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Cable Stayed Bridges With Prestressed Concreto - Fritz Leonhardt PDF
Cable Stayed Bridges With Prestressed Concreto - Fritz Leonhardt PDF
Fritz Leonhardt
Prof. Dr. Ing.
Consulting Engineer
Stuttgart
West Germany
52
Based on his more than 50 years of experience as a
consulting engineer on specialized structures, the
author presents a state of the art report on
prestressed concrete cable stayed bridges with
authoritative advice on the design-construction
intricacies involved with such structures.
effective. Employing prestressed con- For the crossing of the Messina Straits
crete, the superstructure can be made in Italy (see Fig.1), our firm designed an
very slender using a few cable stays and all-steel cable stayed bridge with a main
a deck with a depth of only 25 to 30 cm span of 1800 m (5900 ft) for six lanes of
(10 to 12 in.). road traffic and two railway tracks with-
Highway bridges can be built of pre- out encountering any structural or con-
stressed concrete with spans up to 700 in struction difficulties.
(2295 ft) and railroad bridges up to about Many bridge engineers believe that
400 m (1311 ft). If composite action be- for spans above 400 m (1311 i), a sus-
tween the steel girders and a concrete pension bridge is preferable. This as-
deck slab is utilized, then spans of about sumption is false. In fact, a cable stayed
1000 and 600 in (3279 and 1967 ft) for bridge is much more economical, stiffer
highway and railroad bridges, respec- and aerodynamically safer than a com-
tively, can be attained safely. parative suspension bridge. The author
Fig. 1. Messina Straits Bridge, linking Sicily and Italian peninsula; design by Gruppo
Lambertini (1982).
weight t
50000 width of bridge 38m
46 000 t
1.0 Gip 1
46 000 = 240
30 000 f9 200
0
12300.2.16 yQ
20? 000 5 70o L,^ e^
\ rQ 19 2DD t
1z 30o apt`'
1;^ ocio i 5, e
5 700
showed this was true as early as 1972) stiffness which must be about ten times
In designing a cable stayed bridge larger than that of the cable stayed
there is first the problem of finding the bridge. The suspension bridge needs
required quantity of high strength steel additional heavy anchor blocks which
for the cables. For a bridge with a 1800 can be extremely costly if the navigation
m (5902 ft) main span and 38 m (125 ft) clearance is high and foundation condi-
width, a suspension bridge needs 46000 tions are poor. The total cost of such a
t (50700 tons) of steel whereas a cable suspension bridge can easily be 20 to 30
stayed bridge only needs 19200 t (21170 percent above the costs of a cable stayed
tons) of steel (see Fig. 2). In the latter bridge.
case this represents only about 40 per- Currently, the second Nagoya Har-
cent the amount of steel. bour Bridge (in Japan), at 600 m (1967
Furthermore, a suspension bridge ft), has the longest span of a cable stayed
needs a stiffening girder with a bending bridge in steel. This structure, which
54
Fig. 3. Nagoya Harbour Bridge, Japan.
was designed by Dr. Ing_ Kunio one cable at each tower (see Fig.4),
Hoshino (a former student of the au- leaving long spans requiring a beam
thor), is now under construction. When with large bending capacity. Soon three
completed, it will look similar to the first to five cables were used, decreasing the
Nagoya Harbour Bridge (see Fig.3). The bending moments of the beam and the
author is confident that in the near fu- individual cable forces to be anchored.
ture similar such spans will be built However, structural detailing and con-
using prestressed concrete. struction procedures were still difficult.
