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Composite truss bridges: New trends, design and research

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 EUROSTEEL 2011. August 31 - September 2, 2011. Budapest, Hungary

COMPOSITE TRUSS BRIDGES: NEW TRENDS, DESIGN AND RESEARCH

António Reis a , José J. Oliveira Pedro a
a
GRID Consulting Engineers and Tech. Univ. of Lisbon – Dept. of Civil Engineering, Portugal

INTRODUCTION
Composite truss bridges are one of the most efficient and aesthetically attractive design solutions in
bridge engineering [1]. Structural steel and concrete materials are combined in the most efficient
way to highlight the art of structural engineering in bridge design. Composite action in trusses may
be explored in a number of different ways, producing a variety of design solutions. The most
adopted and efficient solution consists in a under slung truss, where the deck slab acts in composite
action with the compression chord. The concept only holds at positive bending moment sections; at
internal supports of continuous girder bridges, the deck slab is under tension and no composite
action can be considered at ULS. However, double composite action in composite truss bridges may
also be adopted at negative bending moment regions.
A review on new trends was presented by Reis [2], including double composite action in continuous
trusses with variable depth as adopted for the Nantenbach bridge [3], triangular tubular deck bridges
as adopted in Switzerland [4], with very large overhangs up to 6.0 m, and the Italian hybrid truss
with full web systems [5]. Composite box girders may be adopted for wide decks, up to 30 m or
even more, using struts to support the overhangs. These struts may be arranged in a longitudinal
truss, which participates in the overall resistance of the superstructure [2]. A different concept is
proposed in [2] for wide curved decks, by adopting two main vertical Warren trusses and two
inclined trusses to support the overhangs.
The double composite action solution in truss bridges yields in the limit a box girder with a concrete
lower flange, as adopted by the authors for the cable-stayed bridge in Coimbra [6]. Truss decks with
a reinforced concrete slab at the bottom chord level are adopted in rail bridges mainly to overcome
strict vertical clearance requirements over highways. For road-rail bridge decks, a classical option is
a double deck made of two Warren trusses in composite action with the deck slabs. This was the
solution adopted for the Oresund Bridge between Denmark and Sweden and it is proposed as Base
Case Design for the new crossing of the Tagus River in Lisbon [7].
Truss decks with triangular cross-sections may represent the most efficient composite decks, at least
for road and pedestrian bridges where fatigue issues are not so critical. Some issues may be raised
about the redistribution bending moment capacities of these trusses from the supports to the span
sections. The torsion behaviour of the triangular trusses, and deformability under eccentric traffic
loading, are also issues deserving a detailing analysis [2].

1 DESIGN OPTIONS AND NEW TRENDS

Trusses in bridges have been adopted since the first generations of metal bridges. However, in the
last two decades some attempts have been made to implement different concepts, mainly related to
- composite action with the concrete deck slab;
- double composite action with a lower concrete flange at the internal supports;
- composite trusses with triangular cross sections reducing the lower chords to a single tube;
- hybrid full web trusses (HFWT), exploring the combination of a full plate girder with a
triangular truss;
- main and secondary trusses, with different arrangements at the cross-section for wide decks.
Double composite action in truss bridges has been already adopted for long-span variable depth
girders [3]. Composite trusses with triangular cross sections as in Fig. 1. to be discussed in more
detail in the next section, have been one of the most interesting developments in the last two
decades. The overall shear deformations in composite truss bridge decks at the internal support
sections induce relevant secondary bending moments in the chords and diagonal members of
Warren trusses.
 12 m  The Italian concept of a hybrid truss
4.0  4.0  4.0  with full web system (Fig. 2) explores

0.34 
0.25 

0.60 
the combination of a full plate girder at
the cross section axis, reducing shear

