Bridge Engineering

References:

1. Standard Specification for Highway Bridges, 13th Edition, American

Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, Washington,
1983.
2. BS 5900

Part 1: General Statement.

Part 2: Specification for loads.

Part 3: Code of Practice for Design of Steel Bridges.

Part 4: Code of Practice for Design of Concrete Bridges.

Part 5: Code of Practice for Design of Composite Bridges.

Part6: Specification for Materials and Workmanship Steel.

Part7: Specification for Materials and Workmanship Concrete.

Part8: Recommendation for Materials and Workmanship-Concrete,

Reinforcement and Prestressing Tendons.

Part9: Code of Practice for Bearings.

Part10: Code of Practice for Fatigue.

3. Iraqi Standard Specification for Road Bridges, 19

4. Iraqi Standard Specification for Railway Bridges, 19
5. ACI Code 343R-95.
Analysis and Design of Reinforced Concrete Bridges.
6. Heins, C.P. and Firmage, D.A., Design of Modern Steel Highway Bridges,
John Wiley and Sons, 1974
7. Xantbakos, P.P., Theory and Design of Bridge John Wiley and Sons, INC.
1994.
8. Rowe, R.E., Concrete Bridge Design.
9. Hambly, R.C., Bridge Deck Behavior.
10. OConnor, C., Design of Bridge Superstructure.
11.Raja, N.K., Advanced R.C. Design
12.Nilson, A.K., and winter, G., Design of Concrete Structures, McGraw-Hill,
10th Edition-1986.
Bridges:

1. Foot bridges,
2. Highway bridges,
3. Railway bridges, and
4. Combined highway and rail bridges.

Types of bridges:

Deck type, and

Through type.

Deck Bridge: The roadway rest on the top of the supporting structure.

Through bridge: Flooring of highway or railway passes through the supporting

structure.

The bridges may be classified as: _

Fixed : always in one position, and

Movable: generally one or more portions are made movable to allow the
vessels to pass through.

BRIDGE DECKES

Definition: A bridge deck can be defined as part of the bridge forming the
carriage and spanning between piers and abutments. Its length and width are
determined by the functional requirement of the bridge, while its structural and
mechanical properties are influenced by its material, geometry and loading
condition.
Types of Bridge Decks:

1. Slab deck:

It is the simplest form of bridge decks is usually of R.C. or prestressed concrete

flat slab. It may or may not be supported on edge beams parallel to span. It is only
economical for short span up to 12m.

When such a slab is employed without edge beam it is often connected

monolithically with abutment wall.

When deep sections are necessary for strength requirement, it is advisable to

remove some of the material lying within the N.A. forming what is known voided
slab deck.
 2. Beam- slab deck:
A. Pseudo slab deck.

Its called contiguous deck

B. Muti-beam concrete decks

Range of span 12 to 200 m

Normal in iraq 30 to 40 m.
3. Composite deck:

Using concrete slab on steel beams,

composite steel-concrete construction

According to AASHTO, the stud is tested by applying a horizontal load at a

certain height in agiven direction until the stud will be inclined by 30. Then
the load will be reversed. These will be repeated until fracture occurs in the
stud and not the weld.
4. Orthotropic steel deck.
5. Box section and cellular deck.
6. Other types.
For long spans,(trusses, Arches, suspension bridges, cable stayed bridges)

Selection of superstrue type:

a) The choice is a function of the span. It is also influenced by the quality

and cost of materials, foundation, height to the deck surface, and
constraint placed by the site on errection.
b) It has been customary to assume that the optimum span satisfies the
condition that the superstructure, and the substructure costs are equal.

The minimum cost design is not necessary the best design rather the
choice of the true optimum must take into acount such factors as
functionality and appearance.
 Sub-structure:
The portion of the structure below bearings and above foundation.

The intermediate support units over which super-structure rests are

known as piers and the other end supports of a super-structure are
known as abutments.

Span length for various types of super-structure:

REF. Design of Bridge super-structures by Oconnor

Structure type material Range of span (m) Max. span in service

Slab concrete 0-12
Girder concrete 12-215 208
Girder Steel 30-260 260
Cable stayed concrete 240 235
girder Steel 90-335 320
Truss Steel 90-550 550
Arch concrete 90-300 300
Steel truss 240-520 510
Steel rib 120-365 365
Suspension steel 305-1370 1300
Loads on Bridges : (AASHTO sec.3)

1. Dead loads:
Weight of the structure +Guard Rails+Hand Rails+power pole+Water lines
and other utility line.
It is necessary to make a preliminary estimate of the D.L and then perform
the design based on estimated value. The weight of the structure can then
be calculated and compared with the previous estimated weight. It may be
necessary to make more cycles of the design based on new D.L.
2. Live load:
2.1 AASHTO
2.1.1 Truck loading: consist of : H10, H15, Hs15, Hs20.

