Fundamentals of Bridge Design 2022

Adama Science and Technology University

School of Civil Engineering and Architecture
Department of Civil Engineering
Fundamentals of Bridge Design

part –I: multiple choose

1. Which one of the following is false?

A) History of bridges begins with fallen trees, stepping stones and ropes
B) Bridge is built to provide passage for uninterrupted flow of traffic across any
obstacle
C) The principal purpose of bridge is to provide crossing and carrying
communication routes over an obstacle
D) In structural design, the general principle is that the effects has to exceed
resistance of a cross section
E) None
2. The resistance factor for a particular limit state is used to:
A) Account for the uncertainties in equations that predict strength
B) Account for the uncertainties in determining the effects under the applied loads
C) Satisfy the serviceability criteria
D) All
E) None
3. In structural engineering, which one of the following is false regarding the
serviceability limit states:
A) It deals with limitations on stress deformation
B) It is selected to make structure is comfortable for use
C) Used to reduce service life of the structure
D) To avoid public concern
E) None
4. Nowadays in bridge design, Load and Resistance Factor Design(LRFD) is
applicable due to:
A) It applies elastic analysis
B) It is a reliability based design methodology
C) It is a probabilistic design methodology
D) It is the only option applied for bridge
E) None
5. The limit state that is intended to limit crack growth under repetitive loads to
prevent fracture during the design life of the bridge is:
A) Extreme event limit state
B) Fatigue limit state

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C) Strength limit state

D) All
6. The restrictions by fracture limit state on stress range caused by design truck
depend on the a factor relating to:
A) Ductility
B) Redundancy
C) Operational importance
D) All
E) None
7. All of the followings are the factors which affects the bridge site selection except:
A) Topographic features
B) Soil conditions
C) Economy
D) Hydraulic conditions
E) None
8. Span of the bridge is determined by the following factors except:
A) Economy
B) Free board
C) Location of piers
D) Hydrology
E) None
9. For a given span the most economical span is the length at which superstructure
cost equals to substructure cost
A) True
B) False
10. As far as possible the alignment of bridge should be
A) Square
B) Skew
C) Curved
D) All
E) None
11. Generally, a culvert has span less than
A) 6m
B) 3m
C) 9m
D) 12m
E) None
12. In fixing the height of bridge, which one is very important?
A) Scouring condition
B) Highest flood level

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C) Traffic
D) Design
E) None

13. Bridge composed of several small spans for crossing a valley is:
A) Viaduct
B) Aqueduct
C) Deck
D) Suspended
E) None
14. What is the function of hunched girder?
A) Minimizing the web depth to increase load carrying capacity of girder
B) Maximizing the web depth to increase load carrying capacity of girder
C) For aesthetics
D) For serviceability purpose
E) None
15. One of the following is not the function of diaphragm in bridge engineering
A) To improve the resistance of the main girders against lateral torsion buckling
B) To transmit lateral loads to the vertical resisting elements of a structure
C) To improve bridge resistance against impact loads
D) To provide girder stability for the bridge deck placement
E) None
16. In the design of piers, the water pressure to be considered is:
A) Static pressure
B) Dynamic pressure
C) Impact due to cross current
D) All of the above
17. Which foundation is suitable for the construction of bridge?
A) Pile
B) Shallow
C) Grillage
D) Inverted arch
18. Which is the intermediate support of a bridge superstructure?
A) Foundation
B) Pier
C) Abutment
D) Wing wall
E) None

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19. Which foundation is adopted when the loose soil extends to a great depth?
A) Spread
B) Raft
C) Caisson
D) Pile
E) None
20. The type of bridge which has highest torsional resistance is:
A) Slab bridge
B) T-girder bridge
C) Box-girder bridge
D) Cable stayed bridge
E) All of the above
21. The load that do not acting on the bridge is:
A) Transient loads
B) Dynamic loads
C) Friction forces
D) Collison forces
E) None
22. The principal vehicular load effect are:
A) Gravity load of the truck
B) Impact
C) Braking forces
D) Centrifugal forces
E) All
23. Dynamic load allowance is not considered for
A) Force effects from design truck load
B) Force effects from design tandem load
C) Force effects from design lane load
D) All
24. Comparatively, one of the following is not the advantages of RC bridges over
steel bridges
A) Low maintenance cost
B) Long life
C) Easy to widen
D) Good seismic resistance
E) None

