ChambalCableStayedBridgeConnectingShores

ArezkiTouat,SeniorEngineerSystraParis,SergeMontens,DirectorofBridgeDepartmentSystraParisandJean
Charles Vollery, Civil Works DirectorSystra Asia Pacific and Chief Executive of SystraMva Consulting (India
Pvt.Ltd.)
Introduction
ForthebypassofKota(RJ),aspartoftheNHDPPhaseIIprojectNHAIhasplannedtomaketheNH76crosstheChambal
River.SincethiscrossingwasfallingintheChambalgavialwildlifesanctuary,itwasdecidedtocrosstheriverwidthofabout
300mwithasinglespan,andhencereducecrocodilewildlifedisturbancebyavoidinganypierintheriverbed.
The solution proposed by the construction JV HyundaiGammon to achieve this
goal,wasaconcretecablestayedbridgewithamainspanof350masprojectedby
Systra.
Whencompleted,thisbridgewillbethefirstaxialsuspensioncablestayedbridge,
everbuiltinIndia.
BridgeDescription
Theselecteddeckconsistedinasinglecellboxgirderof30,2mwidth,stiffenedat
every3,5mbytransverseribs.Thisverylargewidthwasrequiredtopositionthe6
lanes carriageway with the 3m central median. Two footpaths of 1,5m width are
alsolocatedonthedecksides.
The deck is supported by sliding spherical or pot bearings on all piers, except on
shortest pylon pier where it is rigidly connected. Location of this pylon near the
cliff,hasrequiredspecialgeotechnicalandgeophysicalinvestigations,toensurecliff
stability.
The stays are in a single plane with a semi harp arrangement, and are anchored
every7minthedeck.The80mhighpylons,receivethepassiveanchoragesofthe
staycables.
Thanks to the good rock quality below, all lateral piers of the cable stayed bridge
arefoundedon,spreadfooting,andpylonsfoundationsarecomposedoftwo4,5m
diametershafts.
Thestructurewillbecastinsitu:onscaffoldingsforthelateralspansandusingthe
cantilevermethodformainspan
SiteInvestigations
Topographicinvestigations
Thesurveyswererelatedtogroundandverticalfaceofthecliff.
The ground survey has been performed to localise bridge axis, determinate pier positions, and ground levels at foundations
location.Ithasalsoconfirmedthattherewasnomajortopographicanomalyonsite.

Thesurveyofthecliffwasrequiredtocreatein3dtheshapeofthecliff,inordertoevaluatewithaccuracythecliffstability
sinceoneofthepylons(p5)islocatedatonly30mfromcliffedge.
Geotechnicalinvestigation
Geotechnicalinvestigationsweredividedintothreemainjobs:siteinvestigations,geophysicalsurveyandsatelliteimagery.
A)sitesoilinvestigationsconsistedinboreholesdrillingfordeterminationofrockparameters,byinsituandlaboratorytestsas
detailedhereafter:
InsituTests:
permeability
CaCO3content
visualidentification(tcr,scr&rqd)foreachrun
LaboratoryTests:
Drydensity
waterabsorption,porosity
specificgravity
pointloadindex(pli)
resistancetests(ucs)
CaCO3content
elasticmodulusandpoissonratio
Inadditiontotheabovetests,apetrographicanalysisoftherock,andawaterchemicalanalysiswerealsoperformed.
Number and depth of boreholes was governed by foundation type (pile shaft or footing): one borehole was required for
commonpierfoundations,andthreeboreholesatpylonfoundationslocationupto40mdepth.Thenumberofboreholesatthe
pileshaftslocationwasrequiredduetothetypeofteststobeperformed(crossholetests).
Theresultshaveshownthatthesitegeologyismainlycomposedofhardsiliceous
sandstone.Duetotemperatureeffectsandclimaticvariation,metamorphismtakes
place on the 10 first meters which increases the percentage of silica: sandstone
transformsintoquartzite.Thispartgenerallycreamishtobrownishcoloredismore
fractured.Atalowerdepth,thesandstonebecomesmoreferruginous.
CaCO3 tests have indicated that there was no trace of calcium carbonate in the
rock samples. Ucs test have shown that the rock has an important resistance:
between 100 and 300 mpa. Youngs modulus is equal to 17 500 mpa for intact
rock,andpoissonsratioisequalto0.21.
Chemical analysis of water has shown that there was no presence of aggressive elements, which could affect structure
durability.
Atpylonlocatednearthecliff(p5),therearedifferentsetsofjointswhichshownoconnectivity,exceptforjointswith45
angles. In addition, a thin layer of soil has been found at 10m depth, which has led us to propose a geophysical survey to
verifythatthislayerdonotextendtothecliff,andthereforedonotaffectcliffstability.