[t (short ton)=2000lb = 907 kg]

These vehicles were not selected to resemble any particular vehicle in

existance, but are hypothetical.

H10, H15 are used for design of lightly travelled state roads.

Hs15, Hs20 are used for national and interstate highway system.

Standars H-trucks : (represented a two axle truck)

Standard HS Trucks: (represent a two-axle tractor plus a single-axle semitrailer)

For stresses in simple span bridges, this spacing is the min. value of 14 ft.

However, for continuous spans a spacing greater than 14ft may produce the max.
effect. The influence diagram indicates the proper spacing of the axel for max.
stresses.
 2.1.2 Equivalent loadings

H lane and Hs lane loading

For the HS-truck only truck is to be used per lane per span.

For longer spans the equivalent loading produce the greater stresses than the
single truck.

For instance, the H20 truck produce greater moments in simple beam span for up
to 56ft (17 m).

For spans >56ft (17 m), the equivalent lane loading produces the greater bending
moment.

Only on concentrated load is used in a simple span or for positive moment in

continuous spans. Two concentrated loads are used for a negetive moment. The
U.D.L can be divided into segments when applied to continuous spans.
Both the concentrated load and the uniform load are distributed over a 10-ft lane
width on a li normal to the center line of the lane.
Impact: The terminology for the dynamic effect of vehicles live load stresses
produced by H or HS loading can be increased for items in group A. Impact shall
not be applied to items in group B.

A-Group A:

A-1 Superstructure, including steel or concrete columns, steel towers, plates of

rigid frames and generally those portions of the main foundation.

A-2 Portions above the ground line of concrete or steel piles which are rigidly
connected to the superstructure as in rigid frame or continuous design.

B-Group B:

B.1 Abutments, retaining walls, piers, piles except group A-2.

B.2 Foundation pressure and footing.

B.3 Timber structures.

B.4 Sidewalk loads.

B.5 Culverts and structures having cover of 3ft or more.

Impact Formula:

The amount of this allowance or increament is expressed as a function of L.L.

stress.

50
I
L 125

I= impact fracture (max. 30%)

L=the loaded length of the structure.

Is the length of structure that would be loaded to produce max. stress if the live
load consisted of a uniformly distributed load.
 For continuous spans use the length of span under consideration for positive
moment and use the average of the two adjacent loaded spans for neative
moments.

L1 L 2
to be used in impact formula
2

For shear due to truck loads use the length of the loaded portion of the span from
the point under consideration to the far reaction except for cantilever arms use
30%.

The greater wheel load is placed at point (A).

Sidewalk loading:

a) Sidewalk floors, stringers and their immediate supports shall be designed

for a L.L. =85psf (415 Kg/m) of sidewalk area.
b) Girders, trusses, arches and other members shall be designed for the
following sidewalk area.

Span (ft) L.L (psf)

0-25 85

26-100 60

>100 P= (30 + )( )

Where:

P=L.L (psf) with 60 psf max.

L=load length of sidewalk (ft)

W=width of sidewalk in (ft)

In calculating stress in structure which support cantilevered sidewalk the

sidewalk shall be considered as fully loaded on only one side of the structure if
this condition produces max stresses.
Deck Slab Design:

Moment and shear forces in slab bridge and In the top slabs of beam and slab,
voided slab and box beam bridges may be obtained from a general elastic
analysis or alternatively by yield line method (B.S specification)

AASHTO:

Case A

B.M for the case of main reinforcement perpendicular to traffic

(Span 2ft 24ft)(0.6m 7.3m)

The L.L moments for simple spans shall be determined by the following
formula (impact not included)

ML.L (ft-Ib/ft) =

Where:

= Load on the rear wheel of H20-truck, =16000 Ib.

S = Span length, S=the distance center to center of supports, but not

exceed clear span plus the thickness of the slab (ft)

For slabs continuous over more than two supports:

Slabs monolithic with beams (without haunches):

S=clear span
Slabs supported on steel stringers:
S=distance between edges of flanges plus one-half the stringer flange
width.

