CABLE STRUCTURES

CABLE-STAYED BRIDGES
GROUP:-JASSIMAR SINGH,,AARSH MALHOTRA,RAJAT VERMA
Contents
▣ TECHNOLOGY ▣ CASE STUDIES ▣ STORY BOARD
1. Tensile Structures 1. Cable stayed bridge over the 1. Pylon
2. Types River Labe at Nymburk
2. Orthotropic Deck
3. Cable Structures 2. The Basohli Cable
3. Access Ramps and Stairs
4. Types Bridge,India
4.
5. Cable Stayed Bridges 3. Munich Olympic Stadium,
Parapet
Germany 5. Members and Connections
6. Components 6. Bearing and Expansion joints
7. Load Bearing Mechanism
8. Types of Cables ▣ FAILURES
9. Design 1. Morandi Bridge Collapse
10. Construction Process 2. New Haengju Bridge
11. System specifics and Materials Collapse
12. Advantages and Disadvantages
13. Cables
14. Pylon
15. Deck
16. Anchorage in Cables 2
Tensile Structures

The term tensile structures describes the category of buildings in which the load bearing capacity
is achieved through tension stress in the majority of the components, such as cables, technical
fabrics or foils.

It can also be defined as a structure where the exterior shell is a fabric material spread over a
framework. The fabric is maintained in tension in all directions to provide stability.

The only exception is represented by rigid boundaries and structural members which are
generally subjected to compression and bending.

Tension structures are commonly subdivided in boundary tensioned membranes, pneumatic

structures and pre-stressed cable nets and beams.

3
 Types of Tensile Structures
1. Linear Tensile Structures
Linear tensile structures are the
structure in which the all the member
are in linear tensile forces. This linear
members are supported by the
compression members , but the major
loads are carried out by tensile
members. Common example of these
structure is cable suspended bridges.
2. Three-dimensional Tensile
Structures
Three-dimensional tensile structures, is
a compilation of elements that are
primarily in tension, with the
compression being transferred to a
central mast and down into the
ground. The most common
occurrence of three-dimensional
tension can be seen at sports arenas
3. Surface-Stressed Tensile
Structures
Surface-stressed tensile structures are
same as other 2 tensile structure, but the
surface members are tension bearing
members. Fabric tensile structures are
the great examples of Surface-stressed
tensile structures, where the vertical
pillars hold the special designed fabric
which is in tension.
4
Foot Over Bridges

Foot over bridges are needed where a

separate pathway has to be provided for
people to cross traffic flows or some physical
obstacle, such as a river. The loads they carry
are, in relation to highway or railway bridges,
quite modest, and in most circumstances a
fairly light structure is required. They are,
however, frequently required to give a long
clear span, and stiffness then becomes an
important consideration. The bridges are
often very clearly on view to the public and
therefore the appearance merits careful
attention.
Steel offers economic and attractive forms of
construction which suit all the requirements
demanded of a footbridge.

5
Steel Truss Bridges

Basic steel truss bridges are an extremely versatile bridge form which provides an economical
solution for spans over 20m and in their basic form can span up to around 80m with
longer lengths available as multi-span options.

The main types of the basic steel truss bridges are Vierendeel, Warren and Pratt truss.

6
Steel beam bridges

A beam and slab, or composite bridge is one where a reinforced concrete deck slab sits on top of
steel I-beams, and acts compositely with them in bending. There are two principal forms of this
beam and slab construction; multi-girder construction and ladder deck construction.
The prime structural element of a footbridge is to use a pair of girders (fabricated or rolled
sections), braced together for stability and acting as beams in bending, with a non-participating
walkway surface on top. Bridge deck might for example be formed by timbers placed transversely
across the top of the beams. Precast slabs might also be used, without a shear connection to the
steel and therefore not participating in structural action.

Cross section of a multi-girder highway bridge Cross section of a ladder deck bridge

7
Box girder bridges

Box girders comprise two webs that are joined top and bottom by
a common flange creating a closed cell that offers very good
torsional stiffness, which may be required on highly curved bridges.
In beam and slab bridges, box girders are an alternative to plate
girders at the upper end of the span range, where they offer a
lower steel weight, although this has to be balanced against
increased fabrication costs. The top flange acts as the floor of the
bridge, and there are usually short cantilevers either side of the
box. This form has the benefits of good torsional stiffness, which
can simplify support arrangements and clean surfaces which
minimize maintenance.

8
Arch bridges

The arch springs from the foundations and exerts horizontal thrusts on them. The arch elements
act primarily in compression. The deck may either be supported on struts, resting on arch below,
or it may be suspended on hangers from the arch above.
A tied-arch or "bow string" arch is a particular development of the arch form. The horizontal
thrusts from the arching action are resisted by tension members between the arch springings.
Effectively the deck acts as a tension tie, and is supported by hangers from the arch above. This
form is suited to the soft soils of riverbanks, where the ground cannot withstand the large
horizontal thrusts from arching action.