A slope stability calculation was afterwards conduced considering network of

fractures,blockstabilityandlowcohesiononslidingsurfaces.
B) Geophysics survey includes crosshole tests at pylons location and surface
surveyusingtheelectricalmethod.
Cross hole tests have allowed to measure velocity into the rock along the bore
length.Thetestshaveconfirmedthepresenceofweakrockat13mdepth.Onthe
remainingheightvalueswereconsistentandnodrasticvariationisobserved.This
testhasalsoconfirmedtheabsenceofcavitiesorchannels.
Surface geophysics survey has allowed to develop a complete 3D model of rock
resistivityasshowninthenextscheme.
The geophysical investigation has concluded that the discovered weak zone (with
lowresistivity),donotextenduptotheedgeofthecliffandconsequentlydonot
affectthestabilityofthecliff.
C)Satelliteimageryhasallowedtoconfirmthegeologyofthearea,andtodetermineriverbedprofilesincenoaccesswas
possiblefromtheriverforenvironmentalreasons.Thisinvestigationhasalsoconfirmedthattherewerenocavitybelowwater
level,whichcouldextendbelowthepylonP5foundations.
GeneralDesignFeatures
Foundations
Alllateralpiersofthebridgearesupportedonrectangularfootings,restingonsaferock.Pylonpiersfoundationsarecomposed
oftwoverticalshaftsof4,5mdiameter,withamaximumlengthof15m.Forshaftsdesign,frictionandreducedendbearing
wereconsideredinordertoreducethesettlement.Therockmassratio(rmr)classificationwasusedtodeterminethebearing
parametersfollowingtheAASHTOLRFDcode.
Thepilecapsabovetheshaftshaveavariabledepthfrom2mattheextremitiesto
5m at pier axis, this shape has been chosen in order to optimize quantities by
placingtheconcreteonlywhereitisrequired.Concretegradeforallfoundationsis
m47.5.
Empty ducts will be provided on p5 pile cap for future active anchors, in case it
becomesrequired.
Substructures
Thepiershavearectangularshapeforlateralpiersandacrossshapeforpylonpiers.Althoughthiscrossshapeisunusual,it
hasbeenchosenforstructuralreason.Themainloadscomefromthepylon,soitislogicaltoputsomematerialjustbelowthe
rectangularaxialpylon.Theotherpartoftheloadcomesfromthedeckwebsanditsdiaphragm,soitislogicaltoputsome
materialonarectanglelocatedjustbelowthediaphragm.Thisleadstoacrossshape.
The pier P5 is rigidly connected to the deck, whereas the second pylon pier (P4), has a pier cap supporting four spherical
bearingsof7000tcapacityeach.
SeismicDesign

ThecityofKotaislocatedinseismiczoneII,withapeakgroundaccelerationof0,1
g.ThedesignresponsespectrumwasdefinedasperIRCcode.
Toestimateearthquakeforcesonthestructure,a3Dmodelofthebridgehasbeen
realised,includingpartoftheaccessbridgesinordertohavethecorrecteffectson
transitionpiers.
Earthquakeeffectswereevaluatedforservicestageandforthemostunfavorable
construction stage. The effects of all modes were combined together using
complete quadratic combination CQC. Response modification factors were
considered as per AASHTO LRFD, with distinction between wall type, and column
typeofpiersforeachhorizontaldirection.
Bearings
Lateralspansaresupportedonpotbearingswithamaximumverticalcapacityof
1200tinservicestage.Thesebearingsshallalsoresistupliftforcesevaluatedtoa
maximumof380tatstrengthlimitstate.
Thefoursphericalbearingslocatedonp4,haveamaximumverticalcapacityof7
000t.
Windstability
Deck stability under wind loads was tested in wind tunnel, and has required the
change of the shape of the sound barriers (required to reduce environment
disturbance),inordertosatisfyvortexsheddingequirements.Flutterstabilitywas
satisfiedinserviceandconstructionstagefordifferentwindincidences.
After validation of aerodynamic behavior of the deck, the bridge sectional model
has been used to determine the different aerodynamic coefficients (drag, lift and
torsion),requiredforthenumericalcalculationofwindforces(buffetinganalysis).
This calculation has been performed after also, the numerical definition of the
turbulentwindmodel.
Obtainedloadswereusedforthedesignofallelementsofthestructure.
Pylons
The pylons are 80m high above top of deck with a constant width of 3m, and a
variablelength:from7mto4m.Theconcretegradeusedism60.
Thepylonscontainasteelframewherearelocatedthepassiveanchoragesofstay
cables. This steel frame is composed by 20 steel boxes (one for each pair of stay
cable), that take the horizontal component of the stay cables. The vertical
componentistransmittedtothepylonthroughshearstuds,locatedonthelaterals
sidesofthesteelboxes.
A manhole with a minimum dimension of 800x1500 mm is provided inside the
pylon.
Thepylonstructuralresistancehasbeenverifiedunderdynamicwindloads,anda
through detailed buckling analysis (2nd order analysis), taking into account
geometricalandmaterialnonlinearities.
StayCables
The stay cables are composed of individually sheathed strands having a triple protection: galvanisation, wax filling and
individualpolyethylenesheath.Theexternalcableducthashelicoidsinordertoeliminaterainandwindinducedvibrations.
Thestrandshavesevenwiresofclass1860mpaandstaycablesunitiesvaryfrom58to91strands.
Antivibrationdeviceswillbeprovidedforthelongeststaycables.
Deck