Range of span is only one important The desired simplification was ob-
parameter in designing cable stayed tained by spacing the cables so closely
bridges. Special situations such as that single cables with single anchor
curved spans and skew crossings can be heads were sufficient which could eas-
easily solved using stays. ily be placed and anchored. The spacing
The engineer can choose between a became only 4 to 12 in (13 to 39 ft), al-
large variety of configurations: sym- lowing free cantilever erection without
metrical spans with two towers, un- auxiliary cables. Simultaneously, the
symmetrical spans suspended from one bending moments became very small, if
tower, or multi-spans with several towers an extremely small depth of the longi-
in between. This is an ideal field for tudinal edge beams and very stiff cables
creativeness in design to satisfy the were chosen.
functional requirements of the project This multi-stay cable system can no
and to obtain an aesthetically pleasing longer be defined as a beam girder.
structure which complements the envir- Rather, it is a large triangular truss with
onment. the deck structure acting as the com-
pressive chord member. The depth of
the longitudinal beams in the deck
2. The Main Girder System structure is almost independent of the
main span, but it must be stiff enough to
2.1 Development of multi-stay cable limit local deformations under concen-
system trated live load and to prevent buckling
Some of the first cable stayed bridges due to the large compressive forces
(like the Maracaibo Bridge) had only created by the inclined cables.
The stiffness of this new system de- length of the tower head and get a
pends mainly on the angle of inclination semi-fan arrangement (as shown in
and on the stress level of the cables. Fig. Fig.8), which also improves the appear-
5 shows the enormous influence of the ance of the bridge.
stress in such cables on the effective In the author's early bridges across
modulus of elasticity. Low stresses give the Rhine River in Dusseldorf, the ar-
a large sag and low stiffness. The stress chitect wanted to have all the cables
in the cables should be at least 500 to parallel and the anchorages equally dis-
600 N/mm2 (72500 to 87000 psi). For tributed over the height of the tower.
long spans, stiffening ropes (as shown in This is called the harp-shaped arrange-
Fig. 6) are needed to prevent an exces- ment (see Fig. 9). The system requires
sive change of sag. The simplification of more steel for the cables, gives more
the structural design and of the erection compression in the deck and produces
process gained by this multi-stay cable bending moments in the tower. How-
system should be used whenever suit- ever, the structure is aesthetically
able. pleasing, especially when looking at the
bridge under a skew angle. Dr. Ulrich
2.2 Arrangement of stay cables Finsterwalder, the world renowned
If all the cables are anchored at the bridge engineer, prefers this harp ar-
top of the tower, the structural system is rangement with many closely spaced
called a fan-shaped configuration (see cables. Such a scheme was chosen for
Fig.7). Unfortunately, the concentration the Dame Point Bridge in Florida (see
of the anchorages causes structural diffi- Fig.10), with a main span of 396 m (1298
culties when the number of cables is f3), which is now under construction.
large. Therefore, it is preferable to dis- In these multi-stay bridges, the deck
tribute the anchorages over a certain is hung up with cables near the tower
56
Y Z f2 E,
N1mm2 eff - o 12 G3
Eeff
205 000
700
180 000 ^; SO 600
steel stress
Sao
140 000
^p0
100 000
oti
60 000
sag
T
{C
r
Fig. 8. Semi-fan arrangement of cables.
also, to avoid a stiff bearing at the tower. France is such an example (see Fig.11).
This could cause very large negative Of course, other cable configurations
bending moments which might be un- are possible, depending on Iocal condi-
acceptable for the small depth of deck tions, like very short side spans. A har-
girder used. monic arrangement of cables is impor-
Normally, the bridge is supported by tant for good appearance and it should
cables in two planes along the edges of be chosen with care and diligence.
the deck. In some cases (mainly for
medium spans), cables in one plane are
2.3 Ratio between main and side
used along the centerline of the deck. A
box girder with sufficient torsional spans
rigidity is then needed which requires The ratio between side span l and
some depth so that it can also resist the main span I has an important influence
large bending moments. Such a girder on the stress changes in the back stay
must be supported at the tower to resist cables which holds the tower back to the
torsion and as a consequence the cables anchor pier. Live load in the main span
can begin at a certain distance from the increases these stresses whereas live
tower, leaving a "window" in the cable load in the side span decreases them.
net open. The Brotonne Bridge in These stress changes must be kept
58
"Jam 396m 192m
Fig. 10. Dame Point Bridge across St. John's River, Florida, with central
expansion joint; design by Ulrich Finsterwalder.