Tied-arch bridge Arch skew to the line of the deck

River Usk Crossing, Newport Hulme Arch, Manchester
9
Cable Structures

▪ Cables are an essential part of long span designs.

▪ They also offer great strength for heavy roof loads allowing long spans with no central support.
▪ Cables can also be used to support membranes.
▪ Cables require frequent upkeep due to the exposed steel having a tendency to rust.
▪ A cables basic form when strung from end to end is a catenary curve.
▪ Cables work only in tension.
▪ A cables form adapts to the loads applied to it so that it is in pure tension.
▪ Cables must be well kept if exposed to the environment; usually a zinc coating is applied.
▪ Some cable forms must be tested in a wind tunnel to evaluate chances of flutter within the structure.

10
Types of Cable Structures
Suspension Bridge Cable-stayed Bridge

• Suspension bridges is normally limited to two towers. • Cable-stayed bridges lies in the fact that it can be built with any number

• Suspension bridges require more cables.

of towers.

• Construction time is longer for suspension bridges.

• Cable stayed bridges require less cables.

• They possess less stiffness and display larger deflections

• Construction time is less for cable stayed bridges.

• Their deck is usually suspended by vertical hangers, though

• Cable-stayed bridges possess higher stiffness and display smaller
deflections when compared with suspension bridges.
but the structure is essentially flexible, and great effort
must be made to withstand the effects of traffic and wind. • The greater inherent rigidity of the triangulated cable-stayed bridges,

• It is not made of cantilevers.

compared with the suspension type, makes life easier for their
designers and builders.

11
CABLE-STAYED BRIDGES

Cable-stayed bridge has one or more towers or pylons, from

which cables support the bridge deck. It is a bridge form in which
the weight of the deck is supported by a number of nearly
straight diagonal cables in tension running directly to one or
more vertical towers. The towers transfer the cable forces to the
foundations through vertical compression. The tensile forces in
the Cable-stayed bridges offer a variety of possibilities to the
designer regarding not only the materials for deck and cables but
also the geometric arrangement of the cables.
The cable-stayed bridge ranks first for a span range
approximately from 150 to 600 m, which has spanning capacity
longer than that of cantilever bridges, truss bridges, arch bridges,
and box girder bridges, but shorter than that of suspension
bridges.

12
 COMPONENTS

All cable-stayed bridges the structural system can be divided in to main components as follows:
▪ The stiffening girder (or truss) with the bridge deck
▪ The cable system supporting the stiffening girder
▪ The towers (or pylons) supporting the cable system
▪ The anchor blocks (or the anchor piers) supporting the cable system vertically or horizontally.

13
 LOAD BEARING MECHANISM

In the cable-stayed bridge, the towers are the primary load-bearing structures which transmit
the bridge loads to the ground.

A cantilever approach is often used to support the bridge deck near the towers, but lengths
further from them are supported by cables running directly to the towers.

This has the disadvantage, compared to the suspension bridge, that the cables pull to the sides
as opposed to directly up, requiring the bridge deck to be stronger to resist the resulting
horizontal compression loads, but has the advantage of not requiring firm anchorages to resist
the horizontal pull of the main cables of the suspension bridge.

By design all static horizontal forces of the cable-stayed bridge are balanced so that the
supporting towers do not tend to tilt or slide, needing only to resist horizontal forces from the
live loads.

The high tensile strength of steel, combined with the efficiency of simple tension, makes a
steel cable the ideal structural element to span large distances.

Cables are flexible because of their large lateral dimensions in relation to their lengths.

As uneven stresses true to bending are prevented by flexibility the tensile load is evenly
divided among the cable strands.
14
Two types of cable-stayed bridges

Harp or Parallel design .

The cables are nearly parallel so that the height of their attachment to the tower is proportional to the distance
from the tower to their mounting on the deck.

Fan design
The cables all connect to or pass over the top of the towers. The fan design is structurally superior with
minimum moment applied to the towers but for practical reasons the modified fan is preferred especially where
many cables are necessary

In the modified fan arrangement, the cables terminate near to the top of the tower but are spaced from each other
sufficiently to allow better termination, improved environmental protection, and good access to individual cables for
maintenance.

15
 DESIGN
There are four major
classes of rigging on cable-
stayed bridges: mono,
harp, fan, and star.

16
DESIGN

1. The mono design uses a single cable from its towers and
is one of the lesser-used examples of the class. 2. In the harp or parallel design, the cables are nearly parallel so that
the height of their attachment to the tower is proportional to the
distance from the tower to their mounting on the deck.