For slabs continuous in 3 or more supports, a continuity factor of 0.8 shall be

applied to the above formula for both positive.
 Moments in Kg.m/m
( . )
ML.L = , where:

S in (m) and P in (Kg)

Dead Load Moment:

. = . S (for +ve and ve dead load moment)

AASHTO specification doesnt cover the dead moments in slabs, therefore
for continuous slab an amount of moment equal
M= . S

Minimum Slab Thickness: (AASHTO)

Slabs with the main reinforcement parallel or perpendicular to traffic should have
a min. thickness of:

= where S in meter, and t in cm

Fc= 0.4

Fs=0.55

K=

K=
Case B

Main reinforcement parallel to traffic (AASHTO)

a) Distribution of wheel load.

E=4+0.06S (max. 7ft) Sft

A concentrated (wheel) load placed on a wide slab is distributed laterally over a

width of slab appreciably greater than the width of the contact area of the load
with the slab.

b) Lane load are distributed over a width of 2E.

For simple span, the max. live load moment per ft width of slab without
impact is closely approximated by the following formula,
HS 20 Loading:
Span up and including 50,

. =900 Sft-Ib
Span 50 to 100

. =1000 (1.3S-20)..ft-Ib
 HS 15 Loading:
Use of the values obtained from the formula for HS20 loading.
Each beam (AASHTO) shall be provided for all slabs having main
reinforcement parallel to traffic.
The beam may consist of a slab section additionally reinforced, a beam
integral with and deeper than slab, or an integral reinforcement section of
slab and curb. It shall be designed to resist a live load moment of
. =0.10 PS
Where:
P=wheel load (lb), =12000 lb, =16000 lb
S=span length (ft)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Example: Span 10m C.C. of bearing loading HS 20-44

Min. slab thickness = = =40 cm<50 cm .ok
( )
.= = = 43.3cm < 50cm .ok
 a) E= 4+0.06S ,S= effective span length in (ft)
=4+ (0.06103.28) = 5.963< 7ok
b) Lane load
2E=25.963= 11.936= 3.64m

U.D.L= 640 lb/ft of load lane

.
=640 =952.45 Kg/m of lane. P
.

Live load moment

1 952.45
M U . D. L 102 3271kg.m / m
8 3.64
concentrated load 18000 lb / lane 8167 Kg / lane
PL
M
4
1 8167
10 11218.4 Kg.m / m
4 1.82
8167 P
where : is theload on aunit widthof slab.
1.82 E
M L.L 3271 11218.4 14489.4 Kg .m / m
50 50
I 0.317 0.3
L 125 10 3.28 125
use I 0.3
M (L.L. I ) 1.3 14489.4 18836 kg.m / m
M L.L 900S
900 10 3.28 29520 ft.lb / ft
M L.L I 1.3 29520 38376 ft.lb / ft
1
38376 3.28
3.28 2.204
17412 Kg.m / m 18836 Kg.m / m control
Edge Beam
(a ) M L.L 0.1 PS
0.1 16000 (10 3.28)
52480 ft.lb
M ( L.L I ) 1.3 52480 68224 ft.lb
1
68224 9437 Kg .m
3.28 2.204
( b ) Dead Load Moment :
D .L 0.75 0.61 2400 1098 Kg / m
1
M D . L 1098 10 2 13725 Kg .m / m
8
( c ) Sidewalk moment
Sidewalk loading 85 lb / ft 2 415 Kg / m 2 ( AASHTO )
Width of sidewalk 0.6 Railing 0.6 0.25 0.35 m
1
M ( sidewalk ) (415 0.35) 1 0 2 1816 kg .m
8
M ( L . L I D . L S .W ) 25550 Kg .m
2M
2 25550 100
d min . 49.8 cm (t cov er )75 5
Fc bkj 3 7
96 100
8 8
M 25550 100
As 18.5 cm 2
f s jd 7
2255 70
8
Use 3 32 addition
Dead load
Slab 0.5 2400 1200 Kg / m 2
surfac in g 0.05 1800 90 K g / m
1
M D .. L 1290 10 2 16125 kKg .m / m
8
2M
d min .
Fc bkj
f cu 300 kg / cm 2
fc 0.4 f c 0.4 300 0.8 96 kg / cm 2
f s 0.55 f y 0.55 4100 2255 kg / cm 2
2 34961 100
d 47.11cm 5 52 cm 50 cm ....ok
3 7
96 100
8 8
M 34961 100
As 3 8.47 cm 2 / m
f s jd 7
2255 45
8
Use 32 bars , a s 8.05 cm 2
as
S 100
As
Use 32 @ 200, As 40.21 cm 2 / m .