attractive to sighrseers
and users alike.
The deck is scayed along irs
axis. The cross-secrion is a
single box beam wirh inrernal
diaphragms and external ribs to
transfer the forces from the
webs to rhe axis where the
anchorages are. The pier has a
double inclination because it is

34
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GEOMETlllC Ott.ATAC ERlSTICS
··· 1 S<:homtof-<:!.Fnrill e1tv""""
g.�:,.-of1t.-.� Pla<> OI

bent at the deck level owing to

the farces from the upper part
of the pier and the horizontal

b
farces from the deck.
The horizonral farces from the
pier and counrerweights are
balanced with some tie beams
which j oi n both elements. All

if
the bridge elements are of
concrete, including the deck,
pier and counterweights.
Concrete is the m ost
economical choice for this span
length and very much suits the
design of the bridge elemenrs.

The most unusual feature of

the bridge strucrure is the
behaviour of its genera!
equilibrium system. The
polygon of farces created
among its elemenrs is
restrained by the pile founda­
tion of rhe pier and the coun­
terweights. These restraims
had to be included in the
analysis to verify that the
deformations of all the
elements both initially and
after creep and shrinkage have
developed do not produce
excessive farces at rhe piles.

The deck was built by the free

canrilever system from the
pier. The wider area of the
deck on the opposite bank was
built on falsework and later
connected to the cantilever.
Once both sides were j oined, a
displacemenr of 0.70m was
produced at the supports to
adjust the cable farces and the
deck sectional farces to their
optimum values.

35
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Civil engineering Fl P Awards for Oucsranding Srrucrures 1 99 8
structures
Second Severn Crossing
b
Locarion: UNITED KINGDOM
if
The 5.2km Second Severn
Owner
Crossing, complered on 4 June
Severn River Crossing pk
1 996, spans the Severn Esruary
Architect abour rhree miles downsrream
Percy Thomas Partnership
of the exisring bridge. The
Consulting Engineer exposed and environmentally
Sir William Halcrow & sensirive locarion necessirated a
Partners Ltd srrucrure combining durabiliry
and oursranding appearance.
Contractor
Laing-GTM The srrucrure illusrrares the
exrensive use of large-scale
precasring rechniques togerher
wirh standardisarion ro
facilirare consrrucrion and
provide a srrucrure aesrherically
appropriare for irs locarion.
The proportions of the cable­
srayed bridge and viad ucrs were
carefully arranged to give a
bridge design which has, ar
36
borh conceptual and derailed
level, rhe mark of a single
design philosophy.
The bridge provides an
addirional motorway link
berween England and Wales
and, wirh the deck some 50m
above rhe esruary bed, permits
the free passage of shipping.
The focal point of the crossing
is the 456m span cable-srayed
bridge rhar crosses the main
navigarion channel. I t
comprises 1 50m high j ump­
formed concrete pylons, precasr
crossbeams, 240 sray cables and
composire deck units. Eirher
side of the cable-srayed bridge,
2km long rwin concrete box
beam viaducrs, consrrucred
using glued segmenral balanced
canrilever merhods, form the
approaches. The 2300 march­
casr units were presrressed wirh
exrernal unbonded rendons
enclosed in wax-filled ducrs.
The exceprionally difficulr
marine condirions associared
wirh rhe 1 4.5m ridal range led
to the decision ro precasr rhe
majoriry of concrete elemenrs
on shore. These were rhen
rransported into the esruary
and erecred using a variery of
sophisticated purpose-buil r
equipmenr. The design-and­
build contract ensured rhar rhe
contractor's consrrucrion
merhods were considered ar the
earliesr stages of design. This,
 © fédération internationale du béton (fib). This PDF copy of an FIP Report was purchased from the fib webstore.
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b
DETAlL A

if
n:::::____l-lf----Jl-l__
__: ::n/ l"rtt;aSltorlCJCIC Cl.WOll
/lDtitu«lllCTele eal-illfilJ

SECTION TIIROUGB
CENTRE LL'ffi OF PIER

combined with the

comprehensive qualiry
assurance system adopted for
the complete project, resulted
in concrete elements which,
while fulfllling economically
their structural requirements,
facilitated manufacture and
erection. The choice of
high-strength concrete mixes
(up to 70N/mm2) containing
blast furnace slag produced an
economie design wirh durable
concrete of uniformly light
appearance. Considerable
attention was given to
formwork details to ensure a
high-qualiry surface finish.

A standard 98m span module

was adopted for the viaduct
including the skew crossing of
the 1 1 0-year-old brick-lined
Severn Rail tunnel. Special
piled foundations prevent the
bridge imposing load on the
tunnel.

The viaduct foundations, vertical tendons with wax-fllled

designed to resist impact from
6500 dwr ships travelling at 20
knots, consist principally of
large precast concrete thin shell
caissons weighing up to 2000
tonnes fllled with in-situ
concrete. The structural design
of these, particularly for rhe
lifring, rransporrarion and
placing phases, was carried our
using three-dimensional flnire
element modelling.
The piers were formed using
hollow rectangular precast
units to permit rapid construc­
tion. The 200-tonne match­
cast units were stacked and
post-tensioned with unbonded
duces providing corrosion
protection. This method of
prestressing was also used in
the anchorage zone of the
pylons. This is the first bridge
in the UK where external and
internal tendons have been
protected by wax-fllled duces
for durabiliry and ease of
replacemenr.
The extensive use of concrere,
parricularly in large precasr
elements, combined with
innovarive design and
construction techniques
allowed the successful
completion of the crossing on
time and wirhin budget.

