Fundamentals of Bridge Design

• References:
 Ethiopian Roads Authority, “Bridge design manual –
2001 – Part 1”
 Barker R M., Puckett J A., “Design of Highway Bridges”,
John Wiley & sons
 AASHTO code worked-out examples
 Utpal K Ghosh, “Design and construction of steel
bridges”, Taylor & Francis Group
 Aswani M. G., Vazirani V. N. & Ratwani M. M., “Design
of concrete bridges”, Khanna Publishers, New Delhi
 Jagadeesh T. R., Jayaram M. A., “Design of bridge
structures”, Prentice-Hall of India (p) ltd., New Delhi
 Rakshit K. S., “Design and construction of highway
bridges”, New Central Book Agency (p) ltd., Calcutta
 Introduction
General
• Bridge: Structure which carries uninterrupted
flow of traffic across any obstacle like, river or
any water body, deep gorges or valleys etc.
• Fly-over: Structure which allows traffic over any
other traffic flow or conveyance system below it.
• Viaduct : Synonymous to a bridge
• Aqueduct: Water channel over any traffic flow
or obstacle like water stream or deep gorge
below it
Components of a bridge
The main parts of a bridge structure are,
• Decking, consisting of deck slab, girders, trusses,
handrails, parapets, guard stones etc.,
• Bearings for the decking,
• Abutments, wing walls and piers,
• Foundations for the abutments and the piers,
• River training works, like revetment for slopes
for embankment at abutments and
• Approaches to the bridge to connect the bridge
proper to the roads on either side.
• Superstructure:
The components above the level of
bearings
• Substructure:
The parts below the bearing level and
above the foundation
• Foundation:
The portion below the bed level of the
river
 Post Railing Guard Rail

Earth
fill Approach
Bearing Deck slab

Pier Shelf
Abutment
Water level

Bed level
Foundation
of River

Components of a bridge
Classification
Bridges can be classified in many ways as below:
• According to function
as aqueduct, viaduct, pedestrian, highway, railway,
bridge
• According to the material of construction of
superstructure
as timber, masonry, steel, reinforced concrete,
prestressed concrete, composite bridge
• According to the form or type of superstructure
as slab, girder, truss, arch, cable stayed or suspension
bridge
• According to the inter-span relations
as simple, continuous or cantilever bridge
• According to the road level relative to the
highest flood level of the river below,
particularly for the highway bridge,
as high level or submersible bridge
• According to the method of clearance for
navigation
as high-level, movable-bascule, movable
swing or vertical lift type of bridge
• According to the length of the bridge
as culvert (less than 6 m), minor bridge (6 m to
60 m), major bridge (above 60 m), or long span
bridge when the main span of the major bridge
is above 120 m.
• According to the degree of redundancy
as determinate or indeterminate bridge
• According to the anticipated type of service and
duration of use
as permanent, temporary, military bridge
• According to the alignment of the super
structure with the formation of the river or
gorge
as straight bridge or skew bridge.
Selection of bridge site
• In Urban areas and for flyovers – wide choice
of sites – always not possible.
• For river bridges in rural areas – wide choice
of sites – possible.
• For selection of bridge site – first step –
reconnaissance survey
• 1 km in upstream and downstream side of
river, 1 km along the road in both directions.
• Topography & soil conditions to be
considered
• Preferred to align the bridge at right angles to
the river
• Square crossing facilitates minimum span
length, deck area and pier lengths, thus
economic
• Square crossing involves simpler designs and
detailing
• Skew bridge poses more difficulties in design,
construction & maintenance
• Skew bridges – avoided when costly land
acquisition is expected
• Skew bridges – preferred when straight
stretch of road is wished
• Connection with roads: shorter
component of leading road is preferred;
less expenditure on approaches
construction
• Width of the river: Shall be minimum
• Foundations: Nature of soil shall be
suitable for economic foundation
• Material and labor: shall be least near
the site and available easily
• Straight stretch of river: ensures
smooth and uniform flow of water
without any whirling
• Velocity of flow of water: avoid
scouring and silting.
• Firm embankments: could guard the
bridge at the time of heavy floods &
they do not allow the course of river to
alter
Satellite image of Omo river truss girder bridge location
Economic considerations to be made for bridge
design
Factors influencing the cost of bridge:
• Structural types
• span lengths
• erection constraints
• materials & availability of materials
• future expenditures in maintenance
• fabrication, location, shipping
• trends in labor
• material cost fluctuation
General design requirements (from ERA design
manual)

