Construction Technology and Management

Bridge and Tunnel Construction

Chair of Infrastructure Design and Construction

Assignment One

Name: Afomiya Zelalem

Id no.: UGR/8417/12

November 2023
1. Surface and Subsurface drainage
Surface drainage: is the removal and diversion of water from the traffic carriageway and
adjoining land, mainly which comes from and rain water.
● Methods to control surface drainage
Most of the time the road is constructed either by embankment or cutting of sections.
Adequate surface drainage should be provided for these two sections therefore the
methods to control surface drainage are:
➤ Side drain for road in embankment
➤ Side drain for road in cutting
➤ Side drain for road in embankment
For this type road, the side drains are provided on one or both sides of the road beyond
the shoulder, at a minimum distance of about 2 m from the edge of embankment so that
the water flowing in the drains does not enter the earthwork.
Sketch 1:Road side drain for embankment filling road
➤ Side drain for road in cutting
Side drains are situated on both sides of the formation for highways that are in cutting.
Because of their thoughtful construction, it is evident that these drains never overflow
and leave the road completely buried in water. The exposed deep side drains can be
dangerous and ugly, particularly when there is a space constraint. Under such
conditions, it may be possible to provide covered drains, pipe drains, or ditches that are
appropriately filled with materials like gravel and coarse sand.
Sketch 2: Road side drain for road in cutting area
● Method to control subsurface drainage
Subsurface drainage is a key element in the design of pavement systems. For a
pavement system in order to give its intended purpose adequate subsurface drainage
should be provided in sufficient amounts. Methods to control subsurface drainage can
be categorized in to three these are:
➤ Method to control capillary rise
➤ Method to control Seepage flow
➤ Method to lower water table
➤ Method to control capillary rise
Capillary rise is the process of a liquid flowing in a narrow space without the assistance
of, or even in opposition to, any external forces like gravity. This action should be
prevented before it reaches the sub grade and disrupts the pavement structure by
providing suitable capillary cut-off between the subgrade and highest water table level.
As we discussed in the previous part, the road could be an embankment or cutting
section. For the embankment section the cut off for the capillary could be provided in
two ways. These are:
- Inserting an impermeable or a bituminous layer
This method blocks the way of the capillary rise and eliminates the risk on the pavement
structure.
- Providing a layer of granular material of suitable thickness
Granular materials have a high amount of voids between the particles; these reduce the
pressure of capillary and reduce capillary action.
Sketch 3: Method of control of capillary rise by Impermeable material
Sketch 4: Method of control of capillary rise by granular layer

➤ Method to control Seepage flow

- Control of seepage by using filter
If the ground is sloping and the seepage zone is at a depth of about 600 mm to 900 mm
from the edge of the road, the perforated drain pipe with filter material is provided to
lower the seepage line. The trench for laying the drain pipe is kept above the sloping
impervious layer.
If the road is partly in cutting and partly in embankment, the seepage flow can be
arrested on the cutting side by perforated drain pipe and the Water can be disposed-off
through cross drain pipes on the sloping side.
Sketch 5: control of seepage flow by using filter
Sketch 6: control of seepage flow by perforated pipe

