Amendment to IRC:112-2020 “Code of Practice for Concrete Road Bridges” (First Revision)   

S.No. Clause Existing Modification Proposed Justification

No.
Page No.
1 5.3.2.5 Limit state of fatigue Limit state of fatigue Detailed provisions
(Page -17) The bridge or any of its components shall not for the verifications
loose its capacity to carry design loads by The bridge or any of its components shall not of fatigue are not
virtue of its materials reaching fatigue limits loose its capacity to carry design loads by available in IRC

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112, which are now
due to its loading history. For carrying out virtue of its materials reaching fatigue limits
being added as
fatigue verification, specialist literature may be due to its loading history. For carrying out Annexure A-8 to the
referred. fatigue verification, Annexure A-8 shall be code
However, fatigue verification is not necessary referred.

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for the following:

(a) For Reinforced concrete structures when

the stress in the tensile reinforcement in less
than 300 MPa under Rare Combination of
serviceability limit State as against 0.8 fy
specified in clause no. 12.2.2.
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(b) For prestressed concrete structures under
the frequent combination of action and
prestressing force, only compressive stresses
occur at the extreme concrete fibres, under
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Serviceability Limit State
6.4.2.6 “The drying shrinkage strain develops slowly, “The drying shrinkage strain develops slowly, To avoid
2. Sub- since it is a function of the migration of water since it is a function of the migration of water confusions in
clause (4) through the hardened concrete. through the hardened concrete. design.
(Page- 35)
The final value of the drying shrinkage strain, The final value of the drying shrinkage strain,
εcd,∞may be taken equal to kh.εcd wherekh and εcd,∞ may be taken equal to kh.εcd where kh
εcdare taken from Table 6.7 & 6.8. and εcd are taken from Table 6.7 & 6.8.”

(These are expected mean values, with a

coefficient of variation of about 30 percent).”
  
3  10.3.3.3 (5)  Where the web contains grouted ducts with a  In the case of prestressing tendons with duct   
diameter φ<bw/8 the shear resistance VRd,max should be  diameter φ <bw/8 the shear resistance VRd,max should 
(Page 73‐74) 
calculated on the basis of a nominal web thickness  be calculated on the basis of a nominal web thickness 
given by :  given by : 

   

bw,nom = bw – 0.5 Σφ Eq.  bw,nom = bw – KD1Σφ Eq. 

10.14 10.14

   

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Where φ is the outer diameter of the duct and Σφ is  Where φ is the outer diameter of the duct, Σφ is 
determined for the most unfavourable level.  determined for the most unfavourable level and 
where constant KD1 has following values depending 
 
upon the duct material and grout : 

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For grouted metal ducts with φ≤bw/8, bw,nom = bw 
  KD1 = 0 for grouted steel duct, 
 
         = 0.5 for grouted plastic duct 
For non‐grouted ducts and unbonded tendons the 
         = 1.0 for ungrouted duct 
nominal web thickness is : 
 
bw,nom = bw – 1.2 Σφ
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10.15  In the case of prestressing tendons with duct 
diameter φ ≥bw/8 the shear resistance VRd,max should 
 
be calculated on the basis of a nominal web thickness 
The value of 1.2 in Eq. 10.15 is introduced to take  given by : 
account of splitting of the concrete struts due to 
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transverse tension. If adequate transverse 
reinforcement is provided this value may be reduced  bw,nom = bw – KD2Σφ Eq. 
to 1.0  10.15 

For grouted plastic ducts the nominal web thickness is  Where φ is the outer diameter of the duct, Σφ is 
:  determined for the most unfavourable level and 
where constant KD2 has following values depending 
bw,nom = bw – 0.8 Σφ Eq. 
upon the duct material and grout : 
10.15a
            KD2 = 0.5 for grouted steel duct, 
 
  
      = 0.8 for grouted plastic duct 

      = 1.2 for ungrouted duct 

The value of 1.2 in Eq. 10.15 is introduced to take 
account of splitting of the concrete struts due to 
transverse tension. If adequate transverse 
reinforcement is provided this value may be reduced 
to 1.0 

4. Clause Three test specimens constitute one sample
18.5.4 (2),for any type of test at specified age of testing.
1st Para The average of these results of three samples
(Page 178) constitute the test result of sample provided
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Three test specimens constitute one sample The term ‘samples’
for any type of test at specified age of testing. is incorrect and
The average of result of these three should be
specimens constitute the test result of a ‘specimens’ instead

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that the individual variation is within ±15% of sample provided that the individual variation in 3rd line.
average. is within ±15% of average.
5 . A2.5 The mean coefficient of variation of the above Delete this clause To avoid
Sub-clause predicted creep data deduced from a confusions in
(2) computerised data bank of laboratory test design.
(Page 204) results, is of the order of 20 percent.