2.9 
deformation effects, with a triangular
[m]
truss to achieve enough torsion resistan-
Fig. 1. Lully viaduct, Switzerland. Half deck cross-section. ce under eccentric loadings. The concept
Design by Dauner Ingénieurs conseils [4] had been adopted in road viaducts with
12.6  m  spans up to 40 m, achieving very low
0.5  5.25  5.25  1.6
steelwork quantities, below 100 kg/m2.
Main and secondary trusses may be
combined for wide decks namely for
2.2 
curved bridges where an equivalent box
[m] section is needed [2]. For a curved
3.75  3.75  roadway viaduct, with a continuous
Fig. 2. HFWT deck system, Italy. Design by REDESCO [5] deck, 20 m width and 60 m long typical
20 m spans, the authors have developed a
composite truss deck (Fig. 3) with
transverse prestressing. The main and
3.5 

secondary trusses, supporting the

9.0 overhangs, are all Warren type trusses.
[m] Between the lower chords, a horizontal
tubular bracing is introduced, forming
Fig. 3. Study of a composite truss for a curved roadway an equivalent box type behaviour, under
viaduct, Portugal. Cross-section and model. Design by GRID
torsion. The chords and diagonals are
made of rectangular tubular welded sections, while the lateral trusses are made of circular hollow
sections. Avoiding intermediate internal diaphragms for construction simplicity and aesthetics, one
of the main issues was the differential displacement between main trusses under eccentric loading.
The secondary bending moments developed at the transverse crossbeams, connecting the upper and
lower chords, were investigated by a FEM and some results were presented in [2]. The attained steel
S355 J2 amount was only 128 kg/m2.

2 COMPOSITE 3D TRIANGULAR TRUSS DECKS: DESIGN AND RESEARCH

Composite trusses with triangular cross sections were proposed by Jean Muller and were adopted
by the first time, to the authors knowledge, in Roize bridge [8]. The concept was spread through
Europe, namely in Switzerland (Lully viaduct – Fig. 1) and in Germany (Korntal-Münchingen
bridge and St Kilian viaduct) [9.10]. The nodes, in these tubular structures, may be made by shop
welding between chords and diagonals or may be cast steel prefabricated nodes as shown in
(Fig. 4). Nodes are designed for ultimate and fatigue resistance under static and dynamic loading.
Member chords and diagonal are mainly subjected to axial forces, but secondary moments needed
to be considered due to the rigidity of the welded connections, namely for fatigue design. Detailed
FEM for the stress analysis under fatigue traffic loading models may be developed.
Some issues may be raised with respect to these triangular section tubular composite truss bridges:
1) the shear failure mode of the lower chord near internal supports where large equivalent shear
forces in the girder are taken as axial forces in the diagonals (Fig. 5), 2) the redistribution of
negative bending moment at support sections at ULS, and 3) the torsion stiffness capacity of the
deck under eccentric traffic loading. Research on the behaviour of composite bridge trusses with
triangular cross sections, has been developed at the Tech. Univ. of Lisbon under the supervision of
the first author [12, 13, 14]. Due to paper length limits, only the first issue is discussed. Two tests
were carried out for bridge models (Fig. 6) at about 1/5 scale, under two point loads to simulate the
evolution of bending moments between the support section S1 and the mid span section S2. Loads
P1 and P2 were increased independently up to the failure, accordingly to the following sequence:
first, loads P1 and P2 were equally increased up to the plastic load
capacity of section S1 and, then, load P1 was kept constant and
load P2 was increased up to the failure load of mid span section
S2. In the first test, the ultimate load capacity at S2 was not
reached due to the small amount of reinforcement at section S1.
The theoretical load displacement curves (Fig. 7) were evaluated
by a nonlinear analysis [12, 13]. The theoretical ultimate load in
the 1st test was about 16% higher than the experimental one. The
collapse was initiated by shear failure mode (Fig. 5) of the bottom
chord at support section and then by buckling of the diagonals at
this section. The amount of reinforcement was 3 times increased
for the 2nd test in order to improve ductility of section S1. The steel
diagonals diameter was also increased, and the theoretical ultimate
load at S2 could be reached.
The theoretical values were P2u= 341 kN for P1u= 206 kN; the
experimental load values obtained were P2u= 345 kN for
P1u= 210 kN. The theoretical and experimental displacements at Fig. 4. Welded nodes and cast
the mid span section were 77 mm and 72 mm, respectively. steel nodes for tubular triangular
The ultimate load and displacements were the ones predicted by a truss bridges [9,11]
non-linear elasto-plastic analysis, but as in the first test, the failure
mode induces the shear failure mode of the compressed chord at
the support section. As a conclusion, a total redistribution of
bending moments can be achieved, what may be considered for
practical design at ULS, provided the amount of steel reinforce-
ment at the support sections is sufficient for the redistribution, and
shear failure mode at the bottom chord near the intermediate
supports of continuous girders is properly prevented. Shear failure
Fig. 5. Node shear failure: Test
load of the bottom chord may be increased by either raise its at Tech. Univ. Lisbon [12]
thickness or reduce the gap between diagonals at the nodes.