Fig. 11. Semi-fan arrangement of cables leaving a "window' open near the
tower; Brotonne Bridge, France.
safely below the fatigue strength of the and concentrated vertical anchorage
cables. This fatigue strength is a criter- forces can be avoided (see Fig. 12). This
ion for the allowable ratio 1,/1, which de- solution is especially advantageous if a
pends mainly on the relation between very long span is hung up to one tower.
Iive and dead load, p tog. If only a short or even no side span is
Prestressed concrete bridges allow practical, then the back stay cables can
longer side spans than steel bridges. be ground anchored over a certain
The author has published charts in a length or even be joined in an anchor
state of the art report for IABSE (1980) block. This has been done for the
from which suitable ratios can he read. C. F. Casados Bridges in Spain, the Bar-
For concrete highway bridges 1,ll can be rios de Luna Crossing (see Fig.13)
about 0.42; for railway bridges the ratio which at 440 m (1443 ft) is currently the
should not be larger than 0.34, The ratio longest span of prestressed concrete,
decreases with the span length. The and the Ebro Bridge (see Fig.14) which
magnitude of the anchorage forces at the has an inclined tower and back stay ca-
anchor pier also depends on the ratio bles spreading sidewise into two planes,
1,/I. In particular, short side spans give giving a most interesting impression
large anchorage lorces. from the highway.
If there is no need for large free side The inclination of the tower back-
spans, then a rather heavy continuous wards makes the main cables longer, the
beam bridge with spans of about 40 m backstay cables shorter and steeper.
(131 ft) can be used as a long anchorage There is no technical or economical ad-
zone in which all cables act as back stays vantage in this but a more thrilling ap-
Fig. 12. Heavy beam bridge used as anchor zone for back stay cables.
90,00
anchor anchor
_J
joint in center
Fig. 13. Back stay cables anchored in ground; Barrios de Luna Bridge, Spain.
anchors on rock
jjjj'. -
146,30 57,6D
Fig. 14. Back stay cables spread sidewards: Ebro Bridge, Spain.
60
fan shape harp shape
4^ / h
h
1
1
3
ti
o ^
u `
O2
C
ian
Q
a 1 harp
N good
range
h/{
0,1 0,2 0,3 0,4
pearance. A forward inclination of the ers should be slender and have a small
tower towards the main span produces bending stiffness, in order to avoid large
uneasy and uncomfortable feelings. bending moments to he reacted by the
Towers should normally be vertical. foundations. If the soil conditions are
poor, then towers can even he hinged at
3. Optimal Height, Shape and the foot and fixed only during erection,
The towers of some of the author's Rhine
Stiffness of the Towers River bridges have such foot hinges.
The cable forces and the required Towers should be built of concrete be-
quantity of cable steel decrease with the cause concrete towers are much cheaper
height of the tower above the road level than steel towers.
(see Fig.15). A good range is between The shape of the towers can be very
021 and 0.251. For bridges with only one simple. Even for large spans up to 500 m
tower the height must be related to about (1640 ft), free standing tower legs may
1.81. Towers of cable stayed bridges be sufficient if they are fixed and trans-
must be higher than those fbr suspension versely connected in the foundation
bridges which usually have h/I = 0.10. only i see for example the Kniebriicke in
The height of the tower also defines Dusseldorf (Fig.16) ] , No transverse
the angle of inclination of the longest bracing is needed if the cables are in a
cables. This angle should not be smaller vertical plane and if the cross section of
than about 25 degrees because other- the tower is unsymmetrical with most of
wise the deflections will become too the load carrying area close to the bridge
large. deck (see Fig.17). This arrangement
In the longitudinal direction the tow- brings the center of gravity close to the
Fig. 16. The slender free standing towers of Kniebrucke in Dusseldorf, West Germany.
62
Fig. 18. Tower shapes for two planes of cables.
m -0 0
_ I high level bridge
tower sections
1V
River bridge
low level sea -high level
For bridges with cables in one plane it cable stayed bridge using precast pre-
is best to design a slender single tower stressed concrete, namely, the Pasco-
in the median strip and to protect the Kennewick Bridge (see Fig. 23) over the
cables and the tower with strong guard- Columbia River in Washington State
rails (see Fig. 21) as was done for the was influenced by the wind tunnel tests
Rhine Bridge in Bonn, the Brotonne conducted at the NFL of Ottawa (1968).