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25. Select the disadvantage of continuous reinforced concrete bridges

A) Suitable on yielding foundations
B) Occurrence of undesirable stresses due to differential settlement
C) High vibration and deflection
D) Greater depth of girder
E) Redundancy
26. According to AASHTO for slab bridge with 15m span, the minimum
recommended depth for slab with main reinforcement parallel to the traffic is:
A) 600mm
B) 720mm
C) 120mm
D) 100mm
E) None
27. Select the correct statement regarding design lane load
A) Design lane load consist of a load of 9.3 kN/m uniformly distributed load in the
transverse direction
B) Design lane load consist of a load of 9.3 kN/m uniformly distributed load in the
longitudinal direction
C) Dynamic allowance factor should be considered
D) All are correct
28. Which one of the following is not remedial measure to control cracking?
A) Reduce the stress in the reinforcement
B) Increase bar diameter
C) Increase effective reinforcement ratio
D) Using high bond bars
E) None
29. According to AASHTO for girder bridge with 1m girder spacing, the minimum
recommended depth for deck slab is:
A) 134mm
B) 160mm
C) 120mm
D) 100mm
E) None
30. The function of the abutment include
A) Providing the vertical support to the bridge
B) Connecting the bridge with approach roadway
C) Retaining the roadway base materials
D) All

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31. Abutment should withstands all of the following loads except:

A) Earth pressure
B) Wind load
C) Surcharge loads
D) Gravity loads
E) None
32. Which one is not used for pier design?
A) Strength I
B) Strength II
C) Strength III
D) Strength IV
E) None
33. Select false statement
A) Pier should be capable of resisting overturning and sliding forces
B) In seismic design shear is very important
C) Vegetation cover can protect scour
D) During design of abutment all the load modifiers are taken as more than one.
E) None
34. Which one of the following is true about bearing?
A) The main function of bearing is to hinder relative movements between the
superstructure and substructure
B) Creep is one of the effects that causes translational movement of bearing
C) Fixed bearing does not allow rotations
D) All are true
E) None
35. The strength limits state that the load combination is relating to normal
vehicular use of the bridge with wind of 55 mph velocity is:
A) Strength I
B) Strength III
C) Strength V
D) Strength II
E) None
36. The limit state that is intended to ensure strength and stability of a bridge during
an earthquake, flood, vehicle collision, ice flow, foundation scour etc. is?
A) Strength limit state
B) Serviceability limit state
C) Extreme event limit state
D) Fatigue limit state
E) All are considered

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37. In bridge engineering the condition that the overloaded portion of the structure
redistribute the load to other portions that have reserve strength is:
A) Ductility
B) Redundancy
C) Operational importance
D) All
E) None
38. A river which have a relatively stable banks is called as:
A) Alluvial rivers
B) Incised rivers
C) Meandering river
D) All
E) None
39. What is the absolute maximum bending moment in the bridge shown in Fig. (a),
due to the Design Truck shown in Fig(b) ?

A) 421.6 kNm B) 843.1 kNm C) 1686.3 kNm D) 146.7 kNm

40. What is the absolute maximum shear in the bridge for the case of Question 39?
A) 260.5 kN B) 194.5 kN C) 246.5 kN D) 145 kN
41. For the Design Tandem Load shown in Fig. (a) below, what is the spacing a and
b between axle load respectively?
A) 1.8m,1.2m B) 1.2m,1.8m C) 4.3m, 9m D) 4.3m,4.3m

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42. In bridge design, why dynamic load allowance is applied?