Model H/h1/t [mm] B/b1/b2 [mm] Di / ti i=1.2.3 [mm] Reinforcement [mm] Steel/Concrete
Test 1 570/409/70 1100/486/307 114.3/5; 76.1/5; 32/3.5 (φ5+φ5)//100 fsy=500MPa fy=320MPa; fc=48.1MPa
Test 2 650/485/70 1300/500/400 114.3/5; 76.1/5; 38/5.6 (φ10+ φ8)//75 fsy=500MPa fy=293MPa; fc=42.2MPa

Fig. 6. Test bridge models at the Tech. Univ. of Lisbon [12,13]

280  400
   
240  350
Predicted ultimate load  
  300
200   
Load [kN]

  250
160   
  Experimental
200
120                  Experimental
Numerical 150               Numerical 
   
   80  100
    Load Test 2
   40 
Load Test 1   50
   
     0      0
0        10     20     30      40        50     60      70      80      90     100 0          10        20         30         40        50         60         70        80
Displacement [mm]  Displacement [mm]
Fig. 7. Load P2–displacement chart at mid-span section of Fig. 6 test bridge models [12,13]
 3 SEMI-THROUGH COMPOSITE TRUSSES FOR RAILWAY BRIDGES
A semi-through composite truss of Fig. 8, with a reinforced concrete deck slab at the bottom chord
level, is less efficient than an under slung truss by two reasons: the slab for simply supported spans,
or at span sections of continuous decks, is under tension and the cross-girders induce transverse
bending of the diagonals of the truss. However, semi-through trusses are currently adopted in rail
bridges, since vertical clearances are quite often a main constraint for truss decks. Low
slenderness’s of 10 to 12 are currently required, not only to reduce the steel amount in chord
sections, but also to satisfy deformability and vibration requirements at SLS in rail bridges. For
High Speed Railways (HSR) the limits for maximum vertical accelerations at the deck are only
3.5 m/s2 to guarantee ballast stability under traffic. On the other hand, for a very good or good
comfort level, the maximum allowable vertical acceleration are respectively 1.0 m/s2 or 1.3 m/s2.
Deck vertical deflections up to L/2000 and L/2500 for spans between 40 and 60 meters under LM71
traffic load model, is an indirect way to achieve the limit of 1.0 m/s2 for train speeds of 350 km/h.
For HSR semi through-truss decks, SLS requirements are likely to be the design control criteria.
The main issue is how to define the maximum vertical acceleration criterion in the deck. Due to the
deformability of the slab, local vertical accelerations resulting from the interaction of the global and
local vibration modes of the superstructure, tend to be the governing design criterion. The
transversal deformation of the slab may be reduced by introducing steel stringers connected to the
cross-girders along the alignments of the tracks. The local vertical accelerations are then reduced, in
particular in skew decks due to bearing effects at the support sections. In any case, the design
criterion for maximum accelerations of 3.5 m/s2 may be too conservative if interpreted as maximum
peak acceleration at any point of the deck. Since it is a ballast stability problem, it appears more
logical to adopt a design criterion based on an average acceleration after a few cycles or on an
average acceleration at the deck cross-section. Some proposals to control maximum accelerations in
the track were made in [15]. A criterion based on a maximum acceleration of 3.5m/s2 reached after
a sequence of 10 cycles, looks more realistic.
A recent semi-through composite truss railway viaduct designed for HSR adopted a slenderness,
main-span/distance between chord axes, of 13.5 (Fig. 8). The top and lower chords are welded
rectangular tubular sections 800x400 mm and 800x600 mm respectively (plate thicknesses between
16 and 60 mm). Welded I sections were used in the diagonals (plate thicknesses between 16 and
80 mm). Steel S355 N or S355 NL was used depending on the thicknesses. The reinforced concrete
slab, 0.35 m thick, is supported by 4 stringers and cross girders at every 4.5 m.
A dynamic analysis was performed for the High Speed Loads Models (HSLM) specified in the
Eurocodes. The maximum peak deck accelerations were usually obtained for 430 km/h. The study
has shown a maximum acceleration at the bottom chord alignments of approximately 3.2 m/s2.
However, the peak acceleration tends to increase to almost 5 m/s2 due to transverse cross-section
deformations. However, a criterion as previously referred to – maximum peak accelerations
measured in a sequence of 10 cycles, show an acceptable behaviour.
153,00 m
49,50 54,00 49,50
LISBON MADRID