6 Annexure - New Clause Background note

 
A-8
R for Fatigue Clause
is attached below.

   
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For submission to BSS Committee 

A Note on Amendment for introduction of new ANNEXURE A‐8 for Verification of Fatigue

At present, the detailed method for carrying out fatigue verification has not been covered in IRC 112 as no fatigue vehicle was
available in IRC-6 at the time of publication of IRC 112 in 2011. In absence of the method, for the detailed fatigue verification the
stress in the tensile reinforcement has been limited to 300 MPa under rare combination of SLS for reinforced concrete bridges and
only compressive stresses are allowed at the extreme concrete fibres under frequent combination of SLS for prestressed concrete
structures (see clause no 5.3.2.5 of IRC 112 as deemed to satisfy clause). If the design engineers want to carry out detailed

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calculations in order to take the advantage of high strength reinforcement or to adopt partially prestressed designs, the referred
clause advised to refer to the specialist literature for carrying out the detailed fatigue verification.

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Since the fatigue vehicle has been specified in IRC 6, this amendment proposes an introduction of Annexure A-8 to remove this
shortcoming in IRC 112.This Annexure A-8 gives the step by step procedure to carry out the fatigue verification.

The verifications for fatigue requirement can be performed according to any one of three methods in increasing order of refinement,
specified in sections A8.2 to A8.4 of the annexure.
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The method given is based on provisions specified in EN 1992-2 for concrete bridges and the fib model code 2010.
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IRC: 112-2020

ANNEXURE A-8

VERIFICATION FOR FATIGUE

A8.1 Design Principles and Scope

Verification for fatigue needs to be carried out with limits on stress range in reinforcing &
prestressing steel for the combinations of static loads and cyclic loads. Since clause 12.2.1(1)
restricts the maximum compressive stress in concrete to 0.48 fck under the rare combination
for SLS, verification of fatigue is not necessary for concrete.

Fatigue verification is not necessary for the following structures and structural elements:
a) Footbridges, with the exception of structural components very sensitive to wind action
(having natural frequency less than 1.0 Hz).
b) Buried arch and frame structures with a minimum earth cover of 1.0m.
c) Foundations.
d) Piers and columns which are not rigidly connected to superstructures.

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e) Retaining wall of embankments for roads.
f) Abutments of bridges which are not rigidly connected to superstructures, except the
slabs of hollow abutments.
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g) Prestressing and reinforcing steel, in regions where, under the frequent combination
of actions only compressive stresses occur at the extreme concrete fibers.
h) External and unbonded tendons, lying within the depth of the concrete section.
i) For the local effects of wheel loads applied directly to a slab spanning between beams
or webs provided that:
1. The slab does not contain welded reinforcement or reinforcement splicing
devices, and
2. The ratio of clear span (between the faces of webs) to overall depth of the slab
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does not exceed 18, and
3. The slab is integral with supporting beams, webs and
4. either:
i) The slab is integral with transverse diaphragms, if any, or
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ii) The length of the slab perpendicular to its span exceeds three times its
clear span.
j) Reinforcing steel, when σs< 300MPa under a rare combination of Serviceability Limit
State (SLS) with vehicular loads as given in clause 204.1 of IRC6 inclusive of impact
factor and congestion factor and excluding SV loading.
k) Shear reinforcement, when it has been dimensioned at ULS with struts inclined at θ
such that 1.0 ≤ cot θ ≤ 1.5 for the reinforced concrete structures.
l) Shear reinforcement in prestressed concrete elements provided clause 12.3.5 is
satisfied.

The verifications of fatigue requirement can be performed according to any one of three
methods of increasing refinement, as given in sections A8.2 to A8.4. Stresses in reinforcing
steel in prestressed concrete members under fatigue loading in methods II & III shall be
increased by factor η as given in section A8.5.
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IRC: 112-2020

A8.2 Method I: Using Deemed to satisfy Rules

This is a qualitative verification that the cyclic action due to vehicular loads is not able to
produce fatigue damage. In this method, the frequent load combinations of Serviceability Limit
State (SLS) as specified in Table B.3 of IRC-6 shall be considered with vehicular loads as
given in clause 204.1 of IRC6 inclusive of impact factor and congestion factor, excluding SV
loading.

Adequate fatigue resistance may be assumed for unwelded reinforcing bars under tension, if
the stress range under frequent load combination, ∆σS ≤ 100MPa.

For welded reinforcing bars under tension adequate fatigue resistance may be assumed if
the stress range under frequent load combination, ∆σS ≤ 35MPa.

