6.

SUBSTRUCTURE
Piers
Piers provide vertical supports for spans at intermediate points and perform two main functions:

transferring superstructure vertical loads to the foundations

resisting horizontal forces acting on the bridge

Although piers are traditionally designed to resist vertical loads, it is becoming more and more
common to design piers to resist high lateral loads caused by seismic events.
Generally piers are subjected to:

Dead loads
Live loads and impact from the superstructure
Wind loads on the structure and the live loads
Centrifugal force from the superstructure
Longitudinal force from live loads (vehicular braking force)
Drag forces due to the friction at bearings
Earth pressure
Stream flow pressure
Ice pressure
Earthquake forces
Thermal and shrinkage forces
Ship impact forces
Force due to prestressing of the superstructure
Forces due to settlement of foundations

Pier Types

Solid Wall Pier: A solid wall pier (also known as a continuous wall pier) as its name would imply,
consists of a solid wall which extends up from a foundation consisting of a footing or piles. The top
of the wall is equipped with individual pedestals upon which the superstructure rests.
Their slender and streamlined proportions provide a minimal resistance to flood flows. Using solid
wall piers in stream or river crossings is advantageous since they are not as prone to accumulating
debris as multiple column piers.

Fundamentals of Bridge Design 43

 Figure: Solid wall pier
Hammerhead Pier: A hammerhead pier utilizes one or more columns with a pier cap in the shape
of a hammer. They are predominately found in urban settings because they are both attractive and
occupy a minimum of space, thereby providing room for underpass traffic.

Figure: Hammerhead pier

Column Bent Pier: A column bent pier, as its name would imply, consists of a cap beam and
supporting columns in a frame-type structure. In dense urban interchanges, use of column bent piers
can lead to a cluttered image producing a concrete jungle effect.

Fundamentals of Bridge Design 44

 Figure: column bent pier

Pile Bent Pier: The pile bent pier is a variation on the column bent pier with the supporting
columns and footing replaced with individual supporting piles. The end piles are generally equipped
with a batter in the transverse direction.

Figure: Pile bent pier

Finally selection of pier is made based on the following considerations.

Aesthetics

Economy

Flow of water and traffic under the bridge

Superstructure

Design Criteria: In general, the design of a highway bridge pier should address:
Safety against overturning
Safety against sliding
Safety against bearing failure of the soil

Fundamentals of Bridge Design 45

 Safety against excessive or differential settlement

Backwall and Wingwall

Figure: Backwall and Wingwall

Wingwall
A wingwall is a side wall to the abutment back wall or stem designed to assist in confining earth
behind the abutment backwall.

Backwall
A backwall, sometimes called the stem, is the primary component of the abutment acting as a
retaining structure at each approach.

Abutments
Abutment is component of a bridge
provides the vertical support to the bridge superstructure at the bridge ends
connects the bridge with the approach roadway
retains the roadway base materials

From the view of the relation between the bridge abutment and roadway or water flow that the
bridge overpasses, bridge abutments can be divided into two categories: open-end abutment and
closed-end abutment.
For the open-end abutment, there are slopes between the bridge abutment face and the edge of the
roadway or river canal that the bridge overpasses. Those slopes provide a wide open area for the
traffic flows or water flows under the bridge. It imposes much less impact on the environment and
the traffic flows under the bridge than a closed-end abutment. Also, future widening of the roadway
or water flow canal under the bridge by adjusting the slope ratios is easier. However, the existence of
slopes usually requires longer bridge spans and some extra earthwork.

Fundamentals of Bridge Design 46

 Figure: open-end abutment

The closed-end abutment is usually constructed close to the edge of the roadways or water canals.
Because of the vertical clearance requirements high abutment walls must be constructed. The high
abutment walls and larger backfill volume often result in higher abutment construction costs and
more settlement of road approaches than for the open-end abutment.

Figure: Closed-end abutment

Generally, the open-end abutments are more economical, adaptable, and attractive than the closed-
end abutments. However, bridges with closed-end abutments have been widely constructed in urban
areas and for rail transportation systems because of the right-of-way restriction and the large scale of
the live load for trains, which usually results in shorter bridge spans.

Fundamentals of Bridge Design 47

Based on the connections between the abutment stem and the bridge superstructure, the abutments
also can be grouped in two categories: the monolithic abutment and the seat type abutment.
The monolithic abutment is monolithically constructed with the bridge superstructure. There is no
relative displacement allowed between the bridge superstructure and abutment.
The seat-type abutment is constructed separately from the bridge superstructure. The bridge
superstructure seats on the abutment stem through bearing.

Figure: a. Monolithic abutment b. Seat-type abutment

Abutments can be classified based on the load resisting mechanism as:

1. Gravity abutments: resist the load acting with its dead weight and dead weight of retained
soil or backfill on its inclined back face. They can be constructed using stone masonry or
concrete masonry.

2. Cantilever abutments: load resistance derived from cantilever action and usually constructed
from reinforced concrete.

3. Counterfort abutments: are similar to cantilever ones but ties called counterforts are
provided to tie the stem to the footing.

4. Reinforced earth abutments: The essential concept is the use of multiple-layer strips or fibers
to reinforce the fill material in the lateral direction so that the integrated fill material will act
as a gravity retaining structure. Overturning and sliding are needed to be checked under the
assumption that the reinforced soil body acts as a gravity retaining wall.

Figure: (4) (1) (2) (3)

Fundamentals of Bridge Design 48

Design of Backwall Abutments

Loads:
All loads acting on piers act on abutments except forces that result from buoyancy, stream flow and
collision of barge.

Impact will not also be considered for the design of abutments.

Earth pressure is the major force acting on abutments in addition to those forces mentioned.