5
 
) 

  2
+3,5 m/s  
2

4
4 
Vertical acceleration (m/s

3  
22 
 
Acceleration (ms )

1
‐2

00 
‐1  4,0
‐2 
‐2

‐3 
‐4    2
‐4
‐3,5 m/s  
‐5  12,95m 
0  0
1.0 1
2,0 
2
3,0 
3
4,0 Time (s) 5,0
4 5

Fig. 8. A semi-through composite truss railway bridge. Design by GRID – General layout and peak vertical
acceleration vs. time for HSL Models at 430 km/h
4 COMPOSITE TRUSSES FOR CABLE-STAYED RAILWAY BRIDGES
One of the main issues for railway cable-stayed bridges is deformability and vibration under traffic
loading. In Table 1 the main characteristics of railway composite cable-stayed bridges are
presented. At this stage, only a few bridges for HSR have been built. The Oresund Bridge for two
traffic rails and the recently built Chinese Tianxingzhou Bridge with 4 traffic rails are perhaps the
most well known projects in this field. Both bridges
were built for combined rail and road traffic and
double decks were adopted. The Chinese bridge has
3 planes of stays and 3 trusses. With its 504 m main
span, it is presently the world record for railway
30.2
cable-stayed bridges.
A recent Base Case Design, the so-called 3rd
Crossing of the Tagus River in Lisbon [7] (Fig. 9),
may be considered one of the most demanding
9.6