If this verification is not satisfied with, verification according to one of the higher levels of
refinement must be made.

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A8.3 Method II: Verification by using damage equivalent stresses with fatigue vehicle

In this method of verification, a single vehicle of fatigue truck (40T) as specified in IRC: 6 shall
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only be used as the vehicular load Qfat without impact or congestion factors. The stresses and
the stress range in reinforcing & prestressing steel shall be obtained using following load
combination factors:

DL + SIDL(including 1.2 x surfacing) + 0.9 x Prestress + 1.0 x Fatigue vehicle Q fat + 0.5 x
Thermal Loads

In case, only compressive stresses occur at the extreme concrete fibers due to fatigue load
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combination no further check for fatigue is required.

For the calculation of damage equivalent stress ranges for reinforcing & prestressing steel
verification, the axle loads of fatigue truck shall be multiplied by factor of 1.75 for hogging
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moments in longitudinal direction at intermediate supports of continuous bridges and by factor

1.40 for verification in all other areas of continuous, simply supported bridges and also for
fatigue check in transverse direction.

The damage equivalent stress ranges for reinforcing & prestressing steel, verification shall be
calculated according to:

𝛥𝜎𝑠,𝑒𝑞𝑢 = 𝜆𝑠 ∗ 𝛥𝜎𝑠,𝐸𝑐 Eq. A8.1

where:
s,Ec is the stress range caused by fatigue vehicle, Qfat with axle loads increased by
appropriate factors i.e. 1.75 or 1.40 as stated above.
s is the damage equivalent factor for fatigue which takes account of site-specific
conditions including traffic volume on the bridge, design life and the span of the
member
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IRC: 112-2020

𝜆𝑠 = 𝑓𝑎𝑡 ∗ 𝜆𝑠1 ∗ 𝜆𝑠2 ∗ 𝜆𝑠3 ∗ 𝜆𝑠4

 fat is the damage equivalent impact factor controlled by the road surface roughness
and shall be taken as 1.4.

In addition, when considering a cross-section within a distance of 6.0 m from an

expansion joint, the load should be multiplied by the additional dynamic amplification
factor fat = 1.3 * (1 – D/26) >= 1.0, where D is the distance (m) of the cross section
under consideration from the expansion joint.

s1 is a factor given in Table A8.1 accounting for element type (e.g. continuous beam) and
takes into account the damaging effect of traffic depending on the critical length of the
influence line or area.

s2 is a factor that takes into account the traffic volume.

s2 = (N / 0.1)(1/k2)
Where N is the number of cycles per year in millions and the denominator 0.1 is based on 10

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million cycles in 100 years. For the bridges on all national highways and state highways, s2
= 1.0 shall be used.

s3 = (Nyears/100)(1/k2)
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Where Nyears.is the design life of the bridge in years and k2 is a factor given in table A8.2 &
A8.3. For the design life of 100 years, s3 = 1.0.

s4 = 1.025 to consider the effect of commercial vehicles loaded on adjacent lanes

Table A8.1 Factors s1

Sections over All other areas of Simply

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intermediate continuous span Support
support area (with ed Deck slab
hogging moments) span
of continuous spans
10m* to
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10m* 90m* 10m* 90m* 2 m* 9 m*

50m*
1 Reinforcing steel,
pre-tensioning; post-
tensioning strand in
plastic ducts or 0.95 1.3 1.18 1.25 1.1 1.25
1.18
straight tendons in
steel ducts

2 Curved tendons in
steel ducts 1.05 1.4 1.35 1.4 1.35 1.25 1.45

3 Splicing devices
 1.72

1.35 1.7 1.72 1.78 - -
4 Shear reinforcement 1.2
1.18 1.25 1.18 1.25 1.1 1.25
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* Values given here are for two values of critical length of influence lines, for in between
lengths, values to be linearly interpolated. For critical length less than 10m, values given for
10m can be used and critical length more than 90m specialist literature may be referred.

Critical influence line length:

The determination of the s1 factors requires the value of the critical influence line length of
the cross section under consideration. Following rules shall be used for determining it.
For the definition of mid-span & intermediate support region, see Figure A8.1.

a) for bending moments:

• for a simply supported beam, its span length;
• for cantilever span, the length of cantilever;
• for continuous beams in mid-span regions, the span length L i of the span under
consideration;
• for continuous beams in support regions, the average of the two spans L i and Lj
adjacent to that support, i.e. L = (L i + Lj)/2
b) for shear, for both simply supported and continuous beams:
• for intermediate support regions, the span under consideration L i;

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• for mid-span regions, 0.4. Li and Li being the span under consideration.
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Figure A8.1: Definition of mid-span and intermediate support regions