37
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Civil engineering F I I' Awards f(ir Outstanding Structures 1 998
structures
Rock Cut Bridge
b
Location : USA
if
Owner Background
Stevens Counry A deteriorated steel rruss bridge
builr in 1 907 needed to be
Consulting Engineer
replaced by a srrucrure
Nicholls Engineering
spanning 58. 1 m. lr was
Contractor assumed thar the replacemem
One Way Construccion bridge would be of sreel
because of rhe long clear span,
the inabiliry ro put temporary
piers in rhe channel, and rhe
difficulr site access. I n 1 980,
when the replacemenr bridge
was i n i rially proposed, rhe
engineer, the owner, and the
bridge building indusny
accepred rhat rhe new bridge
would be steel. The design for
the replacemenr bridge was
rhus clone on rhe basis of sreel.
For various reasons, funding
for rhe bridge was delayed for
1 5 years, being finally approved
in 1 99 5 . By this time,
engineering knowledge and rhe
rech nology of prestressed
concrete had increased to a
level where construcring a
58. l m bridge in segmenrs,
putting it rogether near rhe site,
38
and launching the beams, was
seen as feasible. Working wirh
rhe prestressi n g supplier, the
engineer accordingly redesigned
the bridge ro use a 2 .26111 deep
prestressed concrete bulb
T-beam, fabricated i n three
1 9. 2111 lengrhs.
Project details
Each bulb T used three ducrs
housing 1 5 111111 diamerer strand
ro provide the 7406kN posr­
tensioning force. Two 305111111
wide joi nts were cast in-situ ar
the beam splices. Four bulb T
bea111s l . 86m wide were placed
with their rop flanges rogether
ro form the 7.47111 wide
roadway. The ' full deck' bulb
Ts allowed for the rop flanges
to be rhe driving surface, as is
rypical for rhis rype of bridge.
Full length shear keyways with
welded ties every l . 5 m were
used ro connect the beams
rogether. The presrressed
111anufacrurer shipped rhe
beams 1 50 miles ro sire, and
reassembled rhe111 ar a staging
area.
Erection
The bridge sire was ar the
bottom of a sreep, curving,
downhill slope wirh a railroad
trestle where the beams would
be launched from on one side
and a steep slope ro a
T-junction on rhe orher side.
The only feasible place for
splicing rhe beams rogerher was
a small level area ar rhe rop of
rhe curved slope. A 111odified
steering trailer and truck tracror
were used ro back the
asse111bled 1 1 l 2 kN beams
slowly down rhe hili ro rhe
launcher. Key ro the success o f
the project was a beam
launcher with a rolling rrolley
on rop onro which one beam
end was ser and rolled across
the gorge to a crane wai t i ng o n
the far side.
Summary
The project was a success from
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rhe owner's srandpoinr. Ir was

complered in 3 ' 12 monrhs and
wirhin budger, giving rhe
owner a low-mainrenance,
presrressed concrere bridge. No
work was done i n the river and
so the fish protection 'window'
was avoided. From the
engineer's standpoinr, the
design was implemenred as
inrended. F rom the presrressed
concrete man ufacturer' s
srandpoinr, experience was
gained with this type of
construction which will help
with rhe next similar project -
which has already been
designed!
if b
39
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1
F l l' Awards for Ou1;randing S1ruc1 u res 1 '!')8
Buildings

Bangalore indoor stadium 1

b
Locati o n : I NDIA

if
Owner
IV Narional Games,
Government of Karnacaka
Architect
Sundaram Consultants
Consulting Engineer
Sundaram Consultants
Contractor
Larsen & Toubro Lcd,
ECC Construccion Group
Bangalore ciry i n sourhern u nits are sccurcd by hearing/ position also occupicd quite a
India recenrly hosred the weid ing. sizeable area.
Narional Games. For rhis, a Construction sequence
1 0,800m2 mulri-purpose The roof strucrnre was built Construction methodology
indoor stadium searing 4000 first, followed by the internal Pili11g
was consrrucred. The stadium gallery srrucrnre. This sequence Alrogether, 443 borcd i n -situ
was erecred nexr to an exisring was adopred ro facilirare piles were i nstalled - 1 75 of
open-air stadium, rurning the working space for rhe cranes 400mm diameter, 1 2 1 of
wholc area imo a spons for erecting the roof and ro 600mm, 1 29 of 750111 111 and
complex wirh faciliries for enable roof elemenrs to be 1 8 raking piles of 750mm
arhlerics, foorbal l , tennis, volley moved imo posirion. All diameter. Pile lengrh varied
balt, basket balt, ere. componems - such as sub­ from 1 2 ro 1 8 m.
srrucrnre, columns, ring beam,
Structural system roof elemems, i mernal gallery External columns
The strucrural supponing srrucmre - were consrrucred in The large arch columns - l.5 x
system of the indoor stadium a phased manner. 1 x 6m high - were cast in two
has two parrs, one for the roof pours in patented formwork.
and rhe orher for the i mernal Site establishment Concrere was placed manually
gallery. As rhe si re was resrricred and and consolidared using poker
surrounded by roads, careful vibrators. Shuners were
Roof plan n i ng was n eeded. The removed afrer 24 hours
The elliprical dome-like casting and sracking yard for followed by warer curing.
srrucrure srands o n 24 arch the roof elemenrs rook up a
columns supporred on a group large pan of the site. The Tension ring beams
of bored in-siru pi les. The circular track for shifring the The tension ring beam - l . 8 111
rension ring beam ar the precasr roof element into ar the base, 2 . 5 m at the rop
borrom which connecrs all the
arch columns ar a heighr of 6m
has provision for collecrion and
disposal of roof rain water. The
elliprical profil e is made up of
V-shaped rein forced concrete
folded place roof elemenrs
spanning 40m berween the rop
and bonom ring beams. The
folded plares have hi nged joims
ar the lower ring beam and are
monol irhically connected ro rhe
rop compression ring beam.
Each element weighs abour 50
ronnes. The 1 6 x 36m cenrral
compression ring is elliprical in
plan and the radial rie beams
across the compression ring
beam are curved in elevarion.
The rop is covered wirh a rhin
concrete slab wirh venrilarion
openings along rhe periphery of
rhe compression ring beam.

