ARCHITECTURAL BUILDING CONSTRUCTION & MATERIAL

A B C M

LONG SPAN SACHIN MAURYA

ARCHES ROLL NO :18 SEM 09
ABCM
SMT.K.L.TIWARI COA.
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WHAT ARE ARCHES ?

1. An arch is a curved structural form that carries loads around an opening, transferring them around the profile of the arch to
abutments, jambs or piers on either side.

2. Arches have been a prominent feature in architecture since the time of the Etruscans who are credited with its invention,
although the Romans developed it further and spread its use.

3. The techniques involved in designing and constructing arches have since developed into many other structural forms, including
vaults, arcades and bridges.

4. Arches are compressive structures, that is, there are no tensile stresses.

FEATURES :

1. They are self-supporting, stabilized by the force

of gravity acting on their weight to hold them in
compression.

2. This makes them very stable and efficient,

capable of larger spans, and supporting greater
loads than horizontal beams.

3. The downward load of an arch must be

transferred to its foundations.

4. The outward thrust exerted by an arch at its

base must be restrained, either by its own
weight or the weight of supporting walls, by
buttressing or foundations, or by an opposing
tie between the two sides.

5. The outward thrust increases as the height, or

rise, of the arch decreases

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FORM ACTIVE STRUCTURE SYSTEM

• Non rigid, flexible matter, shaped in a certain way & secured at

the ends which can support itself and span space.

• Form active structure systems develop at their ends horizontal

stresses.

• The bearing mechanism of a form active systems rests essentially

on the material form.

Arch Terminology

• It is important to minimize the arch THRUST so as to reduce the dimensions of the tie rod, or to ensure that the soil will not move
under the pressure of the abutments.
• The THRUST is proportional to the total LOAD & to the SPAN, and inversely proportional to the RISE of the arch.
• In arches rise to span ratio should not be less than 1/8
• Riser minimum should be 1/8 of the span & 2/3rd maximum.
• Lesser rise takes compression but not tensile load.

1. In masonry design the arch is heavy & loaded by the weight of walls, its shape is usually the funicular of the dead load, & some
bending is introduced in it by live loads.

2. In large steel arches, the live load represents a greater share of the total load & introduces a large amount of bending but it is
seldom in view of the tensile strength of steel.

3. The SHAPE of the arch may be chosen to be as close as possible to the FUNICULAR of the heaviest loads, so as to minimize
BENDING.

4. The arch thrust is absorbed by a tie-rod whenever the foundation material is not suitable to resist it.

5. When it must allow the free passage of traffic under it, its thrust is asorbed either by buttresses or by tie-rods buried under
ground.

6. The stationary or moving loads carried by the arch are usually supported on a horizontal surface.

7. This surface may be above or below the arch, connected to it by compression struts or tension hangers

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According to Structural Systems 03
An arch system can be grouped as a fixed arch , two-hinged arch ,
or three-hinged arch according to the number of hinges.

1. The fixed arch (or hingeless arch) is fixed at

the abutments so that moment is transmitted to
the abutment.
2. The fixed arch has three redundancies, allows no
rotation at the foundations. Fixed arch is a very stiff
structure and suffers less deflection than other
arches.
3. However, as fixed arch is a structurally
indeterminate structure, a great deal of forces will
be generated at the foundation. Therefore, fixed arch
bridges can only be built where the ground is very
stable.
4. The fixed arch is most often used in (A) Hingeless rib. (B) Two-hinged rib. (C) Three-hinged rib.
reinforced concrete bridges, where the spans are (D) Solid spandrel. (E) Open braced spandrel. (F) Braced spandrel.
short. (G) Tied arch. (H) Langer arch. (I) Lohse arch. (J) Nielsen arch.

1. The hinged arches involve three hinge arrangements:

2. single-hinged type, two-hinged type, and three-hinged type
3. In arch bridges, two hinges or three hinges are frequently used.
4. The two-hinged arch has pins at the end bearings, so that only horizontal and vertical components of force act on the
abutment. The two-hinged arch is most often used to bridge long spans.
5. The three-hinged arch has a hinge at the crown as well as the abutments, making it statically determinate and
eliminating stresses due to change of temperature and rib shortening.

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Long Span Arches 04

Deck Location : Bridges

• Arch bridges can also be classified according to the position of the

arch relative to the deck, including deck arch, through arch, and half-
through arch bridges.
• The deck arch bridge represents an arch bridge in which the deck is
completely above the arch.
• The components between the arch and the deck are named as the
spandrel.
• The spandrel can be solid (mainly used for stone or masonry arch
bridges), and usually called as the closed-spandrel deck arch bridge.
If the spandrel is made of a number of vertical columns, then it is
called as an open spandrel deck arch bridge.