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For reinforcing or prestressing steel and splicing devices adequate fatigue resistance should
be assumed if the equation A8.2 is satisfied:

∆𝜎Rsk (𝑁 ∗ )
𝛾F,fat ∗ ∆𝜎S,equ (𝑁 ∗ ) ≤ 𝛾s,fat
Eq A8.2

Where:
∆𝜎𝑅𝑠𝑘 (𝑁 ∗ ) is the stress range at N* cycles from the appropriate S-N curve given in Figure A8.1

∆𝜎𝑆,𝑒𝑞𝑢 (𝑁 ∗ ) is the damage equivalent stress range for different types of reinforcements &
prestressing steels and considering the number of loading cycles N*


𝛾𝐹,𝑓𝑎𝑡 shall be taken as 1.0

𝛾𝑠,𝑓𝑎𝑡 = 1.15 for the reinforcing & prestressing steel
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IRC: 112-2020

Figure A8.2: Shape of the characteristic fatigue strength curves (S–N curves) for
reinforcing & prestressing steel

Table A8.2: Parameters of S–N curves for reinforcing steel

Stress
N* ∆σRsk(MPa)
exponent

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k1 k2 at N*cycles
Straight and bent bars with D ≥
25
 <= 16 mm(a)
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106 5 9 210
 = 40 mm(a) 106 5 9 160
Bent bars with D <25  106 5 9 -(b)
Welded bars including tack
welding, butt joints and 107 3 5 50
Mechanical connectors

(a) The values given in these lines represent the S–N curve of 16mm & 40 mm
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diameter bars. For diameters between 16 and 40 mm, interpolation between the
values is permitted.
(b) Values are for straight bar. For bent bars these shall be multiplied by a reduction
factor  depending on the ratio of the diameter of mandrel D and bar diameter :
D

 = 0.35 + 0.026D/

Table A8.3: Parameters of S–N curves for prestressing steel (embedded in concrete)

Stress
N* ∆σRsk(MPa)
exponent
k1 k2 at N* cycles
Pretensioned steel
Straight strands and wires 106 5 9 185
Post-tensioned steel
Single strands in plastic ducts 106 5 9 185
Straight tendons or curved
106 5 10 150
tendons in plastic ducts
Curved tendons in steel ducts 106 5 7 120
Splicing devices 106 5 5 80
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A8.4 Method III: Rigorous Procedure, verification by means of a spectrum of load

levels
This is a verification based on an assessment of the fatigue damage resulting from various
magnitudes of loads. According to this method, the load history during the required life is
represented by a spectrum in a discrete form. The accumulation of fatigue damage is
calculated on the basis of the Palmgren–Miner summation. Fatigue design must ensure that
in any fatigue-endangered cross section, the expected damage DEd due to fatigue will not
exceed a limiting damage Dlim.
This method takes account of the required service life, the load spectrum (which is divided into
j blocks) and the characteristic fatigue strength functions.

Fatigue damage DEd is calculated using the Palmgren–Miner summation:

𝑛(∆𝜎𝑖 )
𝐷𝐸𝑑 = ∑ < 1
𝑁(∆𝜎𝑖 )
𝑖
Where:

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n(i) is the applied number of cycles for a stress range i
N(i) is the resisting number of cycles for a stress range i

A8.5 Modification of stresses in reinforcing steel in prestressed members under

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fatigue loading
The effect of differences in bond behavior of prestressing and reinforcing steel shall be taken
into account by increasing the stress range in the reinforcing steel calculated under the
assumption of perfect bond by the factor η:

𝐴𝑆 + 𝐴𝑃
𝜂=
𝐴𝑆 + 𝐴𝑃 √𝜉(∅𝑠 ⁄∅𝑝 )
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Where,
η is the factor which increases the stress in the reinforcing steel due to differences in
bond behavior between prestressing and reinforcing steel.
As is the area of reinforcing steel.
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Ap is the area of prestressing steel.

s is the smallest diameter of the reinforcing steel in the relevant cross-section.
p is the diameter of the prestressing steel (for bundles an equivalent diameter 1.6√𝐴𝑝
is chosen, where Ap is the cross-section area of the bundle).
ξ is the ratio of bond strength of prestressing steel and reinforcing steel.
For post-tensioned members the following values may be used:
ξ = 0.2 for plain prestressing wires/bars.
ξ = 0.4 for strands.
ξ = 0.6 for ribbed prestressing wires.
ξ = 1.0 for ribbed prestressing bars.
For pretensioned members the following values may be used:
ξ = 0.6 for strands.
ξ = 0.7 for indented wires.
ξ = 0.8 for ribbed prestressing wires/bars