lnternal gallery
This consisrs of in-situ
column frames resring on
bored in-sirn piles. The gallery
elemems are parrly precasr and
panly in-situ. The L-shape
beams and chan nel-rype gallery

40
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and 2rn high - was around

360111 long and elliprical in
plan. For convenience, ir was
casr in six pours. Sraging for

b
rhe beams consisred of heavy­
dury rowers capable of carrying
up ro 25 ronnes per rower.
Sire-barched concrere was
pumped inro place and

if
consolidared by poker
vibrarors. Afrer 24 hours rhe
side shurrers were removed and
rhe borrom shurrer and sraging
was srruck once rhe concrere
had arrained rhe specified
srrengrh. The consrrucrion
joinr was keyed and rhe surface
prepared.

Top compression ring beam

The ring beam was casr along
wirh radial beams. The sraging
used for supporring rhe roof
elernenrs also supporred rhe
formwork for rhe ring beam.
The enrire ring beam including
rhe radial ribs were casr in a
single pour, concrere being
pumped.
Catwalk
The carwalk was fabricared and
erecred by crane and suspend­
ed frorn rhe inserrs lefr in rhe
folded plares.
Conclusion
Owing ro rhe elliprical shape
of rhe roof, each elernenr had a sequence. Similar care was
differem profile and needed wirh elemems weighing
dimensions. A derailed srndy more rhan 50 ronnes.
was carried ro ger as many
similar elemenrs as possible.
Space consrrainrs meanr
derailed planning was needed
for rhe casring and erecrion

Once rhe concrere arrained rhe

required srrengrh, rhe ring
beam was slowly lowered. The
40 supporring screw jacks were
lowered in incrernenrs in a
sequemial marmer around rhe
srrucrure unril rhe srrucrnre
was self-supporring. The
folded plares were rhen
groured.

CaL!ery structure
Consrrucrion of rhe gallery
began soon afrer rhe roof
elemenrs were erecred in a
parricular area. The in-sirn
porrion of column, beams and
slabs was consrrucred firsr.
Meanwhile, precasr gallery
elemenrs were casr in a
separare yard. They were
moved inro posirion using a
crawler crane.

41
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F I r Awards for Oursranding Srrucrures 1 998

Buildings

Yokohama International Stadium

b
Location: JAPAN

if
The lnrernational Stadium at
Owner
Yokohama is the largest athleric
Yokohama Ciry
stadium in Japan. Siruared
Architect alongside rhe Tsurumi River,
M HS Planners the 70,000-searer stadium has
an 850m long exrernal frame,
Consulting Engineer consisring of 84 spans in a
M H S Planners
monolirhic rigid frame with no
expansion joinrs. The roof is
Contraccor
52m above ground level. A
Takenaka Corporarion Co. Ltd
surface frame had ro be
insralled on arriflcial ground,
since rhe sire had funcrioned as
a rerarding basin and needed ro
continue as such afrer rhe
stadium has been constructed.
All faciliries were rherefore
insralled on rhe (arriflcial
ground) second floor, 8- 1 1 m
above ground level.
The h uge building was
consrrucred by rhe 'corbel-sryle
press-joinring system', a novel
rechnology from Kurosawa
Consrrucrion Co. Lrd. Despire
rhe unfavourable consrruction
condirions, rhis consrrucrion
sysrem successfully cu r a year
off rhe consrrucrion
programme (equivalenr ro
450,000 man-days) compared
ro a convenrional reinforced
concrete srrucrure.
The project called for
prefabricared columns, beams,
and half slabs made of precast
concrete of rhe highesr qualiry
and srrengrh (550kg/cm2) ro
ensure high durabiliry. The
rotal quanriry of concrete was
1 09,800m3 with 8000 ronnes
of sreel.
Corbel-sryle press-jointing
system
lnstallation
Base units and columns were
produced in matching pairs in
a single casting mould so rhar
rhey would have the same
curvarure ar the interface.
These were rhen connecred by
epoxy-resin ar the interface and
coupler joinring of rhe rebar. l n
this way, rhe columns were able
ro stand on rhe base units
wirhour furrher support and
accurate erection was possible.
Precast prestressed concrete
beams wirh primary tendons
were laid on the corbels, morrar
was injecred inro the joinrs,
and flnal con necrion of the
rigid frame was completed on
site by appropriare srressing of
rhe secondary rendons.
The primary rendons were
prestressed so rhar rhe beams
would be able ro withstand all
service loads. The resulring
multi-conrinuous rigid frame,
having been formed by
column-beam joinrs and
presrressed secondary rendons,
can minimize srarically
indeterminate stresses caused
by presrressing and elastic
shrinkage.
Earthquake-resistant mechanism
ofseismic design
The secondary rendons are
prestressed ro providc
earrhquake resisrance to the
rigid frame. From research, a
rigid frame designed with
corbel-sryle column-beam
joints farms highly seismic
ductile hysteresis loops, because
of the controlled prestressing of
the secondary tendons. By this
mechanism, this monolithic,
multi-continuous presrressed
concrete frame srrucrure is
endowed with a high Aexibiliry
by rhe corbel-sryle column­
beam joinrs which act as hinges
du ring major earthquakes ro
maintain ultimate srrength for
a langer time than orher
srructures. For all these reasons,
rhe Yokohama International
Stadium is attracting
arrention for its claimed
300-year durabiliry.

