Sorok Bridge—Standard for an Economical Suspension

Bridge
Sung-bum Chun, Assistant Manager; Jin-hyuk Choi, Assistant Manager; Jae-hong Kim, PE, General Manager; Daelim Co. Ltd,
Technology Research & Development Institute, Bridge Engineering Team, Seoul, Republic of Korea. Contact: sbchun@daelim.co.kr
DOI: 10.2749/101686612X13216060213239

Abstract
The Sorok Bridge is believed to
represent the best solution for the
construction of a cost-effective sus-
pension bridge for several reasons.
First, in the construction of the foun-
dation, a decrease in the self-weight
of the concrete open caissons due to
their buoyancy allowed a reduction
in the capacity of the floating crane
when the caissons were fabricated on
a floating dock and submerged into
the sea. Second, the diamond shape
of the pylons minimized the scale
of the foundation and increased the
transverse resistance against wind and
earthquake loads. During their instal- Fig. 1: Full view of the Sorok Bridge
lation, the automatic climbing system
was used for the complicated pylon 470 m
geometry. Third, a trapezoidal steel 110 m 250 m 110 m
box girder with a steel deck is more
economical than other types in terms
87,4 m

50,0 m

of the amount of steel needed; it could
be erected using the large-block instal-
lation method because steel was used
for the girder. Finally, the main cable
was installed by the prefabricated
parallel wire strand method without
a hauling system, thus eliminating the
cost of such a system and producing
significant cost savings.
Keywords: economical suspension bri-
dge;open-caisson foundation;diamond-
shaped pylon; trapezoidal steel box
girder; prefabricated parallel wire
strand.
Introduction
The Sorok Bridge,which links Goheung-
gun in Jeollanam-do to Sorok Island,
across the South Sea of Korea, was
under construction for seven years
before being completed in 2008. The
suspension bridge has a main span of
250 m and side spans of 110 m. The
total length of the bridge including
approach bridges is 1160 m (Figs. 1
and 2). The open-caisson foundations
have a diameter of 20 m. It also has
diamond-shaped concrete pylons with
a height of 87,4 m, with a crossbeam
Shipping passage
110,0 m × 21,5 m
P7
PY 1
Fig. 2: General arrangement
located at 25 m above the top slab of the
foundations. Regarding the stiffening
girder, the steel weighs 5,0 kN/m2 and
it utilizes a trapezoidal steel box with
the steel deck stiffened by U-shaped
ribs. Its height is 2,5 m, and the central
space of 2,5 m on the deck supports
the monocable and has safety fences.
It has a self-anchored and monoca-
ble system, the diameter of which is
310 mm. In the following section, the
design and construction of each part of
the structure are introduced in detail
in terms of their efficiency, structural
system, and aesthetic aspects.
Foundation
The foundations of the Sorok Bridge
are concrete open caissons designed
87,4 m
P8
PY 2
via the ultimate strength design
method. During their construction,
they were not influenced by waves
and tidal current, as the distance from
the seabed to the sea level is within
the range of 7–15 m. This simplified
the construction process. According
to the initial plan, open-caisson foun-
dations constructed on land should
be placed by a floating crane with
a capacity of 3000 t as the weights
of the foundation on pylons 1 and
2 are 1968 and 2305 t, respectively.
However, a floating dock was used
to reduce the weights of the founda-
tions via a buoyancy design, allow-
ing a weight reduction from 2305 to
1985 t. By introducing the floating
dock, a floating crane with a capacity
of 2000 t could handle the placement.

