International Journal of Emerging Technology and Advanced Engineering
Website: www.ijetae.com (ISSN 2250-2459, ISO 9001:2008 Certified Journal, Volume 7, Issue 10, October 2017)
Development of Research in Design of Segmental Box type
Superstructure in India: A REVIEW
Asst. Prof. Hardik R. Trivedi
1
Dept. of Applied Mechanics, Government Engineering College- Patan, Gujarat, India
Abstract— This paper represents the review of the
Development of Research in Design of Segmental Box Girder
Superstructure in India, as per Indian codal provisions. In
bridge industry, Box Girders are widely used all over the
world but in India very few research authors have presented
work in this subject area and here four such papers are
selected for review. The need of this study is to understand
Development of Research in Design of Segmental Box Type
Superstructure in India as per Indian codal provisions. At the
end of this study it is concluded that majority of conclusions
drawn in different papers are for particular span and width of
conventional simply supported girders using older versions of
IRC codes and hence, there is much scope in doing research in
this advance topic of “Design of Segmental Box Girder Bridge
Superstructure”, especially as per latest IRC codes.
Keywords— Box Girder Bridges, Cast In Situ, Curtailing of
pre-stressing cables, Indian codal provisions, IRC, PSC box
girder, Segmental Box Type Superstructure, Segmental
Bridge, Twin Box Girder Bridge, Vehicular Load.
I. INTRODUCTION
Bridges are the key element in the development of
transportation system and hence development of economy
of country as well. And superstructure plays a leading role
in bridge aesthetics and economy. Now to achieve bridge
aesthetics with economy is a challenging task for bridge
designers. The ―New Era Bridges‖ are prestressed concrete
bridges and those which are constructed using segmental
method demonstrate the latest refinements in bridge
industry. By using ―segmental box type superstructure‖
aesthetic with economy can be achieved as curtailing of
pre-stressing cables became possible. Also, many times, it
is the only option left for ―Construction of Bridge in
Difficult Climate Region‖ and ―Construction of flyover
without disturbing traffic‖.
Hence to build durable and economical large span
bridges, segmental bridges can be looked as the alternative
solution. Now the analysis and design of segmental bridges
are even more complicated and is always a challenging task
for an engineer.
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Hence here attempt is made to review the Development
of Research in Design of Segmental Box Type
Superstructure in India as per Indian codal provisions.
II. LITERATURE REVIEW
Indian bridge industry is rapidly moving towards
construction of ―Box Girder Bridges‖. Researchers reported
their work on analysis and design of box-girder bridges.
However, the following research works are scattered and
discussed.
Patil Yashavant, S. & Sangita, P. S. [1] carried out
comparative analysis of Box Girder with two standards
namely AASHTO and IRC to find out optimized cross
section that would help designer while considering
different factors based on code at the beginning of the
project.
Results[1] were based on finite element modelling and
concluded that Box girder shows better resistance to the
torsion of superstructure. The work was carried out for
following data:
(i) Concrete Grade: M-45
(ii) Span = 50 m
(iii) Road width = 8.750m
(iv) Using IRC-6-2000–Class-A loading.
As a result of this work following conclusion[1] were
made by researcher[1]:
 Bending moment and stress for self-weight and
superimposed weight are same, but those are different
for the moving load consideration, this is due to the
fact that IRC codes gives design for the heavy loading
compared to the AASHTO codes[1].
 In load combination, AASHTO codes have taken
more factor of safety than IRC[1].
 Area of pre-stressing steel required for AASHTO is
less compared to IRC[1].
 Reactions for moving load are different, because
weights of vehicle are different changes as one
change the code[1].
 International Journal of Emerging Technology and Advanced Engineering
Website: www.ijetae.com (ISSN 2250-2459, ISO 9001:2008 Certified Journal, Volume 7, Issue 10, October 2017)
 Box girder shows better resistance to the torsion of TABLE I
COMPARISON BETWEEN THE RESULTS OF 4-CELLS &
superstructure[1]. SINGLE CELL BOX GIRDER [3]
 Finally based on the comparative study AASHTO
code were more economical than IRC[1]. I. Parametric Comparison Between Four Cells &
Sr.
Saxena, A. & Maru, D. S. [2] presented the comparative No.
Single Cell Box Girder
study of two different bridge cross-sections. Parameters Four Cells Single Cell
In study a two lane simply supported RCC T- Beam 10631.1 6276.96
1 Bending Moment
Girder and RCC Twin Box Girder Bridge was analysed for kN.m kN.m
a span of 25m; to determine most favourable option from 2 Deflection 17.06 mm 7.189 mm
above two. The dead load calculations were done manually 3 Concrete Consumption 249.3 m3 138.6 m3
and for live load linear analysis was carried out on Staad
Pro software. IRC-21:2000 & IRC-6:2010 were followed 4 Steel Consumption 26.272 MT 18.167 MT
with vehicular loading of Class -70R was considered.