42
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PLAN

• Ma i n S t a n d S e c t i o n
if b -··
"! /

8
-6
/

-· "
."
. "
--0
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(l

43
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This document may not be copied or distributed without prior permission from fib.

FI I' Awards for Outstanding Srructures 1 998

Building

Osaka Municip al Central

b
Gymnasium

Location: JAPAN

if
Owner
Osaka City Board of Educarion
/ Osaka Ciry Sports Promotion
Association
Architect
Nikken Sekkie Ltd
Consulting Engineer
Nikken Sekkie Lrd
Con tractor
Obayashi Corporarion
Osaka Municipal Centra!
Gymnasium is a large
underground concrete-shell
sporrs arena. 1 ts do me has a
diameter of 1 1 Om and a height
of about 30m, the roof being
fully landscaped as a parr of a
park by a 1 m thick soil layer.
The roof was designed as a
prestressed concrete, spherical
shell strucrure. !t can be said
that rhis construction project
conrributed rowards the
developmenr of presrressed
concrete strucrures from the
following aspects.
• Unprecedenredly large-span
( 1 1 Om) and large dead
weighr (abour 70,000
r01rnes, 5-6 ronnes/ m')
concrete spherical shell could
be constructed as presrressed
structural system to create a
large space gymnasium
under an oasis of green in
the hearr of a built-up city
wirh few open spaces.
• Prestressing force of about
20,000 ronnes was
inrroduced to a rension ring
of the shell and also the skirt
portions of the shell by
placing 30 rendons each
srressed ro 807 tonnes. The
prestress was i nrroduced in
rhree stages during
consrrucrion according to
loading condirions, care
being raken to balance the
deadweight and presrressing
force.
• Wirh regard to the boundary
berween the shell srrucrure
and the lower strucmre,
several condirions had ro be
sarisfied. First, the hearings ar
the boundary had to support
verrical loads and be able to
carry the seismic loads in rhe
circumferenrial direcrion ro
the lower srrucrure. Second,
it was necessary ro provide
radial roller connecrion ar the
foor of rhe shell according to
irs dynamic characrerisrics.
For this purpose, 1 76
laminared rubber hearings
were insralled under the
tension ring wirh elaborate
connecrion details thar allow
the shell to deform freely,
radially. To esrimare stresses
and deformarion of the
strucrure during a srrong
earrhquake, dynamic
response analyses were
conducred ar the design stage
using a three-dimensional
model to confirm structural
safety of the dame.
• The shell was consrructed as
a composite structure of
precast prestressed concrete
beams, precast prestressed
concrete floor slabs (each also
acting as forms for concrete

44
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b
g1. Site plan

if
110M

S2M

Main arena

Fig2. lst Basement Plan

C__ --Re co]l!inuous wan
(Water·stffelding & load·bearing)

Cast-In-place. concrete pi1e

F.JgJ. 2nd Basement Plan

placement), and cast-in-place

concrete to ensure greater
buildability and lower
consrruction cost.
• During consrruction, srresses
and deformarions were
measured ar several hundred
measuring points to verify
design assumprions and
confirm safety during rhe
work. The field results
corresponded well with the
calculations.

This construction rechnology

is considered to have a wide
range of application in
constructing large-span
underground strucrures while
offering precious green areas in
city cenrres.

45
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F I P Awards for Outstanding Structures 1 998