Bridge in France, the Sunshine Skyway These tests were done to find the opti-
Bridge in Tampa, Florida and other mal aerodynamic shape for the author's
bridges. Tower shapes for such bridges design of the Burrard Inlet Bridge in
are shown in Fig. 22. Vancouver for a span length of 760 m
(2492 ft).
4. Development of Cross The wind nose and the slight inclina-
tion of the bottom face gave the lowest
Section of Deck Structures wind coefficients and, therefore, the
The cross section which the author best provision for wind stability. How-
selected in 1972 for the first long span ever, during the design of the Parana
f
Fig. 21. Tower in median of Rhine Bridge in Bonn-Nord,
West Germany.
Bridges in Argentina for highway plus Fig. 24). The thickness of the slab de-
railway traffic, it was conceived that this pends primarily on the transverse
aerodynamic shape was useless when bending moments which can be in-
400 m (1311 ft) long freight trains creased towards the towers to respond to
were on the bridge. Through dynamic the increasing longitudinal normal
tests it was learned that multi-stay cable forces.
bridges have very strong damping coef Dr. Finsterwalder had proposed such
ficients and do not need the same good slender slabs as early as 1967 for his de-
aerodynamic shape as suspension sign of the Great Belt Bridge and later
bridges do. Therefore, the cross section also for the Pasco-Kennewick Bridge.
could be simplified further. The thickness of the slab was so small in
The following can be concluded: relation to the span that the safety
For spans up to about 150 in (492 ft) against buckling under high longitudi-
and for widths up to about 20 m (66 ft), a nal compressive forces was subse-
very simple solid concrete slab without quently questioned especially in the
an edge beam is the best solution (see case of high deflections under concen-
4coble%
22.50 m
50 -60cm
15 20 m
Fig. 24. Cross section with solid slab only for highway bridges with spans up to 150 m
(490 ft).
66
Fig. 25. Bridge across the Rhine at Diepoldsau, West Germany. Span = 97 m (318 ft).
trated live load and the possibility that Professor Walther became the first
one cable could break in an accident. engineer to build a highway bridge 15 m
This buckling safety was meanwhile (49 ft) wide across the upper Rhine
studied by Professor Renee Walther in River in Diepoldsau with a slab only 50
Lausanne, Switzerland. Second order cin (20 in.) thick for a main span of 97 m
theory calculations were checked by (318 ft) with no edge beams (see Fig.
tests with a relatively large model. 25). He even reduced the slab thickness
Buckling safety could now be checked at the edges to 36 cm (14 in.).
reliably. It was found that a certain For wider bridges, B>2() ni (66 $),
amount of longitudinal reinforcement is transverse T beams are, of course, more
required for obtaining sufficient ductil- economical (see Fig. 26). The spacing of
ity in such thin slabs. the beams should not be Iarger than 4 to
25-30m
t ,y
1+- 4=6m ^
Fig. 26. Cross section with transverse beams for width greater than 20 m (66 ft) and
spans up to 500 m (1640 ft).
8 0.4' 2% 2%O.CB
28,Q m
Fig. 27. Cross section of Sunshine Skyway Bridge, Florida, showing composite structure
(not built).
6 m (13 to 20 ft) and the slab on top structure is 1000 m (3286 ft) long. This
should always span longitudinally to efficiency shows the ease and simplicity
make good use of the longitudinal com- of the erection method.
pressive forces from the cables. The In these composite structures, the
cross beams can he cast in place or pre- concrete must remain the main struc-
fabricated and end in a thick edge beam tural material. The deck slab has to carry
with a depth of not more than 1.0 to 1.5 the compressive chord forces. If for very
m (3.2 to 4.9 ft), giving ample buckling long spans these thrust forces become
safety and keeping the curvature of the too large for the normal deck slab, then
deflection line under concentrated loads its thickness should be increased to-
within allowable limits even for spans wards the tower or a concrete edge
up to 5{l0 m (1640 ft). beam should be added. However, the
Such cross sections are especially steel section should remain small in
suitable for composite structures, using order to avoid creep problems.