➤ Method to lower water table

- Roads built in flat surfaces having low embankments are prone to the effect of
water table rising. For the sake of lowering the water table longitudinal
subsurface drains or pipe drains are placed below the surface of the ground in
the permeable saturated stratum. The pipe drains may be of vitrified clay with
open joints butting against each other or they may be perforated at top. They
may also be constructed of cement concrete or brick masonry with covering of
perforated sheet.
- In some rare cases depending on the moisture condition a single pipe might be
provided at the center of the road with proper slope and they discharge the
water into the surface drain.
- When the two longitudinal pipe drains are not enough to lower the water table,
transverse drains are laid with suitable slope and they discharge the water into
the longitudinal drains. They are kept inclined at an angle of about 60° and
staggered in plan. They are placed at a distance of 6 m to 20 m depending upon
the moisture conditions.
Sketch 7:Pipe drains on both side of side drain
Sketch 8:pipe drain in center of Road
SKetch 9: Longitudinal and transverse drains
2. Culvert and Bridge
- Culver is a tunnel structure constructed under roadways or railways to provide
cross drainage or to take electrical or other cables from one side to other. It is
totally enclosed by soil or ground. Pipe culvert, box culvert and arch culvert are
the common types used under roadways and railways. The design of the culvert
 is based on hydraulic, water surface elevation, and roadway height and other
conditions. These are used for water flow in a controlled way.
- Bridge is a structure constructed to overcome or pass obstacles or barriers in
roadway such as rivers, valleys and so on. It is constructed for the purpose of
providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually something that is otherwise
difficult or impossible to cross. There are many different designs of bridges, each
serving a particular purpose and applicable to different situations. Designs of
bridges vary depending on factors such as the function of the bridge, the nature
of the terrain where the bridge is constructed and anchored, the material used to
make it, and the funds available to build it.
● Components
- Culverts have less components and components are simple which don't have a
complex nature.
- Bridge has sub structure, super structure and deck with complex nature
● Construction height
- In most cases culverts are built in small heights whereas bridges are constructed in
high heights .
● Span length
- Culvert span is not more than 6m.
- Bridges span more than 6m.
● Foundation
- Culverts don’t need deep foundations.
- Bridges need strong and deep foundations.
● Economically/budget
- Culverts can be done with a low budget.
- The structure and design of a bridge are elaborate and complex, hence its
construction requires a substantial budget.
● Time and manpower
- Culverts are simpler in structure and design, so they can be constructed with less time
and labor.
- Construction of bridges generally requires a lot of time and manpower.
3. Types of bridge
● Slab bridge: type of bridge where the slab itself is the main load carrying
element and transfers the load to the substructure by bending action. This
type of bridge becomes uneconomical for spans >12m because in order to
resist the load on a greater span the depth of the slab should be greater
and this increases the material and construction cost.
Sketch 10: sketch of slab bridge
● Girder bridge: on this type of bridge the decking slabs are supported by
main girders(beams). The load bearing capacity of such a bridge is
 directly concerned with slab and beam resistance to bending moment and
shear force.
Sketch 11: sketch of girder bridge
● Rigid frame bridge: substructure and superstructure form monolithic frame
which is suitable for deep valley and solid ground conditions.
Sketch 12: sketch of rigid frame bridge
● Truss bridge: consists of small triangular units called truss to distribute
loads and provide stability. The load transfer works in the path from the
bridge deck the downward forces are transferred to truss(where triangular
shapes help to distribute load along members equivalently then to the
support abutment or piers and finally to the ground or adjacent structures.
Sketch 13: sketch of truss bridge
● Arch bridge: use curved structure which is in compression so it has high
resistance to bending action.
Sketch 14: sketch arch bridge
● Cable stayed bridge: continuous deck with one/ more towers erected or
standing above piers in the middle of the span and in addition cables
stretching diagonally from the tower and support the deck.
Sketch 15: sketch cable stayed bridge
● Suspension bridge: is a type of bridge where the bridge deck is supported
by hangers(having direct contact) and hangers connected to main cable
that are tied with tower and the load reaching the tower transferred to the
ground.
Sketch 16: sketch of suspension bridge
4. Components of bridge
Components of bridges mainly can be categorized into three parts. These are:
- Superstructure
- Substructure and
- Foundation
● Superstructure
- Girder: is a horizontal member that supports the bridge deck and transfers the load
from the deck to the pier or abutment of the bridge.
- Bearing: is a component of bridge that allows for the controlled movement and rotation
of the superstructure. It is found between substructure and superstructure.
Bearing has mainly three functions these are:
➤ transfer all load form superstructure to sub structure
➤ permit longitudinal movement of the superstructure due to thermal expansion and
contraction
➤ allow rotation caused by dead and live load deflection
Image: bearing
- Deck: main traffic carrying element of the bridge which can be made from different
materials such as reinforced or prestressed concrete and steel or in composite of
different materials.
- Expansion joint: used in bridge to accommodate the thermal expansion and
contraction of bridge due to difference in temperature or temperature variation.
- Parapet: are protection structures built in along the sides of the deck. It prevents the
traffic using the bridge from falling off the bridge.

● Substructure
- Piers: is a column or kind of bearing wall made of masonry to carry load as a support
for the bridge which is constructed on a strong foundation in order to carry and transfer
the load from super structure to the foundation to the soil.
- Abutments: is support system located at each end of the bridge, which act as retaining
walls to hold back the earth fill behind them and it also can be considered as anchoring
unit to the ground.
- Bridge approach: is transition between the land(abutment) and main span of the
bridge. It can be part of bridge/ embankment

● Foundation
- Piles and pile caps
Pile is a slender member driven into the surrounding soil to resist the loads. Pile cap is a
thick reinforced concrete slab cast on top of the group piles to distribute loads.
Sketch 17: sketch of components of bridge