Buildings

Osaka Pool

b
Location: JAPAN

if
Osaka Pool is a large-scale
Owner
srructure wh ich adopred precast
Osaka City
presrressed concrete as main
Architect srructural members to support
Tohata Architect & the roof. Designed as an indoor
Engineering, Ine. swimming arena and an ice
Consulting Engineer
skating arena for the annual
Tohata Architect & National Sports Event held at
Engineering, Ine. Osaka in Japan in 1 997, the
structure is circular in plan
Contractor
( 1 OOm diameter) with a wavy
Fujita, Konokie & Fujiki Joint
roof designed to give
Venture
parricipants and audience a
feeling of life and energy. The
supporting frames for the roof
(65m diameter) consist of
several precast members, joined
by prestressing bars or strand.
The pool is one of the largest
structures in Japan to have
been built as a precast
prestressed concrete building
strucrure wlth such a joining
method.
The structure is a circu!ar
indoor swimming arena with
two storeys below ground and
two above, the height being
24m. The structure is divided
into three sections which, from
the top down, are:
1 . Saddle-shaped cable-net
membrane structure using the
combination of membrane
roof, cable-nets, post, and ring
truss.
2. Supporting structure
consisting of precast prestressed
concrete, in-situ reinforced
concrete, and steel-encased
reinforced concrete, which
support the cable-net
membrane roof, stands and
rooms.
3. Foundation of in-situ
concrete piles.
The supporting fr33ames are
located radially every 7.5m and
each frame consists of two
verrical columns, two diagonal
columns and a cantilever beam
1 5 . 5 m long, presrressed
together. The frames are joined
together in the form of a ring
by beams or braces to resist
horizontal forces. At the
rangential connection of precast
beams and precast columns,
shear cotters are set on the end
of the beam. For the
connection berween supporting
frame and ring rruss, the roller
support was used to apply the
initia! tension of cable and
membrane and the supporrs
were then pin-connected. I n
this way, the horizontal
reaction during initia!
tensioning was carried entirely
by the ring truss, the
supporting strucrure hearing
only the vertical load. When
the snow load, wind load or
earthquake load are applied,
the ring truss and supporting
structure resist the external
force as an in tegral strucrure.
Presrressing is partial.
Moreover, at the connection
between precast members,
there is no tensile stress in the
case of long-term load, i .e. the
load case of D+L+P (D ; <lead
load, L ; live load, P ; load
due to prestress for jointing
precast members) . Meanwhile,
the ultimate strength design
method is applied for short­
term loading, i .e. D+L +P+
l . 5 E (earrhquake load),
D+L+P+l.5 W (wind load), and
D+L+P+S (snow load). The
coefficient of wind force was
determined from wind runnel
tests.
A precast prestressed concrete
srrucrure was adopted for this
project because:
• High-strength high-qualiry
concrete can be cast at the
factory.
• High rigidiry is required to
reduce deflection and
vibration caused by large
earthquake farces or wind
loads on the roof.
• Most of the radial frames
have the same shape.
• lt is difficult to cast radial
frames on site.
• The economies compared
with in-situ concrete.
• The section size of members
can be reduced by pre­
stressing.
As regards the erection
procedure, lift-up methods
were chosen for the cable-net
membrane structure so chat
only a verrical component of
force, under norma! conditions,
acts on the supporring frame.
Continuous readings of
structural movement from the
long-term effects of concrete
and temperature have been
taken since completion of the
building.

46
© fédération internationale du béton (fib). This PDF copy of an FIP Report was purchased from the fib webstore.
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if b
 © fédération internationale du béton (fib). This PDF copy of an FIP Report was purchased from the fib webstore.
This document may not be copied or distributed without prior permission from fib.

F I P Awards for Outstanding Structures 1 998

Building

Parkinggarage Laahaven

b
Hollands Sp ear, The Hague

Locarion: NETHERLANDS

if
The Arelier PRO won a
Owner
mulriple assignment for
Q-Parking
The H ague College. A
Architect dilapidated and desolate
Atelier Pro Architekten B.V. harbour area, j usr behind a
main line railway station, was
Consulting Engineer
designated by the local
Grabowsky & Poort B.V.
authority of The Hague as the
Conrracror location for an educarional
Gemeent Den Haag/Dienst establishment for Higher
Sladsbeheer Vocarional Training, wirh
student numbers of abour
1 3,000 and some 1 , 1 00
leccurers and orher support
sraff. The complex measures
some 8 5,000m'. A unanimous
choice was made in favour of
Arelier PRO.
The parking garage was
consrrucred as a 'polder'; rhe
lowesr Aoor consists of paving
on sand made possible by
virrually warerrighr ourer walls
in conjuncrion with consranrly
lowering the warer level. In this
way, large spans were possible.
To solve rhe problem of a 7.2m
grid for rhe school above a l 6m
parking grid, V-shaped
columns wirh srriking
appearance were chosen. These
were supporred by column
foundarion blocks on rhe
lowesr level. The walls of rhe
garage were painted Japanese
red to creare an exrra sense of
space. The 'water zebra' ar the
front of the school creates a
window in the roof of rhe
garage. In this way the border
berween warer and land seems
to float. The concrere has been
rreated with a transparent
paint.

48
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if b ��u.r �Bu.Jc.. ��

1 . . i_m::::-.- • 1
-
-
-

49
 © fédération internationale du béton (fib). This PDF copy of an FIP Report was purchased from the fib webstore.
This document may not be copied or distributed without prior permission from fib.

F I P Awards for Outstanding Srrucrures 1 998

Buildin g

Harbour rehabilitation and school

b
The Hague

Location: NETHERLANDS

if
Owner
The Hague College of higher
Educarion

Architect
Atelier Pro Archirekren B.V.