3. In the fan design, the cables all connect to or pass over the top of
the towers. The fan design is structurally superior with a minimum
moment applied to the towers, but, for practical reasons, the
modified fan (also called the semi-fan) is preferred, especially 4. In the star design, another relatively rare design, the cables are
where many cables are necessary. In the modified fan spaced apart on the tower, like the harp design, but connect to
arrangement, the cables terminate near the top of the tower but one point or a number of closely spaced points on the deck.
are spaced from each other sufficiently to allow better termination,
improved environmental protection, and good access to individual
cables for maintenance.
17
CONSTRUCTION PROCESS
Construction of cable-stayed bridges
usually follows the cantilever
method, so their construction begins
with the sinking of caissons and the
erection of towers and anchorages.
After the tower is built, one cable
and a section of the deck are
constructed in each direction. Each
section of the deck is prestressed
before continuing. The process is
repeated until the deck sections
meet in the middle, where they are
connected. The ends are anchored
at the abutments.
STEPS OF CONSTRUCTION
▪ A clear piece of land with stable ground and a good location is found.
▪ Planning of subsurface investigation and laboratory testing.
▪ As per GPS completion of pile location.
▪ Erection of piers and support span.
▪ Construct main piers.
▪ Construction of work station on central tower.
▪ Installations off temporary stay cables and first erection of cables.
▪ Post tensioning cable stays by strand jack.
▪ Pre cast deck should be launch by strand jack or RR Hydraulic Cylinders.
▪ Extension of central span.
▪ Completion of central span and removal of temporary cables.
18
STEPS OF
CONSTRUCTION

19
STEPS OF CONSTRUCTION OF THE FOUNDATION
1. First the piled pylon foundations
are installed, using a board piling rig
working from a barge
5. A concrete slab is cast in the
home of the coffer dam and is
anchored to the board piles, and the
water is pumped out
2. A sealed coffer dam is built using
sheet piles, installed using a
vibrating hammer to required depth
6. A pile cap is placed in dry
conditions, supporting the piles,
along with a tower crane used for
construction
3. A temporary bridge, or jetty, is
constructed for transportation and
excavation activities
7. The various segments of the
bridge are then fabricated and
transported to the site for
construction
4. Materials within the dam are
excavated
8. The lower segments of the pylon
leg are installed form a crane at the
jetty
20
SYSTEM SPECIFICS AND MATERIALS
The primary construction materials used in cable-stayed bridges are

The main elements of a cable-stayed bridge

• For decks: reinforced or prestressed concrete, composite concrete-
steel, or orthotropic steel decks
are towers or pylons, deck girders, cable-
stays, anchorages, and foundations. Tower
• For deck-girders: beams of prestressed concrete or steel, box girders
of prestressed concrete or steel, similar to those in modern
and pylon are interchangeable terms; lighter,
suspension bridges
slender towers are often called pylons. The
classic cable-stayed bridges are symmetric
• For towers: steel, reinforced or prestressed concrete, composite
steel-concrete
with one central span, two side spans, and
two towers; such are most cable-stayed
• For cables: high-strength steel wires, usually 270 grade, built from 7-
wire, 9.5 mm strands, other higher-grade steel wires, carbon fiber-
bridges with spans above 600 meters. The
reinforced polymers (CFRP), or composites. Prestressed concrete has
back-up cables may extend over several side
been used in the past, but should be avoided
spans.
• For piers and foundations: reinforced concrete with or without piles
depending on the soil

21
Advantages Disadvantages

•
•
Still inferior to suspension bridges for super-
The cable-stayed deck is in compression, pulled towards long spans
the towers, and has to be stiff at all stages of construction • Requires checking deformations at all
and use.
•
conditions
A great advantage of the cable-stayed bridge is that it is • Requires experience in both design and
essentially made of cantilevers, and can be constructed by construction
building out from the towers.
• Cable-stayed bridges possess higher stiffness and display
smaller deflections when compared with suspension
bridges.
• Construction time is less for cable stayed bridges.
• Cable stayed bridges require less cables.
• Much greater stiffness than the suspension bridge, so that
deformations of the deck under live loads are reduced.
• For a symmetrical bridge (i.e., spans on either side of the
tower are the same), the horizontal forces balance and
large ground anchorages are not required.

22
Cables

▪ A cable is composed of one or more structural ropes, structural strands, locked coil strands or parallel wire strands.
A strand is an assembly of wires formed helically around centre wire in one or more symmetrical layers.
▪ A strand can be used either as an individual load-carrying member, where radius or curvature is not a major
requirement, or as a component in the manufacture of the structural rope.
▪ A rope is composed of a plurality of strands helically laid around a core. In contrast to the strand, a rope provides
increased curvature capability and is used where curvature of the cable becomes an important consideration.

▪ Cables are made of high-strength steel, usually encased in a plastic or steel covering that is filled with grout, a fine-
grained form of concrete, for protection against corrosion

23
Types of Cables

24
SHAPE OF PYLON

• A-type
• H-type
• Y-type

25
 TYPES OF DECK
Twin I Girder Box girder

Orthotropic girder
Truss girder

26
ANCHORAGE IN CABLES
In concrete

27
ANCHORAGE IN CABLES
In steel

28
 Cable stayed bridge
over the River Labe at
Nymburk
CASE STUDY
INTRODUCTION
Location: north-east of Nymburk in the Czech Republic
Span: main span of 132m together with a very shallow
structural depth
Open for use: May 2007
Company: Pontex Consulting Engineers Ltd.

the bridge carries the I/38 road over the River Labe as part of a
by-pass scheme built to alleviate traffic congestion from the
historical centre of the city. Due to the span and a shallow
structural depth, a so-called "extradosed“ main bridge
structure with low pylons was developed, representing a
transition between the traditional cable-stayed bridge and a
bridge with external prestressing tendons.