• For an arch bridge in which the deck is at the arch base and passes through the arch, it is often called a through arch
bridge. In this case, the deck is generally supported by suspension cables or tie bars.
• If the bridge deck is placed above the arch base but below the crown (the deck still passes through the arch), it is
often referred to as a half-through arch bridge.

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Long Span Arches

Design Considerations for Arch Bridges

There are many factors that affect the design of an arch bridge. In general,
these factors are related to function, cost, safety, aesthetics, traffic
demand capacity, foundation conditions, erection procedure, clearance
requirements, and so on.

General design recommendations focus mainly on the arch-to-span ratio,

the arch and deck slenderness, and the number of hangers or piers.
Load Considerations :

- Dead load

- Live load

- Wind load

- Sesimic load

- Tractiion forces

- precipitative forces [ Snowfal if applicable ]

- Temperature variations [ Expansion and / or Contraction ]

In order to carry traffic, the structure must have some weight, and on short spans this dead load weight is usually less than
the live loads. On longer spans, however, the dead load is greater than live loads, and, as spans get longer, it becomes more
important to design forms that minimize dead load.

Modern bridges must also withstand natural disasters such as tropical cyclones and earthquakes. In general, earthquakes
are best withstood by structures that carry as light a dead weight as possible, because the horizontal forces that arise from
ground accelerations are proportional to the weight of the structure.
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Design Considerations for Arch Bridges

There are many factors that affect the design of an arch bridge. In general, these factors are related to function, cost, safety,
aesthetics, traffic demand capacity, foundation conditions, erection procedure, clearance requirements, and so on. General design
recommendations focus mainly on the arch-to-span ratio, the arch and deck slenderness, and the number of hangers or piers.

Rise-to-Span Ratio

The rise-to-span ratio for arches may vary widely because an arch can be very shallow or, at the other extreme, could be a half-
circle. Most arches would have rise-to-span ratios within the range of 1:4.5 to 1:6.
There are typical spans used for different types of materials. Below are some:

•Filled spandrel masonry arch bridges are suitable for spans < 20 m.
•Spans of masonry arch bridges range from a few meters to 146 m.
•Concrete arch bridges are suitable for spans ranging from 35 m to 200 m, though there are some bridges with spans well over
200 m.
•Steel and CFST (Concrete Filled Steel Tube) arch bridges have a larger capacity than the ones mentioned above, allowing larger
spans because of the higher material strength.

Vortex shedding should be taken into consideration when designing an arch bridge. There are times when an arch is identified
that is having problems with hanger vibrations especially those with I-section hangers. These vibration issues are usually solved
by connecting the hangers as shown below, reducing the length of the hangers, and changing their natural frequency.

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Flashing
• In residential construction, the presence of eaves, overhangs and small wall areas above openings will reduce the potential for
water penetration at arch locations. However, flashing at an arch is just as important as over any other wall opening. Flashing an
arch can be difficult, depending on the type of arch and the type of flashing material.
• Jack arches are the easiest to flash because they are flat. Flashing may be placed below the arch on the window framing for
structural arches or above the steel lintel for non-structural arches. Alternately, flashing may be placed in the mortar joint above
the arch or keystone. Attachment of the flashing to the backing and end dams should follow standard procedures.

Types of Arches based on number of Centers

Based on number of centers the arches are classified as:
One-centered Arches
• Segmental, semi-circular, flat, horse-shoe arches and stilted arches are one centered arches.
• In some cases, perfectly circular arch is provided for circular windows which is called as bull’s eye arch is also come
under these category.

Two Centered Arch

• The curve surface of these arches makes from two center points.
• Pointed or gothic or lancet arches are generally come under this type.
• Two Centered Arches
Examples of two centered arches equilateral, pointed lancet, and Venetian arches.
• Equilateral arch
• Lancet arch
• Venetian arch
• Equilateral arch
In an Equilateral Arch have a two-center. The Curves surface makes 2 Center Point. The shape comes an equilateral Arch
so called an equilateral Arch.
• Lancet arch
Lancet Arch comes in Two Center Arch. The curves surface makes 2 center points and the Shape of the Lancet Arch is
shown in the figure.
• Venetian arch
Venetian Arch has 2 centers. The curves surface makes 2 center points and the Shape of the Venetian Arch is shown in
the figure.

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Three Centered arch_

• The curve surface of these arches is made from three center points.
• The three-centered arch is similar to the segmental arch but has more than
two centres, providing it with an elliptical or oval profile.
• This arch is the more or less semi-elliptical arch. Examples of three central
Arches are ogee, drop and elliptical arches.
•Ogee arch
•Drop arch
•Semi-elliptical arch

Four-centered arch_
The four-centered arch, also known as a Tudor arch or depressed arch, is low
and wide with a pointed apex.
It is normally much wider than its rise and was commonly used in English
architecture.

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