Consulting Engineer
Adviesbureau voor
Bonnrechniek ABT, Velp

Contractor
].P. van Eesreren

The Atelier PRO won a
multiple assignmenr for
The Hague College. A
dilapidared and desolate
harbour area, just behind a
main line railway station, was
designared by rhe local
aurhoriry of The Hague as the
locarion for an educarional
esrablishmenr for Higher
Vocarional Training, wirh
srudenr numbers of abour
1 3 ,000 and some 1 , 1 00
lecrurers and orher support
sraff. The complex measures
some 85,000m2• A unanimous
choice was made in favour of
Arelier PRO.
The basic philosophy of rhe
firm is to anchor every project
wirhin irs immediare
surroundings, so rhar a new
building and irs environs form
an enrirery which is ar one.
This affecred rhe whole
approach raken ro rhis project.
In rhis urban project, ir is nor
jusr a new school rhar is being
creared bur a new srarion
courryard, a water park, a ciry
'room' as ir were, demarcated
by new ciry walls. A whole
panoply of new pedesrrian
walkways as well as cycle parhs
and sighrlines, all consrirured
the new urban ingredienrs.
An oval shape was used for rhe
building, symbolising rhe
unificarion of an insrirure
which, until irs complerion in
1 996, had been spread among
50 or 60 different sires
rhroughour rhe ciry. The
various sections of the building
were designed with a characrer,
offering points of recognition
for users. Nor a neurral
building bur a block wirh a
heart and a soul. The logisrical
funcrion of rhis enormous
block was a project irem as was
irs characrer, disrincriveness,
and (if required) Aexibiliry.
Educarion is never sraric.
Somerimes more emphasis is
placed on lecrures, and then
rhe ride rurns ro more
traditional educarional formats,
or ro educarion in smaller
groups. Whar will be the
influence of the computer?
More parricularly, rhe exrent of
rhe various strands of training
should be able to expand or
contract.
These different educarional
farms need ro be
accommodared by such a
building. In rhe meantime, the
complex became operarional in
September 1 996. l r is a
wonderful place ro gain an
educarion.

50
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if b
51
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F ! P Awatds for Outstanding Structures 1 998

Buildin g

Corkscrew access to parking roof

b
Alexandrium I I I shoppin g centre, Rotterdam

Locarion: N ETHERLANDS

if
The corkscrew access project
Owner
shows how archirecrure and
Managemenckanroor
srrucru ral designs have
Alexandrium 11 [
successfully been united. The
Architect indusrrial elements were
Architectenburo Verheyen manufactured very accurarely
Verkoren de Haan so that the aesthetic qualiry is
Consulting Engineer fully shown.
Ingenieursbureau
Zonneveld b.v. Architectural design
The access can be reached via
Concracror
BM-Amstelland Bouw b.v.
rhe parking square on the first
Aoor, and via an approach
which is built as a Ayover
across the water. With two­
and-a-half rurns on the outside
of the spiral, the steel concrete
bridge can be reached, which
connects the separate spiral to
the roof of the building where
abour 1 000 cars can be parked.
The difference in heighr is
8.Sm.

This corkscrew is both an

access and an exit. On the side
of the core, the exit, which
runs under the parking square,
can be reached afrer four rurns.
The heighr difference here is
l 4m. Parallel to the
'Hoofdweg' , which funcrions as
a main route to the city cenrre,
the shopping cenrre has a very
long winding façade. To
prevenr rhis façade from being
visually boring, two important
archirectonic ideas were
adopred. First, the exisring
' Polderhuis' was inregrared inro
the new srrucrure and is visible
rhrough a glass wal!. And
second the wall ends wirh the
specracular 'corkscrew' access to
rhe parking roof.
The archirecr's wish to give the
edges of rhe spiral a slimline
appearance was one reason to
opt for precasr concrete. 1 n
particular, rhe view from
benearh was raken inro
considerarion. The edge of the
spiral bas a Aowing line because
the Aoor slabs were carried
rhrough past the consoles and
because the slab edge ar the
bottom slanrs rhe same way as
the bonom of the retreating
consoles.
The corkscrew is 'completed'
wirh a steel work of art by the
Rotterdam artisr Ineke Visser.
Struccural design
The precast consrrucrion
consisrs of vertical axis
elemenrs connected ar three
levels, forming a single
truncated cone. On the axis
elemenrs, canrilevered consoles
with a maximum length of
8.2m were fixed by
prestressing. The precasr
concrete slabs of the side deck
were pur on two consoles and
made to canrilever abour
.2.60m from rhe end of the
console. The total lengrh of
the largest overhang is rhere­
fore 1 0.8m. The design
successfully tried to make as
many elemenrs of the exact
same form as possible. This
worked completely for the
Aoor slabs by making them
warped and also by narrowing
the surface of the consoles in a
similarly warped way.
Because of the form of the
axis, all consoles differ slightly
in length, but they could
nevertheless successfully be
made in the same mould with
an adjuscable stop-end. Seen
from the axis, the consoles go
from ' narrow and high' to
' broad and low', that is to say
conical in two directions.