steel cross girders between concrete If the bridge is hung up with cables in
edge beams which the author designed the median only, then a box girder is
for the East Huntington Bridge. Its 274 needed. The cross section of the Bro-
m (898 ft) span hung up to one tower tonne Bridge (see Fig. 28) has become a
corresponds to a span of about 500 m standard for this type. The required
(1639 ft) if suspended from two towers. amount of torsional rigidity depends on
In the proposed design (conducted by the width of the deck and the length of
the author's consulting firm) of the Sun- the main span. Smaller cross-sectional
shine Skyway Bridge (see Fig. 27) in areas of the box may often be sufficient
1980, a 2 m (6.6 ft) deep steel edge beam and this would allow sections like that
was used to simplify the erection pro- shown in Fig. 29, which is simpler to
cess and to allow the use of prefabri- construct and has a smaller depth and
cated deck slabs. simple cable anchorages.
Soon thereafter, this type of section For railroad bridges, especially for
was chosen for the Annacis Bridge in high speed trains, large mass is needed
Canada with a main span of 465 m (1525 to get a good dynamic behavior. There-
ft) together with some advanced details. fore, the DB German Federal Rail-
The project was built in 26 months ways carry the 40 cm (15 in.) deep
which is remarkable considering the ballast over their modem bridges and
68
6,50 ^1^0 5.50 1,50
i,50
Fig. 28. Cross section of Brotonne Bridge, France, showing cables in the median.
prefer thick concrete deck slabs. With satisfy deflection limits if the cables are
high strength cables it is not difficult not too flat. For very long spans and se-
and also not too costly to carry such vere deformation limits, a flat box sec-
heavy dead loads over long spans (see tion may be needed (see Fig. 31). The
Fig. 30). cables of such railroad bridges should
Edge beams 1.5 to 2.0 m (4.9 to have angles of inclination above 30 de-
i.6 ft) deep should he sufficient to grees.
Fig. 29. Slender cross section for cables in the median with simple anchorage (Brotonne
Bridge, France).
Fig. 30. Cross section of railroad bridges for spans up to 140 m (459 ft).
Fig. 31. Cross section of railroad bridges with spans longer than 140 m (459 ft).
liveload ______________
ii ii 11111111 I I liii LI..L.i._II1.1I 111111111111
L 0,45 1
Fig. 32. Deflection line showing large angular changes at the ends
0.45
of side spans.
70
Fig. 33. Continuity to a short approach span avoids large
angular changes.
Anchor head
Nut Neoprene damper
F
Bearing plate Tension ring
Connection pipe
Stay tube
72
Fig. 37. Cables in polyethylene pipe on reels for transport.
sure inside the cone of the socket. More than 40 years of experience has
Hereby, stress amplitudes of o- = 300 shown that this material is durable in
Nlmm2 (43500 psi) can be resisted with tropical regions as well as in polluted air
over 2 million cycles (according to the of an industrial environment. The few
latest Swiss publications). Japanese cases in which PE pipes were damaged
tests confirmed these favorable values of by cracking have been traced to causes
the HIAM anchorage. which can safely be avoided. Of course,
Since the number of wires in one an- quality control, sound judgment or the
chorage has influence, special testing retention of a consultant are necessary.
machines had to be developed to test The PE pipe can be pulled over the
these big bundles at full size with pul- bundle or applied by extrusion. It
sating forces up to 700 t (772 tons). The should be at least 7 mm (0.275 in.) thick.