The concrete deck (M60 grade), is prestressed longitudinally using internal and
externaltendons,andtransversallyusingonlyinternaltendons.
The external tendons are located mainly in lateral spans that are longitudinally
prestressedusingonlyexternaltendons.Someexternaltendonsarealsoprovided
for the continuity prestressing of main span. Provisions for future external
prestressingarealsoprovided.
Internaltendonsareusedforcantilevertendons,cyclictendonsandsomeofthe
continuitytendonsofmainspan.
Transverse prestressing is composed of 13T15 tendons in the ribs and 4T15
tendons in the slab. At stay cables anchorage location, a diaphragm wall
prestressed diagonally, permits the transmission of forces from the lateral webs, to the stay cable anchorage located at the
center.
Forthetransverseanalysisofthebridge,onethirdofthebridgehasbeenmodelizedusingfiniteelements.
Toreduceupliftforcesonlateralpiers,theboxgirderwillbefilledwithconcreteattheselocations.
Pier segment below pylon P4 has been studied using volumic finite elements, as
the transfer of pylon vertical load to the four spherical bearings was not easy to
apprehend.Thisstudyhasconfirmedthatatransverseprestressingatthebottom
ofthepiersegmentwasrequired.
The longitudinal analysis has been performed considering second order effects,
constructionstagesandtimedependenteffects.
Special load cases particular to the design of cable stayed bridges and cantilever
construction were considered such as cable braking or replacement, differential
temperatureindeckandstaycables,accidentalfallingoftravellingformwor.
AcompleteAutoCad3Dmodelofthebridgewascreatedinordertogeneratethe
prestressinglayoutandensureitsfeasibility.Thismodelhasalsobeenusedforthe
preparationofreinforcementshopdrawings.
ServicelifeoftheStructure
Theidentifiedriskforstructuredurabilityistheconcretecarbonation.Basedona
present CO2 concentration in the air estimated to 350 ppm, and an expected
increaseduetoroadtrafficto450ppm,theservicelifeofthestructurehasbeen
estimatedusingthePapadakis&al.model.
Estimationofstructuredesignlifeisdefinedasthetimerequiredforcarbonationto
reach the first layer of reinforcement.Based on an external concrete cover for pylons and deck boxgirder of 40 mm, the
requireddesignlifeof100yearshasbeenreachedforadefinedminimumconcretecarbonationresistance.
Itshouldbealsonotedthatwiththesemethods,weareonlyevaluatingthetimeofinitiationofthereinforcementcorrosion,
correspondingtothetimerequiredforcarbonationtoreachthefirstayerofreinforcement.Butinreality,thelifetimeofthe
structureislargelyhigherasshowninthenextscheme:

Construction
TheconstructionofthebridgehasstartedinDecember2007,andisscheduledtobecompletedin2011.Thelateralspansof
thebridgewillbecastinsituonscaffoldings,startingbythespansnearthepylons.Twosetsofscaffoldingswillbeused:one
on each side of the river. Thanks to this arrangement, main span construction can start as soon as first lateral span is
completedwhichwithdrawsotherlateralspansconstructionfromthecriticalpath.
Themainspansegmentsof3,5mlength,willbecastinsituusingtwosetsoftravellingformworks,andpylonsusingclimbing
formworks.
NBMCWSeptember2008