Bridge Design & Assessment CIVI 1157 – Coursework 1

Bridge Design & Assessment

CIVI 1157
Coursework 1

Plate Girder Railway Bridges

Level 6
Credit Value 15
Coursework 1 Weighting 50%
Pass Mark 40%

Submission Date December 8th 2022

Dr A. K. Rahman CEng, FIMechE, CMath, CSci, FIMA, BEM

Email: A.K.Rahman@greenwich.ac.uk

Office: P346 Pembroke South

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 Bridge Design & Assessment CIVI 1157 – Coursework 1

Coursework Objectives

• To develop student’s knowledge of the historical development of plate girder type railway
bridges.

• To develop student’s understanding of plate girder bridge structural elements and how they
carry the load.

• To develop student’s understanding of the regulatory requirements for maintaining railway

bridges.

• To develop student’s understanding of durability consideration in bridge design

• To develop an appreciation of railway bridge failure mechanisms

• To develop railway bridge structural analysis and report writing skills.

Learning Outcome

Upon successful completion of the coursework, students should be able to;

• Understand the design and construction of plate girder railway bridges

• Understand basic loading requirements related to railway bridges.

• Evaluate different plate girder bridges to identify durability issues.

• Understanding of how different durability issues can affect bridge maintenance and any
remediation works.

• Perform simple hand calculations to determine key bridge performance parameters using
design information from drawings and other material data.

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 Bridge Design & Assessment CIVI 1157 – Coursework 1

Plate Girder Railway Bridges

Plate girder bridges are one of the most common type of steel railway bridges in the UK. These types
of bridges consists of a girder made up of steel plates which are connected by rivets or welds. They
are generally used for short and medium span bridges, between 10m and more than 100m. The
loading of these bridges follow the stipulations as laid down by the UK railway design codes.

Coursework Aims and Objectives

This assignment consist of two parts. The first part requires you to write a history of these bridges,
exploring their initial introduction and the current challenges in maintaining these bridges. The report
should consider the following areas.

- Different types of design

- Materials
- Construction methods
- Loading
- Early bridge failures and causes
- Durability considerations
- Fatigue
- Challenges for existing historical plate girder bridges who design is approaching or has
exceeded 100years

The second part this assignment is to perform an initial hand calculation to determine the critical
sectional properties for performing structural analysis. Based on the available information of the single
track railway bridge, whose dimensions are shown in Figure 1 and 2, calculate the following.

i) Section Second Moment of Area

ii) Static deflection at mid-span
iii) First vertical mode of vibration

Bridge Design Information

Span = 9.78m
Timber Wheels & Rails = 3kN/m
Timber Flooring = 2.5kN/m
Young’s Modulus of Steel = 190GPa
Steel Density = 7800kg/m3

Submission Date & Format

16th December 2022

No. Pages (Guideline) 20-30
Format pdf or Word
Mark Breakdown Introduction 10%
1st Part 40%
2nd Part 40%
Presentation 10%.

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Bridge Design & Assessment CIVI 1157 – Coursework 1

Figure 1

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Bridge Design & Assessment CIVI 1157 – Coursework 1

Figure 2

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