30
 BUILDING DESIGN
•The complete bridge crossing has a continuous superstructure 530m long with expansion joints located only at the abutments.

•The main concrete bridge superstructure consists of a 132m span over the River Labe and two adjacent 41m spans that are directly
connected to the approach spans.

•The concrete deck sections of the main span are of a symmetrical double-girder shape of variable depth and width, and are supported
by sets of 3 parallel grouped stays anchored to the 16m high pylons.

•The middle section of the main span was designed as a relatively lightweight composite steel-concrete drop-in structure. This 52m span
comprises two main steel box girders that are tied by steel I section cross beams at 3.0m centres. The thickness of the lower and upper
flanges and webs of the main steel girders vary in accordance with the magnitude of the internal forces.

•After being delivered to site by barges the box girders were lifted into place and welded to 700mm long steel members that were cast
into the concrete structure and tied to it using longitudinal prestressing anchors fixed to the end plates.

•Shear studs tie a 245mm thick reinforced concrete slab to the steel girder structures.

31
32
Pylons
• The 16m high, heavily reinforced concrete pylons are topped with hollow
steel plated box chambers for anchoring the cable stays.

• The anchor plates are one of the most highly stressed parts of the
structure and were fabricated from 150mm thick steel plate.
• Welded into the front face of each anchor plate are six, 377mm diameter,
16mm thick steel tubes through which the stays were passed and then 1: Embedded steelwork ready to receive steel girders, fig 2: steel plated pylon box assembly

anchored.
• The bottom flange of the chamber is formed from 50mm thick steel plate
with stiffeners to provide a uniform distribution of the forces to the
concrete section.
• The side walls of the box are of 40mm thick plate with 50mm thick vertical
stiffeners at the anchor plate locations.

• Steel studs, welded uniformly to the sides and top of the box chamber,
bond the steel box to the self-compacting concrete that was subsequently
applied. A 600mm square manhole cover in the top of the pylon provides
maintenance access.

33
Cross beams and rocking struts

At the pylon locations the bridge deck has massive cross

beams which help to distribute the loading from the
longitudinal girders and pylons to the bridge bearings.
Prestressed anchor cross beams are also used where the
cable stays are anchored to the bridge superstructure.
Piers, located where the back hangers of the bridge are
anchored, are designed as rocking struts in order to be able
to resist both tensile and compressive forces and to allow
for expansion of the structure. The rocking struts are made
of 610mm external diameter seamless steel tubes. At both
ends of the strut an accurate four-shear pin joint is formed.
The pin joint anchor plates are attached to the bridge deck
and elements of the bridge substructure using prestressing
bars.
Fig: Rocking struts beneath back cable hangar anchorage beams

34
THE BASOHLI CABLE STAYED
BRIDGE,
INDIA
CASE STUDY
INTRODUCTION

Location: over the River Ravi in Jammu-Kashmir

Company: Border Roads Organization. Construction
Construction started: June 2011
Completion: December 2015
The contract bidding documents included a base concept cable
stayed bridge; however, the successful team opted to develop
an alternate concept that utilized a hybrid concrete and steel
system that focused on minimizing construction duration and
cost.

36
 SPAN CONFIGURATION
The span layout is symmetric (121m – 350m -121m), with pylons positioned at the top of the river banks (Figure 3). Two
inclined cable planes splay outwards from each pylon in a semi-fan configuration, connecting to the superstructure at 14-
meter spacing in the main span and 10.3 meters in the side spans. Near the abutments, three sets of intermediate piers
spaced at just over 20 meters form a secondary support system. the bridge accommodates two lanes of traffic as well as
two footpaths.

37
 PYLON DETAILS
• Several different pylon configurations were evaluated during the bridge’s development,
including an A-frame and an inverted Y-shape, amongst others. However, the modified
diamond configuration offered several advantages (Figure 4).
• With large seismic demands, it was considered prudent to reduce the transverse
stiffness of the pylons while providing ductility so that energy could be effectively
dissipated during a seismic event.
• An inverted Y-shaped pylon behaves similarly to a truss with large axial tension and
compressions in the lower pylon legs under transverse seismic loading. With
predominately axial demands, the inability to achieve adequate ductility or energy
absorption into the pylon was deemed unacceptable.
• By reversing the inclination of the legs at deck level and bringing them together at the
base, thereby forming a modified diamond shape, the seismic behavior is changed from
predominately axial demands to flexural which can be utilized for ductility and energy
absorption.
• In addition, bringing the lower legs together reduces the footprint of the foundations.
• Each pylon was designed with a constant width of 5 meters for the full height.
Additionally, the 48 cables at each pylon are anchored within the top 33 meters by
utilizing steel anchor boxes which act compositely with the concrete walls. Pylon Geometry
38
SUPERSTRUCTURE DETAILS

