SOILS AND FOUNDATIONS Vol. 38, No. 1, 145-162, Mar.

1998
Japanese Geotechnical Society

SOIL-STRUCTURE INTERACTION OF SPREAD-BASE INTEGRAL BRIDGE

ABUTMENTS

CHARLES Noi>, SARAH SPRINGMANii) and ALISON NORRISHiii)

ABSTRACT
To reduce long-term maintenance costs arising from the deterioration of concrete bridges due to leaky expansion
joints, integral bridges have been becoming increasingly popular in many countries. Abandoning expansion joints
leads to complex soil-structure interaction problems including those caused by cyclic temperature changes in the deck.
These have adverse effects on the performance of integral bridges in terms of deformation mechanisms, lateral earth
pressures acting on the abutment wall, bending moment and axial stress in the deck. All these are of great concern to
engineers.
Centrifuge model tests were conducted on spread-base integral bridge abutments to simulate these temperature
effects on the soil-structure interaction. Thermal expansion and contraction of the deck were modelled by imposing
controlled cyclic displacements at the top of the abutment wall. Substantial horizontal sliding and the rocking of the
abutment due to soil densification and "strain" ratchetting were observed. The measured lateral earth pressure in-
creased with the amplitude of the displacements into the fill (in the passive sense) and the number of cycles, but at a
decreasing rate. For the ultimate limit state and the 1 in 120 years return event, the measured lateral earth pressure
coefficient was 3. 7 and 4.2 for the abutment backfilled with dense and loose sand respectively. The measured bending
moments varied fairly linearly with depth, rather than varying as a cubic function with depth as would be expected for
a relatively flexible wall subjected to a triangular distribution of lateral pressure. The measured value appeared to
reach the design bending capacity of the reinforced concrete wall and base for the 1 in 120 years return event.

Key words: centrifuge modelling, cyclic, integral bridge abutments, soil-structure interaction, spread-base, tempera-
ture (IGC: E12/H2/H6)

teriorated bridges results in traffic congestion unaccepta-

INTRODUCTION
The deck of any bridge experiences temperature varia-
tion in daily and seasonal cycles causing it to expand or
contract. To accommodate the movement due to the ex-
pansion and contraction of the bridge deck, expansion
joints or bearings have traditionally been provided dur·
ing the design and construction. Increasing traffic load
and the frequent application of de-icing salts on the road
surface accelerate the deterioration of concrete bridge
substructures arising from leaky expansion joints and
bearings. The costs of repair and maintenance of conven-
tional road bridges have become a major concern for
many transport authorities in various countries
(Wallbank, 1989; Burke, 1989; Card and Carder, 1993;
Takano, 1993). In addition, frequent repair of these de-
ble.
Integral bridges provides an attractive alternative de-
sign concept to alleviate public discontent and to reduce
substantially maintenance costs associated with bearings
and expansion joints. Consequently, the integral concept
has attracted increasing attention in many countries in
North America, Europe and also Japan (Burke, 1990,
1993; Hambly, 1992; Cabrera, 1993; Parsons, 1993,
Takano, 1993). These integral bridges have a rigid struc-
tural connection between the deck and the abutment wall
and are continuous over any intermediate supports, large-
ly preventing the ingress of corrosive material and
damage to expansion joints caused by impact forces due
to heavy vehicles passing over these joints (Takano,
1993).

i) Assistant Professor, Department of Civil and Structural Engineering, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clear Water Bay,
Kowloon, Hong Kong. (Formerly Research Associate, Engineering Department Cambridge University, Trumpington Street, Cambridge CB2
1PZ, UK.)
ii) Professor, lnstitut fiir Geotechnik, ETH-Honggerberg, CH 8093 Ziirich, Switzerland. (Formerly Lecturer, Engineering Department
Cambridge University, Trumpington Street, Cambridge CB2 1PZ, UK.)
iii) Ph.D Candidate, Engineering Department Cambridge University, Trumpington Street, Cambridge CB2 1PZ, UK.
Manuscript was received for review on August 29, 1996.
Written discussions on this paper should be submitted before October 1, 1998 to the Japanese Geotechnical Society, Sugayama Bldg., 4F,
Kanda Awaji-cho, 2-23, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 101-0063, Japan. Upon request the closing date may be extended one month.

145

This is an Open Access article under the CC-BY-NC-ND license.

