REINFORCED CONCRETE BRIDGE

T- BEAM BRIDGE

DESIGN OF SUPERSTRUCTURE (Deck slab, footpath and girders)

T- Beam bridge superstructure consists of the following components:

I. Deck slab
II. Cantilever portion.
III. Footpaths, if provided, kerbs and handrails.
IV. Longitudinal girders.
V. Diaphragms.
VI. Wearing coat.

Deck slab, cantilever portion and longitudinal girders are to be designed for every
case of T- beam superstructure. Standard details are used for kerbs and handrails.
Wearing coats can be of asphaltic concrete or cement concrete of 1:1.5:3 mix by
volume of an average thickness of 75 mm.

1
M.Z.MAGZOUB
Footpaths of about 1.0-1.5 meter width are to be provided on either side for bridge
located in municipal areas; these may be omitted for bridges on rural area, however
it is desirable to provide footpaths even for a bridge in rural section if the overall
length of the bridge is large.

Design of Deck Slab:

Main Loads to be considered for design
- Dead load.
- Live load.
- Impact or dynamic effect of the live load.
Other Loads
- Wind load.
- Forces and effect due to earthquake.
- Temperature stresses.

Dead load: - The dead load carried by a bridge member consists of its own weight
and any fixed load supported by the member.

Live load: - Live loads are those caused by vehicles which pass over the bridge and
are transient in nature. These loads cannot be estimated precisely, and the designer
has very little control on them once the bridge is opened to traffic. However
hypothetical loadings which are reasonably realistic need to be evolved and
specified to serve as design criteria.
For example a wheeled vehicle of length 14 meter, a total load of 500 ton can be
considered.
The arrangement of vehicle loads with dimensions of wheeled traffic shown in
figure below.

2
M.Z.MAGZOUB
When these vehicles are on the span, no other live load need be considered as acting
over the unoccupied area.
Impact effect: Live load trains produce higher stresses than those which would be
caused if the load vehicles were stationary. In order to take into account the increase
stresses due to dynamic action and still proceed with the simpler statistical analysis,
an impact allowance is made. For Foot Bridge, no allowance need be made for
impact.
The impact allowance is expressed as fraction or percentage of the applied live load,
and is computed as below:

I=

I = Impact factor.
A = constant of value 4.5 for reinforced concrete bridges and 9.0 for steel bridges.
B = constant of value 6.0 for reinforced concrete bridges and 13.5 for steel bridges.
L = span in meters.

So in reinforced concrete bridges I =

Design of deck slab:

3
M.Z.MAGZOUB
If the slab is spanning in one direction, the bending moments for dead load may be
computed as in a continuous slab over the longitudinal girders. For a concentrated
load and moving load, the bending moment per unit width of slab may be computed
using the formula given in bridge code for each concentrated load.

Example for design

Design a reinforced concrete T- beam bridge for heavy traffic, the detailed
requirements of which are given below :
Effective span = 7.00 meter.
Width of carriageway =7.00meter.
Width of footpath = 1.00 m
Thickness of wearing coat = 0.08 m
Wheeled loads shown in figure (2) above.

Data for design:

4
M.Z.MAGZOUB
Specific weight of concrete = 24 KN/m3
Specific weight of asphaltic concrete = 22 KN/m3
Characteristic compressive strength
of concrete for cubes =30 N/mm2
Strength of high tensile steel fy = 425N/mm2
Strength of mild steel fy = 250 N/mm2
Deck slab thickness = 250 mm
Effective depth = 250-30-8 = 212mm

Deck slab loading – Dead load

Self-weight = 0.25x24 = 6.00 KN/m2
Wearing coat = 0.08x22 = 1.76 KN/m2
Total = 8.76 KN/m2
Ultimate dead load = 1.4x8.76 = 12.3 KN/m2

Bending moment due to dead load

Consider one meter wide strip and adopt moments coefficient in table 8.1 Mosely,
since the slab is one way slab and continuous with equal spans.
Mmid span = 0.086wL2 = 0.086x12.3x2.22 = 5.12 KN.m/

Live Load
One track of tracked vehicle is placed symmetrically in the panel as shown in figure
below so as to get the maximum bending moment.

5
M.Z.MAGZOUB
Consider the wheel load 11.4 ton = 114 KN

Impact factor = = = 0.54

Impact factor shall not exceed 0.5

Ultimate live load = 114x1.5 = 171 KN = 182.4 KN
Bending moment due to wheel load

M= = 171x2.2/4 = 94.05 KN.m =100.32 KN

Total moment = 94.05 + 5.12 = 99.17KN.m =105.44 KN.m

Bending Reinforcements
Calculations of reinforcements can be done by the following equations

Stress (K) =

As =

M = Bending Moments
b = One meter width of slab

6
M.Z.MAGZOUB
d = Effective depth of slab
fcu = Cube strength of concrete
Z = Lever arm
As = Area of steel
Minimum As = 0.13%bh for high yield steel. = 0.0013*1000*212 = 279.6mm2
= 0.24%bh for mild steel
Therefore

K= = = 0.073= 105440000/(1000x2122 x30) = 0.078

= = 0.91d

AS = = = 1390 mm2 = 1488.18 mm2

Adopt Φ16@125c/c Area = 1610 mm2 bottom & top reinforcements

Distribution steel = 0.0025x1000x212 = 530 mm2
Adopt Φ12@200c/c Area = 566 mm2

Design of Footpath (cantilever slab)

Loads
Self-weight = 24x (0.25 + 0.4)/2 = 7.8 KN/m2
Live load = 3.00 KN/m2
Ultimate load = 1.4x7.8+1.6x3.0 = 15.72 KN/m2
Handrail (reinforced concrete column 0.15x0.15x1.5m)
Weight of handrail = 0.15x0.15x1.5x24 = 0.81 KN (concentrated load)

Bending Moments
M = 15.72x1/2 + 0.81x1 = 8.67 KN.m/m run

Bending Reinforcements

7
M.Z.MAGZOUB
K= = = 0.002

(d = 400-30-6 = 364 mm)

=
Adopt Z = 0.95d

AS = = = 68mm2

Minimum area of steel = 0.13%bd= (0.13/100) x1000x364 = 474 mm

Adopt Φ12@200c/c Area = 1610 mm2 top reinforcements

8
M.Z.MAGZOUB