• The superstructure has two edge girder lines at 9.2m centers

supported by the two cable planes.
• The main span consists of a lightweight composite steel grid utilizing
longitudinal edge girders with transverse floor beams for the roadway
and cantilever steel brackets for the footpaths, spaced every 3.5
meters, all made composite with a concrete deck slab (Figure).
• Initially, the deck was designed with full depth pre-cast deck panels Mainspan Typical Section
made composite with closure pours; however, during the design
phase the contractor elected to revise the deck to fully cast in-place
• The hybrid superstructure also provides advantages in terms of
construction duration by providing multiple work fronts and
concurrent activities. As a result, the concrete side spans can be cast-
in-place on falsework concurrently with the construction of the
pylons; while in the interim, the main span steel components are
being fabricated.
Sidespan Typical Section
39
SUPERSTRUCTURE DETAILS

• After pylon construction has proceeded beyond the first few sets of cable
anchorages and the side spans are complete, erection of the main span can
commence in a progressive cantilever fashion using prefabricated steel
elements.
• Using the progressive cantilever method with a previously completed side
span has a significant advantage of adding stability to the system to resist
wind buffeting loads during cantilevering. As such, supplemental tie-downs
or counter weighting is not required.
• With two different superstructure systems in use, two different stay
anchorages had to be designed. In the side spans, the stay cables extend
through the concrete edge girders and are anchored on the bottom soffit in
concrete blisters.
• Conversely, in the mainspan, the stay cables are anchored above deck using
a steel anchorage assembly that is welded directly to the web of the steel
edge girders, providing a direct load path for the axial cable loads into the Mainspan Cable Anchorage
longitudinal girder system (Figure).
40
MUNICH OLYMPIC STADIUM,
GERMANY
LONG SPAN STRUCTURE CASE STUDY
INTRODUCTION

▣ The Olympia Park in Munich, Germany, is an

Olympic Park which was constructed for the 1972
Summer Olympics. Freri Otto Gunther Behnisch were
responsible for teaching the world a new Germany in a
new light. Their goal was to design a structure that
emulates the motto of the games.

▣ “The Happy Games” as a whimsical architectural

response to cover the heavy and overbearing shadow
left by the Berlin games. The concept of the structure
was to continuously flow along the site mimicking the
draping and the rhythmic elevations of the Swiss Alps,
a structure suspended like a cloud that seems to float
over the place branching between the pools, gym and
the main stadium.

42
FUNCTIONAL REQUIEREMENTS

▣ The original requirements, as imposed by the

Olympic Committee, were very clear at the time. No
less than 80,000 seats should be provided in the main
stadium, and a smaller enclosed sports hall and
swimming hall should also be provided. Other facilities
should include a warm-up arena and an enclosed
workout facility.

▣ The adjacent Olympic Village should provide

housing for 3,000 people and the necessary support
functions. These facilities were to be of permanent
quality and convertible to public use and parkland after
the three-week Olympic games. Thematically, the
competition used the motto “Olympics in the Green”.

43
ROOF

Mast (steel) supported Cable net system:

• The roof grid over the main stadium is formed by nine saddle-shaped
nets of 25mm steel cables spaced in a 762mm square grid.

• The saddle spans up to 65m and reaches a maximum height of 58m.

The nets are supported over the seating areas by eight tapering
masts behind the stadium, ranging from 50 to 70m high.

• Smaller bow-shaped nets connect the larger membranes and wrap

around the supporting masts. The cable nets are doubly curved.

• The resulting double-curved saddle shape prevents the canopies

Connection of mast and cable
from easily fluttering in the wind.

• The total length of steel cable in the complex exceeds 408km and
tension loads in the cable net are as much as 5000 tons.

44
ROOF
• Originally the foundation design was intended to consist of prestressed anchors. Local code officials however insisted on
more conservative piers to provide stability. In some cases, these piers are as much as 18m deep and 6m wide.

• These enormous foundations were required to resist the tremendous tensile stresses in the cable network and the live
loads imposed by winds across and under the open structures.

Structural elements used Steel cable and mast Connection of two masts
45
ENVELOPE

Bronze-tinted acrylic plastic panels & Polyester fabric coated with PVC

• Bronze-tinted acrylic plastic panels measuring 2,9 by 2,9m were

•
installed above the cable wires.
Connections between the panels had to allow for thermal expansion
and structural movement of up to 1m deflection under heavy wind

•
loads.
The acrylic panels were attached to the supporting net at the

•
intersection points of the cables.
However, because of the irregularity of the net, the panels

•
sometimes overlapped the cable grid at varying angles.
Apart from offering enough colour contrast for improved
photography, the bronze tinting also helped reduce heat gains and
glare without casting shadows as a canvas canopy would have. Bronze tinted plastic panels