40 Technical Report Structural Engineering International 1/2012


Fig. 3: The open caisson lifted with the
floating crane after being constructed on
the floating dock
The placement sequence was as fol-
lows (Fig. 3): (a) construction of the
open-caisson foundation on the float-
ing dock, (b) reducing the weight
of the foundations by floating the
completed foundations with buoy-
ancy, and (c) bringing and placing the
foundations floating on the water.3
After the foundations were posi-
tioned in their designated places and
after excavation, underwater concrete
was cast to the level of their height
to ensure stability, against their buoy-
ancy. Water was then removed from
the foundations, after which they were
filled with reinforced concrete. In
the case of underwater concrete, it is
essential to place it in one go. The use
of ready-mixed concrete from a fac-
tory would have led to problems with
Fig. 4: Pylons constructed by the automatic climbing system
Structural Engineering International 1/2012
the concrete quality at the foundations.
By selecting a marine batch plant for
the underwater, infill, and cap concrete
work, it was possible to ensure the
quality of the concrete.
Pylon
The pylon was designed with a dia-
mond shape, which made it eco-
nomical, structurally stable, and
aesthetically pleasing. Above all, the
diamond shape narrowed the distance
between the two legs of the pylon at
its lower part. Therefore, the diam-
eter of the open-caisson foundation
was reduced to 20 m. By reducing
the amount of concrete for the foun-
dation of the pylons, the pylons were
given an economical design. In addi-
tion, the diamond shape increases the
transverse resistance against wind and
earthquake loads. They are a part of
the rigid-frame structural system in
which the two legs meet at the top
of the pylon. Finally, the appearance
of the pylons is also remarkable. The
diamond shape is in harmony with
the monocable, and the proportion of
the length of each pylon leg above the
deck to that below the deck is an aes-
thetically pleasing 1,7 : 1.
Regarding the construction of the
main tower, the automatic climbing
system was used, as the axis of each
pylon was changed, which decreased
the danger related to working at high
places. The height of concrete place-
ment was 4 m per lot, and a total of
22 lots were placed. Structural analysis
was also carried out before connecting
the crossbeam as some displacement of
the main tower was expected because
of the slope of the pylon. As the
maximum displacement is 14 mm, it
is minuscule compared to the mea-
surement and construction tolerance.
0,6 m 6,0 m
3,72 m
Fig. 5: Transverse section of the stiffening girder
Therefore, construction proceeded
without an additional device for dis-
placement control. In order to prevent
additional moment due to horizontal
movement during construction, the
global positioning system was used
to monitor the stability of the pylons
(Fig. 4).
Stiffening Girder
First, a stiffening girder was planned
as a trapezoidal steel box girder with
a steel deck plate (Fig. 5). This was
regarded economical because the
steel in the trapezoidal box shape
(5,0 kN/m2) weighs less than that
when used as either a streamlined box
shape (5,1 kN/m2) or a truss (6,4 kN/
m2). Moreover, a girder using steel
instead of concrete enables minimi-
zation of the foundation; it could be
erected by a large-block installation
method with a floating crane because
the weight per length of the super-
structure was reduced. Regarding the
overall appearance, the bridge is in
good harmony with its surroundings,
in that its approach bridges utilize the
same trapezoidal box-shaped girder.
Finally, the box girder uses a cen-
tral web, which divides the box into
two cells. The central web is required
because with the monocable system,
hanger ropes are located in the middle
of the girder, meaning that the center
of the girder requires some form of
reinforcement.
Erecting the stiffening girder pro-
ceeded as follows. After temporary
bents had been installed to support
the girder temporarily, the girder was
erected on the bents with the large-
block installation method, using a
floating crane for marine construc-
tion. The steel box girder was assem-
bled and welded at the factory and
was transported by barge. Four blocks
excluding the key segment were
installed by two floating cranes with a
capacity of 600 t, as they weighed 740,5
and 796,1 t. The key segment weighing
418,7 t was erected with one floating
crane of the same capacity (Fig. 6). For
15,7 m
2,5 m 6,0 m 0,6 m
2,5 m
8,26 m 3,72 m
Technical Report 41
Fig. 6: The key segment erected by a floating crane with a capacity
of 600 t
a connection between the blocks in
the field, a steel deck was welded. The
lower flange and the web plate were