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146 NO ET AL.
The absence of movement joints causes any expansion
and contraction of the bridge deck to accumulate over
the entire span and to be transferred to the abutment
walls and to the soil retained behind them. This leads to
complex soil-structure interaction problems resulting in
considerable difficulties in predicting the ultimate magni-
tude and distribution of earth pressures acting on the
abutment wall and in calculating ground movements oc-
curring within the backfill or retained soil. Uncertainties
in the calculation of global soil-structure interaction
cause unreliable design bending moments in the abut-
ment and axial loads in the deck.
Current understanding of the performance of integral
bridge abutments subject to such repeated temperature
controlled loading is fairly limited. Clearly a better under-
standing of the soil-structure interaction between the
abutment and the soil it retains is essential for safe and
economical design of this type of earth-retaining struc-
ture. In this paper, the observed soil-structure interaction
of a reinforced concrete spread-base integral bridge abut-
ment subjected to controlled displacement cyclic motion
during centrifuge tests is reported. Three sets of practical
bridge temperature conditions have been considered and
modelled, including the serviceability (daily) and the ulti-
mate (annual) limit states and the 1 in 120 years thermal
cycles. Due to the length restraint of this paper, only the
general deformation mechanisms, lateral earth pressures
at the soil/wall interfaces, deduced bending moments in
the abutment and axial force in the deck are addressed.
EXISTING IDEALISED SOIL-STRUCTURE
INTERACTION DIAGRAM FOR INTEGRAL
BRIDGE ABUTMENTS
Variation of effective temperatures (BS5400, 1980) in
the bridge deck has a profound effect on the behaviour of
integral bridge abutments. Any change in temperature
will tend to result in expansion or contraction of the
deck. Inevitably internal stress and bending moment will
be induced in the deck if its ends are either fully or partial-
ly restrained. The magnitude of the induced longitudinal
force (axial) in the deck is complex and depends on the de-
sign of the abutments, the magnitude of tempe1:"ature vari-
ations, the coefficient of thermal expansion, and the soil-
structure interaction between the abutment and its
retained soil. A conventional way of representing an
idealised soil-structure interaction of integral bridge abut-
ments is shown in Fig. 1, illustrating the relationship be-
tween axial load in the deck and soil resistance behind the
abutment. For abutments that are rigidly supported later-
ally, the potential increase in the deck length must be
matched by an equivalent shortening due to axial load in
the deck (point A). For no lateral restraint, the deck will
extend fully and there will be no additional axial compres-
sive stress in the deck (point B). This conventional dia-
gram is somewhat ambiguous. The displacement at the
top of wall is taken to be movement towards the backfill
in this paper.
If the soil behind the abutment wall can be assumed to
Passive displacement
~
Resultant soil resistance
B
Displacement at the top of wall
Fig. 1. Conventional soil-deck interaction diagram (Biddle, 1995)
be linearly elastic, the additional lateral soil resistance (in
addition to the initial Ko pressure acting on the wall) will
be linearly proportional to the passive lateral displace-
ment at the top of the abutment wall. As the passive later-
al wall displacement increases towards the fill, the temper-
ature induced compressive axial force in the deck will
decrease whereas the resultant soil resistance force will in-
crease until an equilibrium state is reached at some point
P in the interaction diagram. However, in practice, the
soil is a non-linear and path-dependent material. The
resultant soil resistance will also be non-linear and the
equilibrium point may be represented by Q.
It has been recognised that the application of cyclic
shear loading to sands will result in a progressive reduc-
tion in volume (Youd, 1972; Ishihara et al., 1975), even
in the case of a dense sand, which may dilate during
unidirectional or monotonic loading (Martinet al., 1975).
The progressive reduction of soil volume will lead to an
increase in strength and stiffness when the mean effective
stress is kept constant or increased. This type of cyclic be-
haviour is not considered in Fig. 1 and it has generally
not been taken into consideration during the design of in-
tegral bridge abutments.
CENTRIFUGE MODELLING
The continuity obtained by integral construction of
bridge abutments will cause the abutments to be stressed
not only from primary loads including superstructure
dead loads, live loads and wind loads but also from sec-
ondary loading due to environmental changes such as
temperature and moisture content (shrinkage) and creep
effects. When compared with the design of simply sup-
ported abutments, the treatment of the primary loads for
integral bridge abutments is similar but that of the sec-
ondary loads is not. Therefore, the effects of temperature
variation on the performance of the abutments have been
investigated using the centrifuge modelling technique.
All centrifuge experiments presented in this paper were
conducted at the Cambridge Geotechnical Centrifuge
Centre (Schofield, 1980). In these experiments, the cen-
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 INTERACTION OF INTEGRAL BRIDGE ABUTMENTS 147

trifuge models were contained in a steel strongbox mount- Mode/ Preparation

ed on a platform on the centrifuge arm, which swung up The general arrangement of a centrifuge model of the
as the beam angular velocity was increased, thereby im- spread-base integral abutment assembled in the strong-
posing a radial acceleration on the model. box is shown in Fig. 2. All dimensions shown in the

60g
Top plates

Direction of centrifuge
LVDT Compu-
acceleration
235 Gantry motor

Liner

I 106

',9.9
llv

Dry silica sand , , - _

(Fraction E: 100/170)