52
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ifb
53
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F!P Awards for Outstanding Structures 1 998
Buildings
1 Villa V P RO
b
Hilversum
Location: NETHERLANDS
if
The VPRO has recenrly moved
Owner
from irs old premises, a group
VPRO Public Broadcasting
of 1 3 villas, to the new 'Villa
Company
VPRO'. Over the years the old
Architect villas played a vita! role in
MVRDV
establishing the VPRO's
Consulcing Engineer
identity. The staff, who
Ove Arup & Partners previously worked in rooms en
suite, acties, sun lounges and
Concraccor
on first Aoors, now have to find
Voormolen Bouw B.V"
a spot for themselves i n a 'real'
Rotterdam
office environment.
In designing a new head office,
rhe quesrion was whether the
informal way the old villas were
used, which regularly
infl uenced the programmes
rhar were made in them, would
still be able to find a place in a
modern office designed for
maximum efficiency. I n orher
words, would ' i nformaliry' be
able to survive the increase in
scale? Would there be any
point in reraining the villa as a
metaphor?
The Villa can be described
using terms such as
compacmess (the absence of
long corridors) and sparial
differentiation (a large number
of different rooms) and in
terms of its relationship to rhe
landscape around it.
Compacmess, given the present
town-planning resrricrions on
the site, led ro 'rhe deepesr
office building in rhe
Nerherlands'. 'Precision
bombing' produced serpenrine­
like parios in the building
which allow narural light to be
combined with views over the
surroundings. The resulr is an
open-plan office where the
difference berween inside and
ourside is imprecise.
The greenery chat grew where
rhe building now srands has
been replaced by a raised grass
covered roof under which lies a
'geological formarion' of the
different Aoors. These Aoors are
connecred by a variery of
sparial devices such as ramps,
srepped Aoors, monumenral
54
steps and small rises, so
providing a route to rhe roof.
The differences in height in the
continuous interior, combined
wirh the wings creared by the
gaps, make possible a wide
range of work contexrs i n
different office types t o meer
the ever-changing demands
imposed by VPRO's business.
Lounge, actie, hall, pario and
terrace rypes all echo the old
premises. The Aoors are
supported on a grid of columns
and stabilising props which, i n
combinacion wirh the
complerely open elevacion,
ensure the rooms rerain the
grearest possible rransparency.
The technica! facilities are
hidden in the hollow
Roman-like Aoor, whose
Sparran character is a commen­
tary on the addicrive aspects of
present-day air-conditioning.
They are fed wirh air, dara and
electriciry rhrough semi-rrans­
parent shafrs.
Even the way the building has
been materialised suggests the
old villas: no lowered ceilings
but a 'real' ceiling; no
prefabricared walls bur scone,
steel, wood and plasric; no
project carpet bur Persian and
sisal rugs; no small windows
bur elevarions conraining
srorey-high sliding elements
giving practically every office
access to a garden, balcony,
rerrace or patio. 1 n the srudios,
rhe srandard fibre-cement
panels are replaced by an
arrangement of absorprion and
reflecrion using marerials such
as wood, coconur fibre, fabric,
steel and scone.
The frontage is the ourcome of
a 'darascape' of requirements.
To provide rhe mosr generous
outlook possible over the
attractive surroundings, the
original proposal was for a
fronrage of hor-air blowers. Bur
since such an arrangement was
not legally permissible, the idea
was replaced by one using 35
different sores of glass, whose
colour, reflectively, and
rransparency reflecr the
different ways they are
posirioned relative to the rooms
lying behind rhem, the heighr
of the façade and rheir compass
orientation. In rhis way, the
spacious qualiry of rhe interior
is reflecred in a 'rose window'
of different types of glass.
w
0 1
© fédération internationale du béton (fib). This PDF copy of an FIP Report was purchased from the fib webstore.
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if b
55
 © fédération internationale du béton (fib). This PDF copy of an FIP Report was purchased from the fib webstore.
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F I P Awards for Outsranding Structures 1 998

Building

Office tower "Malietoren"

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The H ague

Locarion: NETHERLAND S

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Owner
Deutsche Grundbesirz
1 nvestmen tgeschellschafr M BH
Architect
Benrhem Crouwel Architecten
B.V. BNA
Consulting Engineer
Corsmit Consulting Engineers
Growing human popularion
and irs demands for living and
working space are ofren in
contradicrion with our striving
for saving grasslands, foresrs
and natura! resources. Multiple
use of space for our building
acriviries is one of the answers
to rhis dilemma.

Contractor New building marerials and

Wilma Bouw new consrrucrion rechnologies
make the building indusrry
today look different from the
one of some years ago.
Srructural steel, reinforced and
precasr concrete are now
common and compete wirh
each orher on rhe consrrucrion
marker. This comperirion is,
moreover, being given a new
dimension. Joining forces,
seeking synergy rarher rhan
confrontarion, is rhe emergent
trend.

An excellent example answering

the above developments is the
VNO/NCW office rower,
consrrucred over the motorway
entering rhe ciry of The Hague.
The design alrernatives pur
forward - structural steel or
in-situ concrete - finally gave
place ro a composire structure
in which the specific
advantages of srructural steel,
in-situ concrete and precasr
concrete are combined.
The building
The 74m high building wirh a
foorprint of 32.2 x 40m has
five car park floors over a
ground floor entry and
receprion area. Above are rwo
conference floors, 1 3 floors of
offices and a rop floor
containing building services.
The structure
Building over an exisring
mororway is never easy. The
mororway - effecrively a
warerrighr reinforced concrete
rrough sunk inro the ground -
cannot be closed without severe
effecrs on the life of rhe ciry. As
a resulr, ir had ro be bridged
over to prevent any disturbance
including addirional loads or
penetrarions to rhe trough.
A solurion adopting a
composire concrete rruss
rranskr srrucrure with a heighr
of 8.2m and a span of 32.2m ar
rhe enrrance level proved ro be
the best. Ir also sarisfied rhe
archirectural perceprion in
terms of structural demands
and economy.
The 2m-deep precast, pre­
stressed and posr-rensioned
lower chord of rhe rruss was
designed to funcrion in the
erecrion stage as a simply
supporred beam ro carry rhe
weighr of rhe ground floor
acring as construcrion working
area. Being prefabricared, the
beams and working floor were
placed very quickly (in a single
nighr). Diagonals and the
upper chord were then added
in in-situ concrete B65. The
upper floors are precasr
hollow-core slabs on precasr
presrressed concrete beams -
very economical and fast ro
erecr.
lnnovation
For rhe high-srrengrh (BS 5)
rwo-srorey precasr concrete
columns, an innovarive, bur
simple and cheap, connecrion
was developed using steel plares
and epoxy resin injecrion
resulring in an enhanced speed
of erecrion and a minimum
columncross-secrion area (8%
reinforcement)

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 © fédération internationale du béton (fib). This PDF copy of an FIP Report was purchased from the fib webstore.
This document may not be copied or distributed without prior permission from fib.

b
(!) (}) <D

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1 1200 1 1 7l!!O p

A composire precasr concrere

façade and srrucrural sreel
bracing were inregrared in a
simple way by in-siru concrere
columns in a srabilising façade
rube. The resulr is a high­
qualiry building respecring rhe
environmenr and ecology ar a
very comperirive price.