A) To account the effect of earthquake
B) To account for wheel load impact from moving vehicles
C) To consider fatigue and vibration effects
D) All
43. Dynamic load allowance need not be applied to:
A) Pedestrian load
B) Wood components
C) Retaining walls not subject to vertical reactions from the superstructure
D) All
44. Which one of the following is false regarding control of cracking?
A) For controlling cracks, distribution reinforcement is placed in tension zone
B) To control cracking rather than reinforcement diameter, spacing between
reinforcement is significant
C) For controlling cracks, distribution reinforcement is placed in compression zone
D) All are the answer
E) None
45. Vertical distance between designed high flood level allowing for afflux and to
allow vessels to cross the bridge is:
A) HFL
B) Freeboard
C) Afflux
D) None
46. In a bridge, which are the components of an abutment?

i. Breast Wall
ii. Wing Wall
iii. Back Wall
A) Only i
B) i and ii
C) ii and iii
D) i, ii and iii

47. Cost of the bridge does not depend on:

A) Material cost
B) Transportation cost
C) Span length
D) Stream length
E) None

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48. Bridge which conveys water over an obstacle is:

A) Through bridge
B) Viaduct
C) Aqueduct
D) None
49. Temporary bridges are built during:
A) Military operations
B) Project executions
C) Rescue operations
D) All
50. Movable bridges are built across:
A) Streams
B) Rivers
C) Channels
D) Dry valley
E) None
51. A bascule bridge is a:
A) Fixed bridge
B) Movable bridge
C) Deck bridge
D) Through bridge
E) None
52. Regarding bridge site which one of the following is not correct?
A) Bridge site should be narrow
B) Bridge site should not possess high banks
C) Bridge site be at reasonable proximity to the direct alignment of road
D) Bridge site should be geologically sound
E) None
53. In the design of piers, the water pressure to be considered is:
A) Static pressure
B) Dynamic pressure
C) Impact due to cross current
D) All of the above
54. The most suitable foundation for a culvert is
A) Spread foundation
B) Pile foundation
C) Well foundation
D) Caisson foundation

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55. For a major bridge usually the type of foundation is:

A) Grillage foundation
B) Spread foundation
C) Well foundation
D) Caisson foundation
56. The bridge having its floor flush with bed of stream is known as:
A) Causeway
B) Culvert
C) Viaduct
D) Minor bridge
E) None
57. The arrangement made to prevent entry of water at the site of pier construction
is known as:
A) Caisson
B) Cofferdam
C) Earthen dam
D) All
58. In arch bridge, load of deck is transferred by:
A) Tension
B) Compression
C) Bending
D) All
E) None
59. In a simply supported highway bridge, maximum shear from live load (movable)
occurs:
A) At support
B) At mid span
C) Near to centre
D) Any where
E) None
60. From design truck and design tandem which one governs on bridge
transversal/back view?
A) Design Tandem
B) Design Truck
C) Both are the same
D) Unknown

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61. Which one of the following is not the function of diaphragm?

A) For the stability of the structure during construction
B) To resist cross-sectional deformation of the superstructure frame
C) Transmits lateral loads to the vertical resisting elements of a structure
D) Enhancing the superstructure to resist torsion
E) None
62. In Suspension bridge, load of deck is transferred to cables in:
A) Tension
B) Compression
C) Bending
D) All
E) None
63. Height of bridge is kept _____ above high flood level
A) 0.2 to 1.5 m
B) 1.2 to 1.5 m
C) 1.8 to 2.1 m
D) 2.2 to 2.5 m
64. R.C.C. piers of the following shapes are not used
A) T-shape
B) Trestle bent
C) Dumb bell type
D) Rectangular
65. Width and height of kerbs on bridges are generally _____ respectively.
A) 200 mm x 450 mm
B) 225 mm x 600 mm
C) 450 mm x 200 mm
D) 600 mm x 225 mm
66. Arrange the correct order of the bridge components from river-bed
1. abutment
2. girder
3. foundation
4. flooring
A) 1-3-2-4
B) 1-3-4-2
C) 3-1-2-4
D) 4-2-1-3