All dimensions in mm
unless stated otherwise LVDTS2 LVDTSl LVDTDl LVDTD2

LVDTW2

LVDTW4

LVDTS4 LVDTS3
~
65t ••
~-·
LVDTS2
LVDTSl

PLAN VIEW
Fig. 2. General arrangement for CWWN model test series

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148 NG ET AL.
figure are in mm, except where otherwise stated. The
model consists of an aluminium U-shaped liner to hold
the model with toughened glass panels affixed front and
rear to retain the sand, and a steel strongbox to support
the liner and the model during the centrifuge test.
Draught excluder lubricated with silicon grease was used
to reduce the side friction between the edge of model wall
and the toughened glass liner. In this way the problem ap-
proximates ''plane strain'' behaviour for a central sec-
tion of a wide bridge abutment.
The prototype case was defined as a 6.36-m height of
cohesiveless soil, retained by 1-rn thick spread-base rein-
forced concrete abutment wall and base with 1.5% dou-
bly reinforced steel. For concrete strength of 30 MPa and
steel yield stress of 460 MPa, the bending moment capaci-
ty of the section is approximately 2300 kNm/ m. This in-
tegral spread-base abutment wall and base, with a flex-
ural stiffness of approximately 1.212 x 106 kNm 2 I m at
prototype scale, was modelled by a 9.9-mm thick Dural
section, taking the Young's modulus (E) as 69 GPa.
There was a rigid moment-carrying connection at the
wall-deck joint. The relative flexural stiffness ratio be-
tween the deck and the abutment wall was 3. 7:1, corre-
sponding to a prototype EI deck value of 4.5 x 106
kNm 2 I m run. This mild steel deck section had been used
in an earlier series of tests (Norrish, 1994), with the
stiffness/weight ratio enhanced by forming universal
beams rather than a solid section.
In order to simulate the effects of temperature varia-
tions in the deck on the performance of integral abut-
ments, an actuator (Springman et al., 1994) was used to
push and pull the deck towards and away from the
retained fill respectively. The actuator could provide a
range of cyclic horizontal deck displacements inflight, be-
tween ±0.1 mm and ± 1.0 mm. The basis of the design
was an eccentric vertical drive shaft in conjunction with a
7-Nm torque stepper motor. Great care had been taken
to minimise any linear play or backlash in the system,
which was essential if such small displacements were to
be generated both repeatedly and accurately.
The centrifuge model was prepared by raining dry sand
(Leighton Buzzard silica sand, grain diameters of be-
tween 90 and 150 ,urn) into the strongbox liner from a
hopper suspended above it (Ng, 1995a). The density of
the sample was controlled by both the height of the hop-
per aperture above the sand surface and the rate at which
the sand was released (which is regulated by the size of
the aperture). The choice of grain size for the model soil
is critical when the mechanisms that will occur behind the
abutment at particulate scale are to be replicated. A 12.1-
mm thick layer of lead shot (2.1 mm in diameter) was
placed at the toe of the abutment to simulate granular fill
material of about 2.5 m depth (see Fig. 2).
A covering of the silica sand was glued to the abutment
wall and base surfaces in contact with both the founding
layer and the retained soil. The angle of friction (J) be-
tween the soil and the abutment can therefore be as-
sumed to be equal to the internal angle of friction of the
soil itself {J=c/>).
Instrumentation
Figure 3 shows some details of the instrumentation
used in this series of tests. The instrumentation can
broadly be classified into two categories. One was used to
measure the force and bending moment in a structural ele-
ment by calibrating a strain-gauged load cell and trans-
ducer, respectively. Since the abutment wall was thick
(9.9 mm), sensitive Kulite semi-conductor strain gauges,
as well as conventional foil gauges, were selected to meas-
ure changes in small bending strains when the wall was
undergoing small controlled lateral displacements. De-
tails of evaluation and calibration of the semiconductors
are given by Ng (1995b). Four gauged diaphragm cells
were also developed to measure pressures at the soil/ abut-
ment interfaces.
The second category of instruments was used to meas-
ure the movement of the abutment and ground surface
settlement by linear variable differential transducers
(L VDT's). Some of the positions of these instruments are
shown in Fig. 2. Soil deformation within the backfill was
also monitored by embedding small markers in an area of
200 x 200 mm directly behind the abutment wall, close to
the window of the model box. Movements of those mar-
kers were captured on photographic film at specific times
during the centrifuge flight. Soil shear and volumetric
strains could then be deduced after the tests. Other de-
tails of the instrumentation and calibration procedures
are given by Ng (1995a).
Test Programme and Procedure
For clarity and because of limited space available in
this paper, only some key results from two tests are dis-
cussed (see Table 1). The major difference between the
two tests was in the method of placement of the retained
soil to induce different relative densities of 75% and 14%
in tests CWWN 1 and CWWN2, respectively.
For modelling the response of integral bridge abut-
ments subjected to the expansion and contraction of the
deck, some appropriate ranges of deck movements were
identified from Emerson (1976) and the Department of
Transport (1988). The three temperature ranges consi-
dered include one extreme cycle during the 120-year de-
sign life, seasonal cycles between summer and winter
temperatures, and daily cycles between day and night tem-
peratures. Based on these temperature ranges, controlled
displacements (refer to Table 2) at the deck level were de-
rived for a 100m long concrete bridge deck, with the con-
siderations of some recorded effective bridge tempera-
tures and design requirements defined by the Department
of Transport (Springman et al., 1996).
For each event, 100 cycles of controlled displacement
were applied at the deck level by the computer controlled
horizontal displacement actuator to drive the wall away
from and into the retained soil. For the centrifuge tests
conducted at 60 g, displacement in the centrifuge models
was translated by a scaling factor of 1I 60.
The centrifuge had been accelerated to a nominal ac-
celeration of 100 g before it was reduced to 60 g. This
phase subjected the package to a brief load cycle so that
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 INTERACTION OF INTEGRAL BRIDGE ABUTMENTS 149