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 © fédération internationale du béton (fib). This PDF copy of an FIP Report was purchased from the fib webstore.
This document may not be copied or distributed without prior permission from fib.
FIP Awards for Oursranding Srrucrures 1 998
Buildin g
Belfast Waterfront Hall
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Location: UNITED KINGDOM
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Owner
Belfast Ciry Council
Architect
Robinson & Mcllwaine
Consulting Engineer
Kirk McClure Marron
Contractor
Gilbert Ash N.l. Lrd
Summary
Three principal factors dicrared
the exrensive use of concrete in
rhis presrigious civic building:
• The sheer complexiry of
srrucrural form, in parricular
rhe searing riers and
associated support sysrem,
meant rhar in-situ reinforced
concrete was the only
ptacricable consrrucrion
marerial
• To achieve the very high
srandard of workmanship
required for exrernal wall
finishes and to eliminare
porenrial delays in the
consrrucrion programme,
brick and Porrland scone
elements were facrory­
mounted on to precasr
concrete cladding panels
• The acousric criteria for a
world-class auditorium, in
terms of exrernal noise
isolarion and internal sound
reflecrion, were sarisfied by
the use of dense concrete
and ' hard' surfaces.
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The project
The ambirion of Belfasr City
Council was to have a
presrigious civic building to ace
as a caralysr for riverside
rejuvenarion in Belfasr. The
brief, which evolved over many
years, called for a 2250-sear
main auditorium and a 500-
sear minor hall. The usage
spectrum had ro be exrremely
diverse allowing concerrs,
rhearre, conferences and
exhibirions. Being a very
prominent landmark on the
river front, the archirecture
had to reflecr traditional
Belfasr bur had to porrray civic
qualiries and also a ' high-rech'
image to mark the advent of
rhe new millennium. The final
cost was f32 million
(including fees) compared wirh
a budget of f29. l million.
This is considered very cosr­
effecrive compared wirh similar
venues elsewhere in Europe.
The main hall, wirh the
exceprion of the roof sreel­
work, is concrere-framed and is
founded on precasr concrete
piles. All subsrrucrure concrete
conrains sulfare-resisring
cement. The main areas where
concrete features are:
Basement
To sarisfy usage flexibiliry
requiremenrs, a large
reinforced concrete basement
was consrrucred adjacent to the
River Lagan. The deepesr point
was some 7m below water
level. The walls and floor were
designed as warer-reraining (in
reverse) . To counreracr the
rendency of rhe complered
building to 'floar' because of
rhe high water rable, rhe entire
basement was ballasted wirh up
to 2m of mass concrete.
Auditorium seating
The brief required a column­
free auditorium resulting in rhe
' terraced vineyard' concept of
searing riers. The riers srack on
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This document may not be copied or distributed without prior permission from fib.

top of one anorher up to the

front-of-house where rhey are
supporred on heavy srep­
profded beams (five ar upper
level and rhree at lower level).
The lower sloping surface of
the riers was constructed
in-situ and the upper steps
were formed using precasr
units. The void berween the
rwo surfaces acts as a plenum
through which conditioned air
is fed at low velocicy ro
diffusers below each seat.

Cladding panels
Traditional conscruction of
the brick and scone elements
of the envelope could have
resulted in serious time delays
and there would have been no
guarantee of the qualicy of
finish. By using precast
concrete panels, with pre­
bonded finishes, this major
element of construction was
raken off the critica! path.
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Foyer areas
The feature stairs were
constructed in-situ and clad
with polished marble to
achieve a slim, aesrhetic
appearance.

Roofconcrete
The ceiling over the
auditorium was formed using
standard hollow-core precast
concrete units spanning on to
the steel beams. The outer
concrete dame skin was
required to isolate the dame
from extraneous noise.
Originally, the outer skin was
designed as a series of
triangular precast concrete
panels (to form a faceted
dame) but the conrractor
elected to reven to an in-situ
option using steel decking as
permanent formwork. The
concrete was screeded to the
true dame profile.

Service integration
Extensive duces were created
in the in-situ concrete
substructures to link with the
plenums in the seating riers.
The many different services
running throughout the back­
of-house areas resulted i n
stringent space requirements.
Accordingly, a flat slab
Unusual features
Of particular concern was the
problem of pouring concrete
on the steeply raki ng bottom
surfaces of the seating tiers and
on the outer skin of concrete
on the roof, parricularly ar the
edge. The use of polypropy­
lene fibre admixture was
investigated and a simulation
test carried out. This proved
thar, at an additional cost of
only f5 l /m3, a 40% reduction
in slump could be achieved
without compromising
workabilicy. Lighrweight
aggregate was used in the mix
to reduce the <lead load on the
roof due to the outer skin of
concrete.

construction was used

rhroughout. Front-of-house,
ventilarion ducrwork was
incorporared into the slimline
upper floors which were
formed using com posi re steel
and concrete construction.

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© fédération internationale du béton (fib). This PDF copy of an FIP Report was purchased from the fib webstore.
This document may not be copied or distributed without prior permission from fib.

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