5 Strand Consumption 450.619 m 180.285 m
Comparisons[2] (presented in the form of charts) for two
cross-sections at different sections includes comparisons of [Table I is taken from [3] Chourasia, M. & Akhtar, D. S. (2015), 'Design and Analysis
analytical quantities as well as financial quantities (i.e. cost of Prestressed Concrete Box Girder by Finite Element Method (4 Cells & 1 Cell)',
comparison). International Journal of Civil and Structural Engineering Research 3(1), 413-421.
Following Conclusions[2] were made by researchers [2]:
The study showed that the single cell pre-stressed
 Less heavier section is required for T-Beam than concrete box girder is most suitable and economical cross-
Twin Box Girder for 25 m span[2]. section for 2 lane Indian national highway bridges[3].
 Moment of resistance of steel for both cases has been Naik, C.T.; Achar, M. M. & Lakshmi, K. [4] presented
evaluated and conclusions drawn that T-Beam Girder the work on analysis and design of Twin-box girder
has more capacity for 25 m span[2]. considering two different sheathing pipes namely HDPE
 Shear force resistance of T-Beam Girder is more and corrugated Bright metal pipes to find the economic
compared to twin cell Box Girder for 25 m span[2]. solution of design of multi-cell (twin) box girder.
 Cost of concrete for T-Beam Girder is less than twin- The design of Multi-cell (twin) PSC box girder is
cell Box Girder as quantity required by T-beam performed using self-developed spread sheets as per IRC
Girder[2]. stipulations for following data:
 Quantity of steel for T-beam Girder is less so cost of (a) Length of box girder = 35.0m
steel in T-Beam is less as compared to twin-cells Box (b) Top width of box girder = 16.6 m
Girder Bridge[2]. (c) For IRC-6:2000 and IRC-18:2000.
 For 25 m span, T-Beam Girder is more economical
The results obtained [4] on the two sheathing pipes were
but if span is more than 25 m, so Box Girder is always
compared, tabulated and graphs were plotted. Finally, it
suitable. This type of Bridge lies in the high tensional
was concluded [4] that:
rigidity available because of closed box section[2].
 PSC multi-cell (twin) box girder is found to be an
Chourasia, M. & Akhtar, D. S. [3] discussed the economical corresponding critical bending
parametric study of 4-cell and Single-cell (1-cell) cross- moment and shear forces developed due to various
sections of pre-stressed concrete box girder for same load combinations as per IRC specifications in
loading to find the most economical cross-section. Study comparison with the design of similar span
was carried out for span of 30 m and having 10 m width. configuration using I girders with Cast In Situ
Moving load considered was Class-AA vehicular load as (C.I.S) deck slab[4].
per IRC-6: 2000 and IRC-18-2000 was followed.
In study following comparison[3] was presented as shown
in table I[3] below:

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 International Journal of Emerging Technology and Advanced Engineering
Website: www.ijetae.com (ISSN 2250-2459, ISO 9001:2008 Certified Journal, Volume 7, Issue 10, October 2017)
 The results obtained in girder with HDPE pipes
are found to be more viable than corrugated bright
metal pipes since the loss of pre-stress is much
less in case of HDPE pipes thereby increasing the
stress levels in the concrete sections[4].
 The maximum vertical deflection is found to occur
near mid-span location of the girder[4].
III. CONCLUSIONS
It can be concluded from present review study that:
 Majority of conclusions drawn in above four papers
are for particular span and width of conventional
simply supported box girders using older versions of
IRC codes.
 Secondly, papers are related to ―conventional simply
supported box girders‖ and research on latest
enhancement in box girder bridges which is
―Segmental Box Girder‖ [which lead towards
economy as curtailment of tendons is possible] is not
much reported by researchers in India as per latest
Indian codal provisions.
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 Hence, there is a much scope in doing research in this
advance topic of ―Design of Segmental Box Girder
Bridge Superstructure‖, especially for bridges
constructed by cantilevering construction and as per
latest IRC codes; by generating large statistical data to
infer something or by using optimistic approaches for
large span ranges to conclude something in this area
of research; as this method has very much potential
for construction of The-New-Era large span bridges in
India.
REFERENCES
[1] Patil Yashavant, S. & Sangita, P. S. (2013), 'Comparative Analysis
of Box Girder Bridge with Two Different Codes', international
journal of civil engineering and technology 4(3), 111-120.
[2] Saxena, A. & Maru, D. S. (2013), 'Comparative Study of the
Analysis and Design of T-Beam Girder and Box Girder
Superstructure', International Journal of Research in Engineering &
Advanced Technology 1(2).
[3] Chourasia, M. & Akhtar, D. S. (2015), 'Design and Analysis of
Prestressed Concrete Box Girder by Finite Element Method (4 Cells
& 1 Cell)', International Journal of Civil and Structural Engineering
Research 3(1), 413-421.
[4] Naik, C. T.; Achar, D. M. M. & Lakshmi, K. (2015), 'Analysis and
Design of Multi Cell Post-Tensioned PSC Box Girder', Journal of
Mechanical and Civil Engineering 12(4), 56-64.