6.9
infrastructure projects in this area. The total
11.6

21.0
crossing includes a bridge of about 7.3 km with
three requirements for navigation channels – the one
near Lisbon requiring a main span of 540 m. A
cable-stayed bridge for this main navigation channel
is needed, as shown in Fig. 10. A variety of design
options have been studied for the river crossing [7].
The retained option was a double deck bridge, with
6 lanes for highway traffic at the upper deck and 4
tracks at the lower deck – 2 for conventional rail
traffic and 2 for HSR (Fig. 9). A ballasted track was
Fig. 9. The cable-stayed bridge designed for the the preferred option of the Owner. What makes the
3rd Tagus crossing in Lisbon. Design by GRID structure unique compared to other similar projects
[5], is the need to accommodate 4 tracks at the
lower deck. The project is presently suspended by financial reasons.
The deck of the cable-stayed bridge is a steel-concrete composite Warren truss, with cross girders at
a distance of 15 m, and constant height between chord axes of 9.6 m (span/depth ratio of 12.5).
Chords and diagonals are made of welded tubular sections in steel S460 M/ML. Transverse bending
moments induced by the cross-girders and secondary bending moments in the main chords are
Table 1. Rail-road cable-stayed bridges built, under construction or design
Name End of construction Main span Deck type Deck Deck width / depth
Country Rail use type Total length suspension type cross-section / Slenderness
Zárate-Brazo Largo I e II 1978 330 m One level 2 lateral steel box-girders 22.60m
Argentina 1 Light train 550 m Lateral with an ortotropic slab 2.6m / 127
Iwakurojima/Hitsuishijima 1988 420 m Double deck 2 lateral Warren 29.1m
Japan 2 HS Railway 790 m Lateral steel trusses 13.9m / 30
Kap Shui Mun 1996 430 m Double deck Composite box girder with 32.5m
Hong-Kong, China 2 Light train 820 m Lateral 2 interior Viereendel trusses 7.70m / 56
Øresund 2000 490 m Double deck 2 lateral Warren 23.5m
Sweden / Denmark 2 HS Railway 1092 m Lateral composite trusses 10.2m / 46
Wuhu 2000 312 m Double deck 2 lateral Warren 21.94m
China 2 Conventional 672 m Lateral composite trusses 13.5m / 23
Orinoco River II 2006 300 m One level Composite box-girder 24.70m
Venezuela 1 Conventional 1200 m Lateral with external struts 5.75m / 52
Tianxingzhou 2009 504 m Double deck 2 lateral + 1 central 30.0 m
China HSR+Conv. 1092 m 3 planes steel trusses 15m / 34
Orinoco River III Under constr. 360 m Double deck 2 lateral Warren 19.2 m
Venezuela 1 Conventional 600 m Lateral composite trusses 12m / 30
3rd Tagus River Crossing Under design 540 m Double deck 2 lateral Warren 30.2 m
Portugal 2 HSR + 2 Conv. 1140 m Lateral composite trusses 11.6m / 47
Fehmarn Belt Under design 724 m Double deck 2 lateral Warren 28.7 m
Germany / Denmark 2 HS Railway 2414 m Lateral composite trusses 12.9m / 56
Fig. 10. Span layout for the cable-stayed bridge of the 3rd Tagus river crossing in Lisbon. Design by GRID

particularly relevant near the support sections due to global shear deformations of the trusses.
Fatigue resistance mainly controls truss node zones. The stringers of the upper and lower decks
participate in the overall bending resistance of the cross-section. The stays have a number of strands
varying between 47 and 109 strands of 15 mm each.
In what concerns the deformability of the bridge deck, the maximum static deflection under rail
design traffic loading is about 1.0 m. The vertical vibration frequency of the deck is 0.31 Hz. A
dynamic analysis was made under the HSLM at 120 km/h (reduced speed at the proximity of
Lisbon) and the maximum vertical acceleration was only 1 m/s2, well below the 3.5 m/s2 limit.
The aerodynamic of the deck was tested in a wind tunnel with a sectional model at scale 1/70. The
results show a good aerodynamic stability for wind speeds up to 292 km/h, which was defined as
the minimum required critical wind speed for aerodynamic instability. The drag aerodynamic
coefficient, referred to the depth of the deck, is 0.86 < CD < 1.14 for of wind angles between –5º and
+5º. The lift coefficient, referred to the width of the deck, is around –0.10 for the wind flow at 0º.

5 CONCLUSIONS AND ACKNOWLEDGMENT

The aesthetic and structural advantages of composite truss bridges were highlight. Composite
triangular trusses were discussed; experimental and numerical results were presented. Some main
issues for semi-through composite trusses for HSR bridges were discussed based on a recent design
case. A double deck composite cable-stayed bridge for the 3rd Tagus River crossing in Lisbon was
presented. Special thank are due to L. Salvador who developed the dynamic analysis referred in 3.
So to former Msc students J. Braz and O. Videira by the experimental studies reported in section 2.

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