+ + + +
14 20 20 20 + + + 20 20 20 ..,.. 20 + 20 ~
1
14 r

BMFW6 BMSW6
30 , ~I LVDTW3
v 125
BMFW5 BMSW5
• ,
PC2
""
- BMFW4 )I BMSW4 25
BMFW3 BMSW3 ~ LVDTW4 v
• "'
BMFW2 BMSW2

BMFW1 BMSW1
001
I
55
:: 188
I
:FRONT E~EVATION +
34

Retained side

54.9 45.0

100

Excavated side

Legend
• Earth pressure cell PLAN
® Semi-conductor strain gauge for bending moment measurement
EB Foil strain gauge for bending moment measurement
I LVDT for displacement measurement

Fig. 3. Details of instrumentation for abutment wall and base

Table 1. Details of each test the soil was over-stressed by a factor of 1.67 relative to
Voids ratio Relative density
the values expected at a nominal working acceleration of
Height of fill Density
Test
(mm) (kg/m3 ) e In 60 g, and hence the earth pressure coefficient was arti-
ficially increased.
CWWN1 115.9 1546 0.71 0.75

CWWN2 115.9 1354 0.96 0.14

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150 NO ET AL.

Table 2. Controlled displacements in the tests shows that densification of soil behind the wall has
Nominal
reduced the effective actuator movement by 3 mm, which
Nominal Nominal is 50% of the input at cycle 100.
controlled
Event prototype rotation at
displacement During wall perturbations, the base of the abutment
displacement deck level
(model scale) gradually moved away (translation) from the backfill as
Daily (serviceability) ±0.1 mm ±6mm ±0.06° the number of cycles increased. As the deck was pulled
away from the fill, the soil either settled and dilated (in
Daily (serviceability) ±0.2mm ±12mm ±0.12° dense sand) or settled and contracted (in loose sand) to
Annual (ultimate) ±0.5mm ±30mm ±0.29° fill the resulting void. The density of this gap-filling sand
1:120 years (extreme) ±l.Omm ±60mm ±0.58° increased in the following passive cycle. The ongoing
processes of settling, filling and densification during the
subsequent thermal cycles led to the observed increase in
earth pressures. Substantial translational (sliding) dis-
placements were recorded in all tests. This motion sug-
RESULTS OF CENTRIFUGE TESTS
gested that the lead shot provided little passive resistance
During the tests, a vast amount of data and informa- at the toe of the abutment.
tion was acquired, and so only selected responses of the The wall displacements clearly displayed a "strain"
model are reported. A summary of some key test results ratchetting effect, whereby the outward movements of
during passive perturbations from cycle 1 to 100 is given the stem progressively increased with the number of
in Table. 3. Other details of the tests and interpreted strain cycles, due to the densification and settlement of
results are given by Ng (1995a) and Springman et al. the fill. In this paper, strain ratchetting is used to describe
(1996). the progressive accumulation of plastic strains in the soil
due to cyclic motions. Similar strain ratchetting behav-
Observed Deformation Mechanisms iour has been reported by Hird and Djerbib (1992), who
The deformation mechanisms observed in both cen- conducted centrifuge tests of L-shaped walls subjected to
trifuge tests were generally similar. Thus, only one of the constant stress cycles. The magnitude of the translational
test results is presented and discussed, unless given other- movement and the ratchetting effects were more sig-
wise. nificant in dense than in loose fill. However, ratchetting
Figure 4 shows the measured deformation of the abut- behaviour was not observed during one year of full-scale
ment wall during active and passive cyclic perturbations field monitoring of a shallow integral abutment (Darley
in the CWWNl test. The location of each LVDT is given et al., 1995). A significant number of temperature cycles
in Fig. 3. Positive displacement denotes wall movement would probably be required to develop this behaviour.
away from the backfill. Results from the third L VDT Hird and Djerbib (1992) and Darley et al. (1995) have
(L VDTW3) were removed because the spindle of the also shown sliding of the abutments in their centrifuge
transformer reached the end of its travel when the wall tests and in the field, respectively. Therefore, a design
was in an active state. The response shown was typical check on sliding resistance of spread-base abutments is
for all the tests. It can be seen that the movement at the important.
top of the wall (LVDTWl) was generally well controlled Apart from the translational motion, rotational (rock-
by the actuator (see Fig. 4, where +Cl =1st active cycle ing) motion was also observed in the tests. One way to
and -ClOO= lOOth passive cycle), although Fig. 4(a) demonstrate this type of behaviour is to plot the vertical

Table 3. Summary of some key test results during passive perturbations for cycle 1 and 100 (in prototype scale)

CWWN1 Un=7S%) CWWN2 Un= 14%)