• Free (clear) opening: The face-to-face

distance between supported components
• Total (overall) bridge length: The distance
between the rear ends of the wingwalls or
abutments -measured parallel to the
alignment of road between the rear ends of
the wingwalls or abutments
Span length should be:
• For simple spans: the distance center to center
of supports but need not exceed clear span plus
thickness of slab.
• For members that are not built integrally with
their supports: the clear span plus the depth of
the member but need not exceed the distance
between centers of supports.
• Span length should give the placing of the piers
regardless of type or dimensions selected at a
later stage. It is normally measured at the
alignment and given as stations.
• Theoretical span length: The distance
between the center of bearings
At abutments or at special wide piers:
dimension from face to face of the pier or
abutment front wall.
• Total width of the bridge is defined as the
distance between the inside of the outer
railings
Application Width (m)
• Two-lane in “urban” area 10.30
• Two-lane in “rural” area 7.30
• Single Lane 4.20
• Pedestrian Overpass 3.0
 Span length Alignment of Road

Free opening

Overall length of bridge

WIDTH OF BRIDGE DECK
• The width is to be measured between the inside of
the railings  or the curbs.
• Total width of bridge is defined as the distance
between the inside of the outer railings including
walkways, island/refuge and similar.

Application Width (m)

Two-lane in “urban” area 10.30
Two-lane in “rural” area 7.30
Single Lane 4.20
Pedestrian Overpass 3.0
• The dimensions of 7.30m for a two-lane bridge:
2 trucks with widths of 2.6m + 0.7m clearance between
vehicles and at the sides.
• At higher design speed, and/or in the vicinity of densely
populated areas, a bridge allowing for the shoulder
width should be considered. Here the bridge width
becomes 10.30 meters (7.30 meters plus 2 x 1.5 m
shoulders). This allows for opposing trucks and
pedestrians to meet safely. This width is recommended
for bridges nearer than 5 km to a town/village of at
least 10,000 inhabitants.
• For pedestrian overpasses, the minimum width is 3.0
m, which can accommodate three pedestrians, or a
bicycle and a pedestrian in width.
PEDESTRIAN LANE WIDTHS
• Segregated pedestrian lane width =
(2 * 0.6) for two pedestrians + 0.3 m
clearance between them = 1.5 m
• The height of the railings along the footways
= 1.5m by means of a top rail made of steel
pipes.

Discharge Q (m3/s) Vertical clearance (m)

0 - 3.0 0.3
3.0 - 30.0 0.6
30 to 300 0.9
 300 1.2
CROSSFALL
• For adequate dewatering while minimizing the
use of materials for the bridge deck, a crossfall
of 2% (1 to 50), as well as longitudinal
slope/grade of 1% (1 to 100), should be
provided.
DESIGN WORKING LIFE
• Concrete, stone and steel bridges shall be
designed for 100 years working life.
• Concrete and Steel culverts with an opening or
diameter less than 2.0 m and all timber bridges
shall be designed for 50 years working life.
DEFLECTION
In the absence of other criteria, the following deflection
limits shall be considered for concrete, and/or steel
construction:
• Vehicular load, general
Span/500
• Vehicular and/or pedestrian loads Span/800
• Vehicular load on cantilever arms Span/300
• Vehicular and/or pedestrian loads on cantilever arms
Span/400
• Uplift of a free end of the bridge deck  5 mm.

• (e.g. A span of 16.4m may not deflect more than

16400/500=32mm, due to vehicular loads)