46
LIMITATIONS

▣ HVAC:
The fabric that is used as the roofing system of tensile structures usually have a very low R-value, making it very difficult to
maintain a certain temperature. This causes the heating and cooling loads to be enormous, and is an inefficient structure.
However, the availability of fabrics that are efficient at maintaining favourable conditions has greatly increased in recent
times, enabling the widening of the range of environments in which this system can be used. Furthermore, new materials
can provide not just insulation, but UV protection and can be fireproof for safety aspects.
▣ STRUCTURE:
The main limitation of this system is the inability to support any kid of large compressive load. The fabric used as the
roofing is in tension, and will not have enough compressive strength to support another floor above. In fact, it is unable to
support snow in some cases. Three dimensional tension structure also cannot be used on large vertical spans because of
their lack of ability to support large horizontal loads such as wind. The fabric or sheets act like a sail, and a small tear
caused by loadings can lead to bigger damages. An even more severe failure would be the breaking of the cables in
tension breaking under a large load. Due to this reason, this structure is often shaped to ensure that rain and snow will
slide off the structure.

47
STRUCTURAL ANALYSIS

48
 CONSTRUCTION PROCESS

Construction of concrete Installation of pre- Installation of saddle PVC coated polyester

pile and seating manufactured steel type net and plexiglass fabric was attached
masts individually to each grid

49
JOINERY DETAILS

Edge mast – support cable connection Edge cable – anchorage

50
JOINERY DETAILS

Sheet fixing envelope

51
JOINERY DETAILS

Overlapping
joints/Fixing joints

Foundation

52
JOINERY DETAILS
Overlapping
joints/Fixing joints

53
Morandi Bridge Collapse
FAILURE
About the Bridge

The Morandi bridge (Officially: Viadotto Polcevera)

was an architectural and engineering landmark since
its construction. This cable-stayed bridge was
characterised by a prestressed concrete structure for
the piers, pylons and deck, very few stays, as few as
two per span, and a hybrid system for the stays
constructed from steel cables with prestressed
concrete shells poured on. Specifications of the
structure are:

55
56
▣ Comparing the above shown Morandi M5 system to the modern practice, it is striking how tight the strands were located
inside the duct. In modern practice, the void section is around 50% larger than in the Morandi case. Moreover, the injecting
material available today is far more fluid than those available in the 1960s. It could thus be concluded that the ducts used in
the case of the Morandi bridge were essentially impossible to be injected and the same was proven based on descriptions
and photos reproduced in the report of the Commission of the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transportation. So, the
behavior of the strands was quite different from the one that was expected in terms of corrosion protection, effects of
fatigue, structural stiffness, and localized sectional response.
▣ In the case of bonded tendons, concrete contributed to resisting tension to an extent and even when cracked, tension
stiffening would contribute to reduced cable elongation. However, when the tendon isn’t bonded, concrete will not assist in
resisting tensile force and the stiffness would be due to the tendons alone.
▣ Similarly, if the tendons are bonded, a fracture of one of the tendons will cause a visible crack, without significantly affecting
the overall compression in stay concrete. On the contrary, if the tendons are unbonded, the progressive reduction of steel
will lead to a reduction in post-tensioning force, not necessarily causing cracks, but a global elongation & loss of compression
in stay concrete.

57
The Morandi Pre-compression
System for cable-stays
Morandi had developed and patented a pre-compression system that was specifically used in this bridge. In all cases, the
strands were coupled in groups of four and the ducts were supposed to be grouted with the usual injection of cement
mortar.

Fig. Details of the end part of a 16 ½ inch strands post-tensioning cable according to the Morandi System,
re-drawn (Units: mm)
58
The Morandi Pre-compression
System for cable-stays

▣ Comparing the above shown Morandi M5 system to the modern practice, it is striking how tight the strands were
located inside the duct. In modern practice, the void section is around 50% larger than in the Morandi case.
Moreover, the injecting material available today is far more fluid than those available in the 1960s. It could thus be
concluded that the ducts used in the case of the Morandi bridge were essentially impossible to be injected and the
same was proven based on descriptions and photos reproduced in the report of the Commission of the Ministry of
Infrastructure and Transportation. So, the behavior of the strands was quite different from the one that was
expected in terms of corrosion protection, effects of fatigue, structural stiffness, and localized sectional response.
▣ In the case of bonded tendons, concrete contributed to resisting tension to an extent and even when cracked,
tension stiffening would contribute to reduced cable elongation. However, when the tendon isn’t bonded, concrete
will not assist in resisting tensile force and the stiffness would be due to the tendons alone.
▣ Similarly, if the tendons are bonded, a fracture of one of the tendons will cause a visible crack, without significantly
affecting the overall compression in stay concrete. On the contrary, if the tendons are unbonded, the progressive
reduction of steel will lead to a reduction in post-tensioning force, not necessarily causing cracks, but a global
elongation & loss of compression in stay concrete.