±6mm ±12mm ±30mm ±60mm ±6mm ±12mm ±30mm ±60mm
Changes of axial load
-38 to -12 +150 to +224 +498 to +788 + 1129 to + 1675 + 102 to + 155 +257 to +293 +577 to +699 + 1037 to + 1444
(kN I m width)
Changes of BM (kNm/m) in
765 to 712 508 to 355 -151 to -538 -1322 to -2126 200 to 158 58 to 42 -246 to -488 -1228 to -2030
wall at BMFW8
Changes of transverse BM
-44 to -137 0 to -10 360 to 681 1216 to 1956 157 to 87 285 to 226 962 to 1146 1981 to 2469
(kNm/ m) in base at BMSB6
Changes of earth pressure
0.68 to 1.00 1.09 to 1.22 1.58 to 2.40 2.96 to 3.71 0.33 to 1.04 1.26 to 1.62 2.07 to 2.45 3.09 to 4.18
coefficient at PC 1
Soil settlement (mm), mean
0 to -36 -36 to -78 -78 to -216 -222 to -540 0 to -10.8 -108 to -234 -234 to -492 -492 to -810
of LVDTS1 & LVDTS3
Vertical displacement (mm)
0.25 to -0.98 -0.95 to -3.53 -1.93 to
of base at L VDTB1 * * * *
-9.12 *

Note: + ve axial load denotes compression, + soil movement means heave.

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 INTERACTION OF INTEGRAL BRIDGE ABUTMENTS 151

(CWWNl-retained dense sand) (CWWNl-retained dense sand)

0 r-----------------------------------~
*9. , 0 ......~···..
~,~~'\·
Away from the fill

:w::s~~
..
'~ ..
'·:·

;~;~
2

-····o 6
+Cl -Cl +C5 -C5 +C50 -C50 +C100 -C100 +C1 -C1 +C5 -C5 +C50 -C50 +C100 -C100
__.._ -$- -0--- -0--- -:-8-- -a-- -+--- -+--- ----- - · - ~ ~- ---8- -B- -+- -+---
8 8
-8 -6 -4 -2 0 2 4 6 -30 -20 -10 0 10 20 30 40 50
Wall displacement (mm) Wall displacement (mm)

Fig. 4(a). Displacement of wall under +I -6 mm excitation Fig. 4(c). Displacement of wall under +I- 30 mm excitation

(CWWNl-retained dense sand) (CWWN1-retained dense sand)

0 0
~
"''''~owards the fill

Aprlotdoitmyp:es~c:al~e .~·~: ~·: "-':~.:. >·-

:g :§ 2
2
'"@
~ :3:
:3:
'lS 'lS
0..
s 4
~ 4
s s
.;::0 .§
..s ...
-5
fr &
C\ 6
v ''··<:.:8-.
C\ 6
+C1 -C1 +C5 -C5 +C50 -C50 +C100 -C100 +Cl -Cl +C5 -C5 +C50 -C50 +ClOO -ClOO

___.__ - · - -0--- ~ -a- -a-- -+--- -+- ----- _._ ~ ~ -B- -B- -+- -+-
8 8
-10 -5 0 10 15 -60 -40 -20 0 20 40 60 80 100
20
Wall displacement (mm) Wall displacement (mm)

Fig. 4(b). Displacement of wall under +I -12 mm excitation Fig. 4(d). Displacement of wall under +I -60 mm excitation

movement of the abutment (L VDTB1) versus the sectional area of the deck (i.e., 11.79 m2 total or 1.08 m
horizontal displacement at the top of abutment per metre width). Figs. 7(a) and (b) show the measured ax-
(LVDTW1) as shown in Fig. 5. This rocking motion as- ial stress in the deck for tests CWWN1 and CWWN2 re-
sisted in amplifying the settlement in the backfill with the spectively. The initial magnitude of the measured axial
increase in magnitude of the excitation at the top of wall stresses increased with the magnitude of displacement at
and in the number of cycles. Foundation soil underneath the top of the abutment wall, particularly during the pas-
the toe of the abutment was also densified and this result- sive perturbations where earth pressure was mobilising
ed in further local settlement and "rocking" of the abut- towards its passive limiting value. For the walls at the
ment (Ng, 1995a; Springman et al., 1996). serviceability limit states (less than 12 mm displacement
The rigid body movement deduced was also captured amplitude), no significant increase in axial stress was ob-
by "spot chasing" data for dense and loose sand tests. served with the number of cycles. For the 1 in 120 years
The fill settled significantly within a triangular zone be- return event, however, the measured compressive axial
hind the wall to a "V-shaped" failure wedge (see Fig. 6), stress increased substantially during the first 20 cycles, af-
in loose sand in particular. Tensile failure rupture planes ter which there was a small increase in values but at a
can be clearly seen along some localised shear bands in reducing rate as the number of cycles increased. As ex-
both tests. Details of the interpreted results are given by pected, the increase in the axial compressive stress was
Springman et al. (1996). higher in the dense than in the loose sand backfill test.
During active displacement perturbations, a small tensile
Axial Stress in the Bridge Deck stress was recorded.
The axial load in the bridge deck was measured using Figures 8(a) and (b) show the relationship between the
strain gauges, which were mounted in such a way that in- measured compressive axial stress in the deck and the
duced compressive and tensile strains due to bending measured angle of rotation at LVDTW2 for tests in the
would have been cancelled out. Hence, the measured dense and loose backfill respectively. The centre of rota-
strains would be purely axial strains. Axial stress was cal- tion was assumed to be at the intersection of the abut-
culated by dividing the measured axial load by the cross- ment stem and the base. The initial compressive stress in

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152 NG ET AL.