linked with high-tension bolts.
Main Cable
The most notable aspect of the cable
system is that the main cable was
installed by the prefabricated par-
allel wire strand (PPWS) method
without a hauling system. This led
to significant cost savings. A haul-
ing system for suspension bridges
allowed materials to be conveyed by
cable equipment attached to a haul-
ing rope driven by a winch. In the
common PPWS method, socket car-
riers move the strands through the
hauling system. However, especially
for suspension bridges on the scale
of the Sorok Bridge, dispensing with
the use of a hauling system is consid-
ered to be economical and feasible.
The force of the cable is relatively
small because of its not long main
span, which is only 250 m, and the
large sag ratio of 1/5.2 Moreover,
large wires with a diameter of 6,59
mm are used. These lower the num-
ber of strands to 14, with 127 wires
per strand. Therefore, carriers run-
ning on two-lane ropes can transport
TS rope
PPWS carrier
Tower winch wire
Anchor bent
Fig. 8: Equipment arrangement at P8
42 Technical Report
Fig. 7: Strand installed from P8 to PY2
the head of the strands through the
driving force of the winches on the
deck at anchorage and on top of
the pylons (Fig. 7). Of course, this
method is somewhat disadvantageous
in terms of the required installation
period and the degree of constructa-
bility, but it is preferable as a set of
expensive equipment in the form of a
hauling system is not necessary.
The details of the main cable installa-
tion are as follows. First, a catwalk, as
a temporary workspace for the instal-
lation of the main cable, composed
of four ropes with a diameter of 28
mm and a floor was used. The cat-
walk rope was unreeled and arranged
on a previously constructed deck,
because the cable of this bridge is
self-anchored at the stiffening girder.
It was then anchored both on top of
the pylon and at the anchorage after
being clamped and lifted by a crane
positioned on top of the pylon. The
catwalk floor was also raised by the
hydrocrane on the deck and installed
to the pylon from both the center
and the end. Second, two ropes with
a diameter of 32 mm and one carrier
running on them were installed onto
each span; the tramway support ropes
served as the rails for the carrier.
Finally, after a strand reel was set in
PPWS strand
Unreeler
trolley PPWS roller
Guide roller
Long roller
Structural Engineering International 1/2012
the unreeler located on the first side
span behind the end pier, the socket
of the strand was conveyed with a
side-span carrier driven by a tower
winch of pylon (PY) 2 (Fig. 8). The
strand was then installed from pier
(P) 8 to the top of PY2. On the main
span, the strand was installed by one
tower winch of PY1 from the top of
PY2 to the center of the bridge and
by another tower winch of PY1 from
the center of the bridge to the top of
PY1. On the last side span, the winch
on the deck of P7 was used to install
the strand from the top of PY1 to
P7, and the socket of the strand was
fixed at the anchorage of the stiffen-
ing girder.1
Conclusion
In this article, the design and construc-
tion of the Sorok Bridge are explained
in terms of its efficiency, structural sys-
tem, and aesthetic aspects. During the
installation of the open-caisson foun-
dations, a floating dock was used to
reduce the weight of the caissons via
buoyancy, allowing the capacity of the
floating crane to be reduced. Diamond-
shaped pylons minimized the diameter
of an open caisson, and reduced the
amount of concrete necessary for the
50 t truck crane
20 t truck
2900
foundation. They also increased the standard for a cost-effective suspen-
transverse resistance efficiently by sion bridge. SEI Data Block
means of the rigid-frame structural Owner:
system. A trapezoidal steel box girder References Jeollanam-do
with a steel deck was applied, as it is
inexpensive compared to other types [1] The construction report of the Sorok Bridge. Contractor:
Daelim Co.Ltd. 2008 (in Korean). Daelim Industrial Co., Ltd
in terms of the amount of steel used. In
addition, the use of steel enabled the [2] Jong-hoon M, Bong-gyo J. Construction of Steel (t): 3900
large-block installation method for the Sorok Bridge. Daelim technical review. 2007 (in Concrete (m3): 9413
girder to be applied. The main cable Korean).
was installed by the PPWS method, Cable (t): 283
[3] Tae-sup Y, Seung-wook J, Hyun-woung K.
and the absence of a hauling system The design and construction of Sorok Grand Estimated cost (USD millions): 44
led to considerable cost savings. Thus, Bridge. Korean Society of Civil Engineers Report
Service date: June 2008
this structure can be considered as a 2005; 3327–3330 (in Korean).

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Structural Engineering International 1/2012 Technical Report 43