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67. In design of bridge, wind and ________ loads shall not be considered to act
simultaneously.
A) Longitudinal
B) Lateral
C) Seismic
D) Centrifugal
68. Arrange correct order of the phenomena occur at bridge site from top
1. HFL 2. Scouring 3. Afflux 4 .natural flow of river
A) 2-1-4-3.
B) 2-1-3-4
C) 2-4-1-3
D) 2-3-1-4
69. Greater is the afflux, lesser will be the available clearance for the same deck
level
A) true
B) false
70. Cables supporting roadway of a suspension bridge is designed to carry
A) Point load
B) Trapezoidal load
C) Uniformly distributed load
D) Load as per cable profile
71. For a bridge having span more than 150m,the recommended types of bridge is
A) truss grader bridge
B) suspension bridge
C) riveted plate girder bridge
D) welded plate girder bridge
72. For a bridge deck the most economical section shall be:
A) box section
B) an I section
C) a channel section
D) a double T-section
73. Consider the following statements:

i. Bearings are provided in bridges to transmit the load from superstructure to the
sub-structure
ii. Fixed bearing allows both rotation and translation
iii. The design of bearing depends upon the type of superstructure, type of supports
and also on the length of support
Which of these statement(s) is/are true?

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A) Only ii
B) Only i
C) i and ii
D) i and iii

74. The main forces in a suspension bridge of any type are ----------- in the cable and
----------------in the pillar.
A) tension ,compression
B) tension ,pull
C) compression, tension
D) torsion ,compression
75. Expansion bearing the bridge superstructure permits!
A) translation
B) rotation
C) No movement
D) both translation and rotation

76. Which bridge is shown in figure?

A) Semi through
B) Deck
C) Through
D) Suspension
77. For log spa such as above 800m, which types of bridge is provided?
A) truss ridge
B) balanced cantilever bridge
C) cantilever bridge
D) suspension bridge

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78. Which of the following shall be considered while designing high level bridges for
buoyancy effect?
A) partial buoyancy for superstructure
B) full buoyancy for the abutment
C) full buoyancy for superstructure
D) buoyancy force due to submerged part of the substructure ad foundation
79. The advantage of providing bearing in bridge is:
A) to take up vertical movement due sinking of support
B) to absorb movement of girder
C) to spread the load from the superstructure in such a manner that bearing stress
induced on the material is within the permissible limit
D) All
80. To stabilize the river channel along a certain alignment with certain cross-
section is known as:
A) river divert
B) river training
C) river network
D) none

81. Arrange order of stage of bridge site investigation 1-project report stage,2-
Reconnaissance or technical feasibility stage, 3-preliminary or techno-economic
feasibility stage 4-dailed survey
A) 3-4-2-1
B) 3-2-4-1
C) 2-3-4-1
D) 4-1-3-2
82. For all parts of bridge floors accessible only to pedestrians and for all footway,
loading should be:
A) 300 kg/m2
B) 200 kg/m2
C) 500 kg/m2
D) 400 kg/m2

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83. What is the main problem with Deck bridges?

A) The traffic is exposed to winds
B) The compression flanges have no lateral support
C) The road level has to be very high
D) It is not possible to provide portal branching
E) none
84. What is marked as ʹxʹ?

A) Clearance
B) Approach
C) Free board
D) Apron

85. In the river training work for ridge the embankment is constructed:
A) inclined to the river flow
B) transverse to the river flow
C) parallel to the river flow
D) none
part –II : exposition
86. Why structural engineers are attracted to apply the concept of influence lines in
analysis of bridge structures!
87. Usually, shorter length is desired at end spans for continuously supported multispan
girder bridge, what are the reasons for this?

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