5
+1- 6mm +/-12mm +1- 30mm +1- 60mm
····-9···· ·····•···· ····~·-·· ····•·····
0

-5

-10 -

-15 -

-20

-25
Towards the fill Away from the fill

-60 -40 -20 0 20 40 60 80

Horizontal displacement at the top of wall at LVDTWl (mm)

Fig. 5. Movement of abutment wall and base in dense sand

• .J,
J J
•
J ft
" '
!
<

•
•
.. " A~:ng
1 Spot
J
v
J J JJ
.. • .. .. " JJ J
____ /
....

J Failure wedge
• • rJ
• • J
.J, •
• •
• .. rJ
~
-- Vector Scale= 1.804mm

Fig. 6. Displacements vectors at the end of test CWWNl (model scale)

the deck at the first cycle of each sequence of passive per-
turbations was governed by the magnitude of the initial
angle of rotation. However, very different behaviour was
observed during the subsequent passive perturbations as
a result of soil densification and strain ratchetting. The
effects of soil densification and strain ratchetting behind
the abutment wall on the passive wall movement were il-
lustrated by the decrease in the measured angle of rota-
tion towards the backfill with an increase in number of
passive cycles, accompanied by a progressively increase

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 INTERACTION OF INTEGRAL BRIDGE ABUTMENTS 153

2.0 r-------------------------------------------------------------------1
+6mm -6mm +12mm -12mm +30mm -30mm +60mm ~60mm

1.5
···-~····· ····•····· ····B···· -··B -·· ···-~·-·· - · ~ - · ····•·····
•
Deck cross-sectional area
= 11.79 sq. m (prototype)
1.0

~---·-·-·-·-·-·-·-·-·-·-·-·-·(>
~---~·-·-·-·-·-·-·-·~
0.5 f)· ..

,
· B· -8·· -·· 0 .................. -·· ... B-.. -·· ... -·· ............... -··-·· ... -·· ... EJ

.!l
·~
=
0

-0.5
; , ,
.. ........ ............................... ........................................................
. ::.. ::::::::.
........ . :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::.
······························· ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
························································
~

-1.0 L-----~----~----~----~----~----~----~----~----~----~----~----~
0 W ~ ~ W 100 lW

Number of cycles
Fig. 7(a). Variation of axial stress in deck with number of cycles (CWWNl)

+6mm -6mm + 12mm -12mm +30mm . -30mm +60mm -60mm

1.5
·····Go···· ........... ....g .... -··B-·· ....~.... -· -<7-· ..........
•
Deck cross-sectional area
=11.79 sq. m (prototype)

~ - () • - . - ·<3>· - . - . - . - . - . - . - . - • - .~--·-·-·-·-·-·-·-·-·-·-·-·-·-·-<>
. _,.-
0.5

. El· -B·· -·· -·G· -·· -·· -·· -·· -·· -·· -·· -·· -B·· -·· -·· -·· -·· -·· -·· -·· -·· •·· -·· -·· -·· -·· -·· -·D
··-~--·-------------------------·
0
~:::~:::::::::8:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::~:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::~
. ·0.. --:E? ..······-~ ................................... 0 ............................................................. -()
OJ -0.5
.....................................................................................................................
~
=
~

-1
0 20 40 60 80 100 120

Number of cycles

Fig. 7(b). Variation of axial stress in deck with number of cycles (CWWN2)

in axial compressive stress in the deck. This observed be-
haviour is not considered in the conventional soil-deck in-
teraction diagram shown in Fig. 1.
The continuing densification of soil behind the abut-
ment wall was accompanied by significant surface ground
settlement in both tests. The magnitude and extent of the
ground settlement was greater in the loose than dense
backfill (Ng, 1995a). Clearly these observed settlements
have implications on the design of run-on or approach-
ing slabs.

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154 NGET AL.

2.0 r---------------------------------.

-
-6mm
n = 100
1.5
-12mm
····... ···········-······················....
-+-
1.0 n=1 ···································.... ··... -30mm
_._
0.5
·••··•····•··••······••··············...... :~:~ -60mm

-B-

o.o r----------------~••Ht--------1

-0.5
-0.4 -0.3 -0.2 -0.1 0 0.1

Measured rotation at LVDTW2 during passive perturbations (degree)

Fig. 8(a). Relationship between axial stress in deck and rotation of wall in dense fill

2.0

-6mm -30mm

1.5 1- • •
~~····~-~100 -12mm -60mm

1.0 1-
~················ ········· • 0

0.5 1-

-:::1111
0.0

I I I I I
-0.5
-0.6 -0.5 -0.4 -0.3 -0.2 -0.1 0

Measured rotation at LVDTW2 during passive perturbations (degree)

Fig. 8(b). Relationship between axial stress in deck and rotation of wall in loose fill