Swiss firm VSL has developed an an- PE is impermeable to vapor and gives
chorage (see Fig. 36) holding up to 91 full corrosion protection. Therefore, the
strands with wedges, yielding a fatigue material to fill the voids inside the pipe
amplitude of Av = 200 N/mm2 (290000 in order to take moisture and oxygen
psi). The Freyssinet group and Dywidag out, must not have anti-corrosive qual-
have anchorages for strands with similar ities. Usually, cement grout is injected
qualities. after the cable is under dead Ioad
For corrosion protection, a polyethyl- stresses because cement grout is the
ene (PE) pipe around the wire bundle is cheapest filling material and also has
the optimal solution. The PE is made good corrosion protection characteris-
resistant against ultraviolet rays by tics. However, this injection procedure
adding 2.5 percent of carbon black. is not always liked on the site. In the
future, the cables will most likely be rolled on reels (see Fig. 37) for shipping,
filled in the factory with a rubberlike and easily handled at the bridge site.
deformable material. These advantages cannot be obtained
The PE pipe must be tightly and reli- with steel pipes around the bundle
ably fixed to the anchor socket so that which must in addition get painted for
the cable can be finished in the factory, protection.
The only disadvantage of the PE pipe
is its black color, which detracts from
the good appearance of the bridge in its
environment. Therefore, the cables of
some bridges have been wrapped with a
tape ofa brighter color like ivory or wine
red. The tapes of PVC used at the
Pasco-Kennewick Bridge deteriorated
after about 6 years. Later, Tedlar tapes
of polyvinyl fluoride were used for
which a 20 year life is expected. This
wrapping does not cost much but it em=
bellishes the bridge as can be seen from
the color photos of the East Huntington
Bridges
6.2 Anchorages
The anchorages must be designed to
allow adjustment of length and replac-
ing a cable damaged by an accident
without interrupting the traffic. They must
further be designed to prevent bending
stresses in the wires or strands at the
Fig. 39. Crossing of cable anchorages in socket due to change of sag or due to
tower head. slight oscillations. The anchorage
74
easy access
neoprene pad
\ _ _- sleeve
steel pipe
cross section
to carry the horizontal component of the steel beams inside the box section
cable forces through the tower. The which take the horizontal component of
simplest solution is shown in Fig. 39 in the cable forces (see Fig. 41). These
which the cables cross each other, again beams must be well anchored for unbal-
in steel pipes. This is easy if there are anced horizontal forces during erection
single cables towards the main span and or for the case in which a cable must be
twin cables for the short side span. exchanged. The tower box must be wide
Since the concrete towers usually enough to allow access and handling of
have shafts with a box section, it is prac- the jacks. All these solutions make the
tical to arrange the anchorages inside erection very simple if prefabricated
this box section as shown in Fig. 40. The flexible cables with slender anchor
horizontal component of the cables is sockets are used.
taken up in the longitudinal box walls
by prestressed bars. All anchorages are 7. Dynamic Behavior and
easily accessible. There must be suffi-
cient space for applying a jack to adjust Aerodynamic Stability
the cable length, which can be done The cable stayed bridges with con-
here much easier than at the deck an- crete decks and highly stressed cables
chorages. At the end of the steel pipe [E fn > 180000 N/mm 2 (26,100,000 psi)]
there is again the neoprene pad and the have a very favorable dynamic behavior.
sleeve. The deflections under live load are ex-
For the Annacis Bridge, the pre- tremely small because the effective
stressing was avoided by placing short depth of the large cantilever truss
76
^AL4Sd6^iY.d4C^.H.VA'.6'.O^.QiASO'.6^iQ60^i8^i6^^6fiY.4G6'r62G5y^6'G^ ^
l4L9q
- t
B a 10 H
B 10 H +i
formed by the cables is much larger than two planes along the edges, if the fol-
for beam girders. lowing geometrical relations are ob-
Most important is the fact that the in- served (see Fig. 42);
crease of amplitudes due to resonance 1.B >10H
oscillation is prevented by system 2. For B < 10 H, a wind nose should
damping caused by the interference of be added.
the many cables. This is an advantage of 3. B -- 1130 L. This means that the
the multi-cable system. Measurements width of the bridge should not be
at the Tjbrn Bridge in Sweden showed too small in relation to the main
that the damping increases with in- span. If this ratio gets smaller, then
creasing amplitudes and the logarithmic A-shaped towers and wind shaping
decrement gets well above 0.10. of the cross section must be used.