59
The Collapse

▣ In the early 1990s during the inspection, it was noted that the stays of the 3 balanced system were suffering from
wide spread general deterioration and several instance of concentrated degradation. Maintenance work was carried
out on pier 11 and 10 over the years after this. Reports between 2011-2015 stated that there was a loss in post-
tensioning such that few of the strands were free to move. However, no major intervention was scheduled for pier 9
and reports stated that stays were in better condition due to limited corrosion. On 14 th August 2018, Pier 9
collapsed during a storm.
▣ The position of the debris seems to indicate that the southwest side of the stay should have been released first.
With this as the trigger, elastic analysis was performed for the structure with construction stages, but without the
time-dependent effects. From that, it was concluded that a stay removal will induce a bending moment in the plane
of the deck and torque that will be above the capacity of the structure.
▣ Judging that structure from the knowledge we have today, we can say that it had several issues like lack of
redundancy in the structure, improper time-dependent behavior consideration, and lack of insight that made
inspecting and maintaining the stays very inconvenient. No doubt though, the structure was a masterpiece for the
time that it was made in and structurally sound based on the knowledge of the time.

60
Lesson

▣ Morandi bridge was designed to carry the loads acting on it even today by quite a safe margin. However, it still
collapsed majorly owing to a lack of maintenance/intervention at the right time. No doubt, it's easier said than done
for that time. However, with such advancement in technology, real-time monitoring of any structure could be
implemented if required. Relatively priceless sensors could be installed on the structure to send data to systems that
can detect any minor deterioration with high accuracy.

▣ Being specific about the Morandi bridge, its collapse helped researchers in developing a satellite-based identification
of at-risk structures. That study showed that the Morandi bridge showed signs of warping in the months prior to its
collapse. With such systems and techniques available, early signs of collapse or deformation can be obtained.

▣ Globally, many landmark structures are quickly approaching the end of their life cycle. From 2000 itself, at least 125
bridges have collapsed. This showed that immediate action needs to be taken in the field of structural health
monitoring, especially for infrastructure projects.

61
 New Haengju
Bridge Collapse
FAILURE
About the Bridge

Date July 31, 1992

Place Seoul City, Korea

When New Haengju Bridge over the Han-gang River

which connects the Jiangxi Ward in capital Seoul City
with the Goyang city, Gyeonggi-do in Korea was
under construction, its 10 bridge piers and the bridge
girder of 1020m length collapsed. The fault originated
in the cable-stayed bridge part in the center just
before the completion.

63
Sequence
▣ The PC connected box girders were installed by the extrusion method (Incremental Launching Method). Each block
was constructed in 20m lengths in the production yards installed near the abutment of both sides, and were pushed
out while being connected one after another. It was planned to complete the section of 800m south from the
northern abutment and the section of 660m north from the southern abutment by the extrusion method.
▣ Since the span of the superstructure (the bridge girder part) was 60m, 2 temporary pillars (temporary piers) were
installed in each of the 2 rather long spans at the cable-stayed bridge section which were 100m and 120m long, and,
in the each primary spans near the production yards on both sides and in the span where the bridge girders from
both sides meet, temporary pillars were installed.
▣ One of the features of the wire of the PC cable-stayed bridge over the 3 spans was that it was not typical flexible
steel cable, and that rigid PC members were used in it.
▣ It was planned to install plain concrete at appropriate timing into the central part (20m long) of the central span
within the 3 ones under the cable-stayed bridge for the counterweight to suppress the negative cross sectional
power, which is caused owing to the length (120m) of the central span which is longer than the side ones of 100m
length. It is said that this plain concrete for the counterweight installed just before the accident acted as an
unexpected load on the temporary pillars which were placed at the center span.

64
Sequence
▣ By the day of the collapse accident, the caisson
foundations, the pallet pile foundations, the abutments,
the bridge piers, 2 main towers of the cable-stayed bridge
and the PC connected box girder part had been all
completed except for the facilities for military purposes.
The installation of the cable for the main tower of one side
was finished and the cable for the other was temporarily
put on the surface of the bridge girder. The concrete
installation work of the joint with the bridge girder was
carried out while the required tensile force (prestress) was
not supplied to the cable.
▣ Then the collapse accident occured, and the PC connected
box girder part of about 800m length which was pushed
out for the south from the northern abutment was
completely destroyed, and the main tower of one side
broke. The temporary pillars and 10 piers were damaged
heavily or destroyed.

65
Cause

▣ The collapse originated in the center span between 2 main towers of the cable-stayed bridge, and the
collapse of the temporary pillars which were set there was supposed to be the direct cause.
▣ The connection performance of the PC connected box girders which were constructed by the extrusion
method was considerably lowered (shear slip) by the installation work of the cable and the plain concrete.
Therefore, the vertical load that acted on the temporary pillars increased considerably. As the result, the
load supporting capability of the temporary pillars was markedly weakened, and the unexpected force and
deformation acted on the PC connected box girders near the main towers and the cable, and it led to the
collapse of the main towers and the bridge girder. Since the whole PC box girder section of 800m length
was a connected digit structure, it is supposed that the big change of the load action condition by a collapse
of one place triggered the collapse of one after another place where the cross sectional power surpassed
the yield capability of the member.
▣ There might have been a failure in design and construction concerning the load supporting performance of
the temporary pillars. However, since the construction was carried out without any prior examination about
the effect of the load which arises during erection on the temporary pillars, the cable, superstructure, and
substructure, it is evident that an excessive load acted and destroyed the members.