In seismic areas, seismic forces should be considered for the back face of the wall due to inertia of
the retained soil mass.

Mononobe-Okabe method is used for seismic analysis.

In this analysis for free standing abutment

The horizontal inertia force

FH=Kh*Ws

The vertical inertia force

FV=Kv*Ws

Where Kh=o and Kv is in between 0.3*Kh and 0.5*Kh

o is bedrock acceleration, in Ethiopia case refer to EBCS 8,1995.

If the abutment is restrained from horizontal displacement, i.e. abutment supported on batter piles,
Kh=1.5 o.

In case of seismic active pressure force, the load is applied at a larger distance from static active
pressure case i.e. at 0.6*H.

Design:
Length and shape of abutment wingwalls are usually dictated by terrain, height of bridge and level of
HWM.

Length of abutment backwall is governed by width of the superstructure.

Design of abutments is started by providing preliminary dimension then checked for different
design criteria.

Fundamentals of Bridge Design 49

Masonry abutments shall be checked for the followings.

The location of the resultant on the base is determined by balancing moments about the toe
of the wall. Location of resultant X from the toe is:

B/3x2B/3 base on soil

B/4x3B/4 base on rock

Check for sliding

s*Frui*Phi

Where:

s=performance factor [used to account for uncertainties in structural properties, soil properties,
variability in workmanship, and inaccuracies in the design equations to estimate the capacity.]

Fru=Nu*tanb+Ca*Be

Nu=factored vertical resultant (force/length)

b=friction angle between base and soils (degrees)

Ca= adhesion (force/length2)

Be=effective length of base in compression (length)

i= load factor force component

Phi=horizontal earth pressure force causing sliding (force/length)

Check for bearing

max all

Scour
Scour is the washing away of streambed material by water channel flow. Typically, scour occurs
when the water channel becomes narrowed or constricted. From basic fluid dynamics, we know that
a smaller opening leads to a greater velocity (Q = Av). If constrictions in the channel are significant,
the velocity of the stream can increase such that the substructure footings and/or piles become
undermined. Sharp bends or curves in the water channel also increase velocity which can create
cross-currents and turbulence. Scour can either occur locally at specific substructure components
(local scour) or over the entire structure crossing the channel (general scour).
The removal of material from under a piers foundation, often associated with scour, is known as
undermining or undercutting.

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Figure: An exposed pier footing shows evidence of undermining.

Scour generally takes place because one or a combination of the following conditions occurs:
Natural conditions in the channel
A constriction in the channel
The bridge itself being a constriction

When scour occurs at a specific localized point in the channel, such as a pier, abutment, drainage
structure, or some other obstruction, it is known as local scour. Local scour is evidenced by
turbulence around piers which erodes material from under the foundation. If scour takes place over
a large area of the channel it is known as general scour. General scour occurs over a long period of
time and is initiated by an alteration in channel flow patterns.
Scour which results from a reduction in the cross-sectional area of a channel due to the placement
of an obstruction such as a highway bridge or drainage structure is known as constriction scour.

The total potential scour at a highway crossing usually comprises the following components:

Aggradation and degradation:

When natural or human activities cause streambed elevation changes over a long period of time,
aggradation or degradation occurs. Aggradation involves the deposition of material eroded from the
channel or watershed upstream of the bridge, whereas degradation involves the lowering or scouring
of the streambed due to a deficit in sediment supply from upstream.
stream contraction scour:
Contraction scour usually occurs when the flow area of a stream at flood stage is reduced, either by a
natural contraction or contraction of a bridge. The decreased flow area causes an increase in average

Fundamentals of Bridge Design 51

velocity in the stream and bed shear stress through the contraction reach. This in turn triggers an
increase in erosive forces in the contraction. Hence, more bed material is removed from the
contracted reach than is transported into the reach.
local scour:
When upstream flow is obstructed by obstruction such as piers, abutments, and embankments, flow
vortices are formed at their base as shown in Figure below (known as horseshoe vortex). This vortex
action removes bed material from around the base of the obstruction. A scour hole eventually
develops around the base.

Figure: Schematic representation of local scour at a cylindrical pier

lateral stream migration:

Streams are dynamic. The lateral migration of the main channel within a floodplain may increase pier
scour, embankment or approach road erosion, or change the total scour depth by altering the flow
angle of attack at piers.

Since scour problem is dangerous to a bridge, proper consideration should be made in design of
substructure. If the scour depth exceeds the foundation depth there is possibility of bridge failure.
Therefore, to avoid bridge failures due to erosion, the depth of the pier should be more than the
scour depth. A general rate is to take depth of erosion as four times the height which the water level
raises at the obstruction section. So the foundation of the substructure should be located at least the
depth of erosion below the stream bed.

Scour Protection:
Scour protection is required when some restriction is made to the flow of the flood.
Riprap:
It is carpet of loose stones, which protects the loose bed material for bed protection and loose bank
or embankment material from erosion by water current. The stone elements must be heavy enough
not to be carried away by water.
Gabion and Reno mattresses:
The standard gabion is a rectangular basket made of steel wire mesh with sizes of 2m, 3m and 4m
long by 1m wide by 0.5m or 1m high. Reno mattress is a mattress - shaped version of the gabion for

Fundamentals of Bridge Design 52

use when the gabions height and bulk are not needed as in lining river beds and banks. Their
standard size is 6m length, divided in to 6 compartments of 1m width.
Filter Blankets:
If the river bed and bank material are non - cohesive and fine, they may be washed away through the
spaces between the voids in riprap or gabion lining. This can be prevented by using textile filter or
using gravel filter.
Vegetation:
Many plant types can be used to protect river banks against erosion. The most successful ones
are almost always those found growing naturally along the river being bridged.

Fundamentals of Bridge Design 53