This damping is very favorable for the The A-shaped tower gives a triangular
wind stability. Current theories which shape of the cable planes and the deck,
calculate critical wind speeds do not which increases the torsional rigidity.
adequately represent the actual be- The author was a consultant in the de-
havior and have only limited validity. sign of the bridge at Posadas Encar-
The same is true for wind tunnel tests nacion, Argentina (see Fig. 43), which
with sectional models in which only a has to be safe against tornados with their
constant damping factor is applied. enormous uplift forces. A rather heavy
More tests should be made of actual box girder and A-shaped towers were
bridges to improve our theories based selected to get the required safety.
on observed facts. H. Cabjolsky reported on this bridge at
From our present knowledge we can the FIP Congress (1986) in New Delhi.
say that there is no danger by wind with Bridges hung up with cables in one
concrete bridges hung up with cables in plane along the center line have almost
78
be used against transverse bending and symmetry of loadings can usually not be
transverse normal forces caused by the secured, the tower must be stiffened
cable forces. The degree of prestressing under the deck by struts or by retaining
nay be chosen for no tension in the con- cables from the tower head to suitable
crete due to dead load plus 20 to 40 per- anchor points.
cent live load depending upon the For cross sections like those shown in
weights of national live load specifica- Figs. 24 and 36, casting the segments in
tions which vary considerably through- place is preferred because the joints can
out the world. be secured by overlapping longitudinal
For bridges hung up by one row of reinforcement which helps to prevent
cables along the centerline with a box cracks due to unforeseen restraint
girder, more longitudinal prestressing is forces. Such reinforcement also aids in
needed, because the large bending securing the required safety for the ul-
stiffness of these girders cause large pos- timate load condition, A part of the edge
itive and negative bending moments. or edge beam with the anchor steel pipe
The tendons may be placed in the top in the correct position can be prefabri-
and bottom slabs. Transverse pre- cated and fixed to the cantilevering steel
stressing is needed for the transverse girder carrying the forms. The construc-
bending moments and to counteract tor- tion head can be sheltered against the
sional stresses which can be rather large weather.
towards the towers. A high degree of For bridges with box girders, prefab-
prestressing is suggested here, because ricated segments can be used with
the torsional rigidity gets almost lost, as match cast joints but using a paste in the
soon as cracks due to tensile stresses joint which compensates for differential
occur (see Chapter 7 in Ref 4). shortening during the curing and hard-
If segmental construction with prefab- ening period. Prefabricated segments
ricated elements is chosen with no lon- can also be mounted, leaving a gap For
gitudinal reinforcement across the overlapping longitudinal reinforcement
joints, then a rather high degree of pre- by means of steel hinges on the webs,
stressing is imperative in the longitudi- which allow adjustment for the correct
nal direction. This prestressing prevents positioning of the segment. This has
partial opening of these joints due to been done successfully at the Parana
differential shrinkage and creep which Bridge in Posadas EncarnaciOn (see Fig.
is caused by frequent high temperature 43).
of the deck slab (sunshine) and often by Bridges with a deck of composite
a different thickness of the members beams allow the simplest and quickest
(web thicker than bottom slab, etc.). The erection. The grid of steel cross girders
high degree of prestressing is especially and light steel edge girders, including
needed if unbonded external tendons the cable anchors, are installed with light
are used and no reinforcement crosses derricks and then the prefabricated con-
the joints, in order to get the required crete slabs are placed, leaving gaps for
safety for the ultimate limit state. overlapping reinforcement and shear
connectors which are closed by cast-in-
place concrete. The Annacis Bridge in
9. Construction Methods Vancouver, British Columbia, is a good
The common construction method for example.
multi-stay cable bridges is free canti- The cables in PE pipes have recently
levering from the tower towards both been pulled up to the towers from the
sides. reels standing on the deck or even from
The final cables are used to support boats without any auxiliary cables using
one segment after the other. Since full onl y curved saddles with rollers in order
80