Measured Earth Pressures
In centrifuge tests, lateral earth pressures acting on the
abutment wall were measured by two contact pressure
cells PC1 and PC2 at depth 2.16 m and 3.96 m below the
ground surface respectively. Figures 9 and 10 show the
measured lateral earth pressure varying with the number
of cycles for tests CWWN1 and CWWN2 respectively. In
the figures, ~ = 32 o and 45 o are the critical state angle
(Tan, 1990) and the estimated peak angle of friction
(Bolton, 1986) for the sand used in the tests, respectively.
The measured lateral earth pressure decreased immedi-
ately to the active value, after the initial movement of 6
mm away from the fill, prior to subsequent 12 mm (±6
mm) cycles in passive and active modes. This is consistent
with existing active earth pressure theories. Although the
active conditions are not important for the structural de-

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 INTERACTION OF INTEGRAL BRIDGE ABUTMENTS 155

6
-60mm

5
+6mm
···~···
-6mm +12mm
···•··· ···8··
-12mm
-·G··
+30mm
---~-- --30mm
-~.
+60mm
···•··· •
Note: Ka=0.31 (<!>=32, 8=0) Kp=3.25 (<)>=32, 8=0) Ka=0.26 (<!>=0=32)
Ka=0.17 (<!>=45, 8=0) Kp=5.82 (<!>=45, 8=0) Kp=6.5 (<!>=0=32)
4
Passive

_. _. - . - •- •- 0 Passive
~---·-·-·
2 ----
- - - -.- ·~- ~ ~- ·- ~- ._ -·-·-·~-
-- - - - - - - --- - - --- - - - --- - ---- - ----- - --- - --- - - ---- - -- - -
()- ()- .
. ·E:t · • - · G · · - · · - · · - · · - · · - · · E3 · - · · - · · - · · - · · - · · - · · - · · - · • - · · - G Passive
~--~------~---···················-~·····
··································-~ Passive

~:1~1 1111 111.:::::::::::11111111111111111111.111111111111111111111111111!!!:::::::::::::::::::::::: Active

0
0 20 40 60 80 100 120

Number of cycles
Fig. 9(a). Development of lateral earth pressure at 0.3 H in dense sand (PCl)

6 ~-----------------------------------------------------------,
+6mm
...-6mm
._...
+12mm -12mm +30mm
-
-30mm +60mm -60mm

5
···~···
Note:
··B··· -·G··
Ka=0.31 (<1>=32, 0=0)
·--~--
Kp=3.25 (<1>=32, 0=0)
·~. ···•···
Ka=0.26 (<1>=8=32)
•
Ka=0.17 (<1>=45, 0=0) Kp=5.82 (<1>=45, 0=0) Kp=6.5 (<1>=8=32)
4

3 ---------~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~---~-~-~-~-~-~-~---~-~-~-·-~-~--------~~~•--P~~~---

~-0-. ~-· -· -· -
• -· ~ ~
• - • - • - • - • - • - • - • - • 'V/ Passive

1 -_--
::~:.- -.- :.
~--~ .-.~ ~~~ .:.~: ~~[3:.-~.-.-~.-. -_-.-. :..-.: ~-.~ .;.~; .;.;.- ~;.g-- i>ass!ve---
--~---·~·-··················~···································~ Passive
·~······-ii••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••·······~ Active

0 20 40 60 80 100 120

Number of cycles
Fig. 9(b). Development of lateral earth pressure at 0.6 H in dense sand (PC2)

sign of the wall, the active movement of the wall away between the wall and the retained soil, causing settlement
from the soil is significant in that it permits soil particles and densification behind the abutment.
to shake down into the gap which would otherwise form The measured lateral earth pressure coefficient, K, in-

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156 NO ET AL.

6 r-------------------------------------------------------------
+6mm -6mm +12mm -12mm +30mm -30mm +60mm -60mm

5
·····&···· ·····•···· ····B···· -·· B-··
Note: Ka=0.31 (4>=32, 0=0) Kp=3.25 (cj>=32, 0=0)
····~···· -. -<3>-.
Ka=0.26 (4>=&=32)
·····•···· •
Ka=0.17 (4>=45, 0=0) Kp=5.82 (4>=45, 0=0) Kp=6.5 (<1>=&=32)
4 ----------------------------------------- _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _:P~s~i_v~ _ _ _ _

• - • - • - ·~ • - • - • - • - • - • - • - • - • - • ~ Passive
2 _()-: ~ ~ _-_ ?:_ ·_ ~- ·_ ~- ----------------------------. ---. ------------------
•
r:-J... • • - • • - • • - • • - • • - •
·~ •• ... t:...T
G · • - •• - •· - •• - •• - · · - •• - •• - •• - ••EJ Passive

.............
- - - - - - - - - -.- ;..·.~.;.~•--·••·•••·•··--·4··---················---·•••••••••••·-·--·-• - - Passive- ---

Active
0
0 20 40 60 80 100 120
Number of cycles
Fig. lO(a). Development of lateral earth pressure at 0.3 H in loose sand (PCl)