66
Cause

▣ According to the accident report by Korea Soc. of Civil Engineering, the

possible accident causes were, improper span design, improper
selection of the cable construction method, impossible connection
with an adjacent serial digit, improper selection of the pier foundation
construction method, improper design of the position and the
structure of the temporary pillars, shortage of the safety of the
temporary pillars in between the 2 main towers, shortage of
cooperation between the design staffs of the super/substructure and
the cable-stayed bridge since they were separated, incapability as a
whole of the participants such as constructors, designers, and
supervisors, and frequent and complicated staff changes.
▣ The quality of the ready-mixed concrete which was the main material
of the PC connected box girder bridge had been suspected to be bad,
but it was proved not to have any defect as concrete material by the
test of the material extracted from the site.

67
Response

▣ The destroyed part of the bridge was removed and newly constructed.
▣ The whole part of the PC connected box girders of 102m length, 1 damaged main tower, and 12 piers were
removed. In the demolition, breakers (large rock drill), the dropping steel sphere strike method, nonvibratile
high temperature and the pressure jet method, and wires-saw method, etc. were applied. The removal of the
main tower was determined by horizontal load safety test.
▣ The remedial work was carried out by the joint enterprise of DS Co. from Germany in the substructure and DRS
Co. from USA in the superstructure under thorough design checking and construction management, and New
Haengju Bridge opened on May 19th, 1995.

68
Counter Measures
As a result of the technological study during the remedial construction, many design changes were carried out.
▣ The cable of PC member whose rigidity was big was changed into flexible steel one in order to improve the workability
and reduce the dead load.
▣ They reduced the load on the main towers by changing the cable-stayed bridge part (300m) to steel and concrete
synthetic girder from PC connected box girder, and the length constructed by the continuous extrusion method was
changed to 420m.
▣ The foundations of the removed 12 piers were changed to the circular concrete piles and their number and length was
increased. The piers were strengthened by adding partitions to inside the hollow sections. Two of the three temporary
pillars of the cable-stayed bridge part were changed to permanent structures, and the other was changed to steel from
concrete.

69
Counter Measures
The construction bureau of Korean government carried out safety checks on public works and public facilities, and special
inspections on bridges of the national roads. The necessity of instituting law, regulation and technical standards on the
construction management technology was shared in order to strengthen responsibility and authority of the design and
construction company, and in order to improve the construction supervision system. A prior qualification check system
(P.Q.) for judging the construction ability of the builders was introduced. Remedies such as prior announcement of
schedule price and basic research expenses, a multiple schedule price system, installation and extension of tender and a
contract monitoring committee were introduced and the penal regulation on prior leakage of tender information was
strengthened in order to prevent foul play in the tendering and contract of public works.

70
Lesson

▣ Loose application of new technologies is an origin of

disaster.
▣ Immature imported technologies can cause fatal
accidents.
▣ Supervising engineers who can understand and
manage the whole of the process of material selection,
designing and construction are necessary. However,
there are many difficulties in training them.
▣ It is necessary to design considering the changes of
loading conditions and structural deformation caused
by moving the construction equipment and the
structure itself during construction work.
▣ Poor preparation and lack of risk management from
greed are origins of major accidents.

71
STORY BOARD
 Pylon
'A' frame pylon with twin planes of cable stays with one to each side of the bridge deck. For the required span it is only required at
one end of the span.

Severinsbrücke bridge

Faro bridge

Hålogaland Bridge, Norway

Greenwich Reach Swing Bridge,
Deptford Creek - London
Orthotropic deck
Orthotropic decks offer the potential for a long service life. This bridge decking system minimize the dead
load in the design and are rapidly constructed.

Rib-to-Deck Joint

Hunt Club Pathway Connection to the Southeast Transitwa

Station, Ontario
Access ramps and stairs
Ramps and stairs are structurally independent,
except for the need to be supported at the top
end either on the footbridge superstructure or on
a common substructure support. To achieve a
harmony in materials, steel stairs and access
ramp are the best option. Arrangement of typical stairs and ramp

Stairs and ramp arrangement Scissor ramp Installation of stairs

Parapet
Stainless steel Cable railings are a suitable option. The parapet posts are fixed to the edge beam with conventional
holding down bolts.

Greenwich Reach Swing Bridge, Deptford Creek - London

Members and connections

Anchorage points welded on to the main bridge deck Anchorage bolts for the cables Cables

Stays must obviously be sufficiently strong to support the

beams, providing sufficiently stiff supports to the beams and
to avoid slack stays which will be easily vibrated.
With twin planes of stays, the natural arrangement for the
deck structure is with main beams at either edge, to which the
stays are attached. The floor then spans transversely between
the beams.
 Bearing and expansion joints
The provisions for restraint or the accommodation of movement, expansion
joints need to accommodate a thermal movement range

Link pin and cable anchorage Bearing and jacking point Bearing and jacking point
Hunslet Moor Footbridge
Thanks!

79