6 r-----------------------------------------------------------------~

+6mm -6mm +12mm -12mm +30mm -30mm +60mm -60mm

5
·····&···· ·····•···· ····B···· -.. B-.. ····~···· - · ~- · ·····•···· •
4 Note: Ka=0.31 ($=32, 0=0) Kp=3.25 ($=32, 0=0) Ka=0.26 ($=0=32)
Ka=0.17 ($=45, 0=0) Kp=5.82 Cc!l=45, O=o) Kp=6.5 Cc!l=0=32)

Passive

<& • _ • _ • _ • _ • _ • - • - • - • - • - • -() Passive

.()!- -~ • - • -€>- - • - • - • - • - • - •
-G~~.-.-~.-. -~~ ~-.~ ;.·.;
~·~ •••••·-••B·-.-....-.-.-......-.. --·· -·· -·---···-.-·--·-·--·-. fl- Passi-ve-----
~~--~·······~·························~···········································~ Passive
- - - ,..- -........................iti"""""'""'"""'"""'''''m••uuum;;m;;;;;;r::-:m:::::r:::..:::::;;;;;;;;;;;;;;:;;;;::;;:;:;;;;:.;;;;;;~ Active
0 ~----------~--------~----------~-----------L----------~--------~
0 20 40 60 80 100 120
Number of cycles

Fig. lO(b). Development of lateral earth pressure at 0.6 H in loose sand (PC2)

creased with the magnitude of passive excitation at the
top of the wall and the number of cycles. Each increment
of passive displacement led to a rise in the K values be-
cause of soil densification and strain ratchetting effects.
The K value increased during the 100 cycles of perturba-
tion but at a decreasing rate after the first 20 cycles. The
degree of pressure increase was greater at shallower
depths in both dense and loose sands. This implies that
soil arching might have taken place among the soil mass
behind the abutment wall, i.e., lateral earth pressures
were redistributed upward to the location of the deck
through horizontal shear stress. Thus a classical triangu-
lar earth pressure distribution probably did not exist be-
hind the wall after a number of displacement cycles.

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 INTERACTION OF INTEGRAL BRIDGE ABUTMENTS 157

At the serviceability limit states (± 12 mm), the meas-
ured earth pressure coefficients at both locations in the
two tests were all less than 2.0, which is substantially low-
er than the limiting passive earth pressure coefficient
Kp=6.5, with the assumptions of interface wall friction
~ = 4>crit = 32 °. Even if wall friction was not considered,
the maximum measured value was still less than the theo-
retical value Kp of 3.3. Thus the recommendation by
Card and Carder (1993) to use the Kp (~=0°) value for
the design check on the serviceability limit state could be
too conservative.
At the ultimate limit state (±30 mm), the maximum

6 ~-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------~
-6mm -12mm -30mm -60mm

5
Note: Ka=0.31 (<1>=32, 0=0)
0 0
Kp=3.25 (<J>=32, 0=0)
•
Ka=0.26 (<1>=0=32)
Ka=O.l7 (<j>=45, 0=0) Kp=5.82 (<j>=45, 0=0) Kp=6.5 (<!>=0=32)
4

0 ~------~--------~------~--------~----------L--------L-------~--~
-35 -30 -25 -20 -15 -10 -5 0

Horizontal wall displacement at LVDTW2 (mm)

Fig. ll(a). Relationship between lateral earth pressure and wall displacement in dense sand

Note: Ka=0.31 (<1>=32, 0=0) Kp=3.25 (<J>=32, 0=0) Ka=0.26 (<1>=0=32)

Ka=0.17 (<1>=45, 0=0) Kp=5 .82 (<1>=45, 0=0) Kp=6.5 (<1>=0=32)

2 ----------------------------------------------

-12mm -30mm -60mm

.....g- ~ -+-
0
-50 -40 -30 -20 -10 0
Horizontal wall displacement at LVDTW2 (mm)
Fig. ll(b). Relationship between lateral earth pressure and wall displacement in loose sand

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158 NG ET AL.

measured values of earth pressure coefficients were all
less than the theoretical value Kp=3.3 when no wall fric-
tion was allowed (o=O). However, this limiting value is
considered inappropriate for a rough wall on which a
covering of sand was glued. Thus, the limiting passive
earth pressure coefficient Kp=6.5 is more appropriate for
the ultimate limit condition. For the 1:120 year condi-
tions {±60 mm), the measured K value remained less
than 3.3 after the initial cycle of excitation, but it in-
creased rapidly during the first 20 cycles and approached
an asymptote of K slightly greater than 4 (in loose fill)
thereafter. These values were the worst case mentioned
for either dense or loose fill. In designing for the 1:120
year return period, designers may have to consider adopt-
ing a higher value of K, which allows for soil-wall adhe-
sion so that K may approaches Kp. However, it should be
noted that the 1:120 year event should only happen once
during the design life.
Figures ll(a) and (b) show the measured lateral earth
pressure coefficient K varying with the measured wall dis-
placement at LVDTW2 and the number of cycles. The
measured K values increased with the number of cycles,
and with the measured wall displacement at L VDTW2
(moved away from the backfill). The initial settings of
the experiments were an attempt to hold constant the an-
gle of rotation at the deck level. However, the progres-
sive decrease in the measured wall displacement with the
number of perturbations at this height represented an in-
crease in stiffness of the soil due to densification, which
was induced by the imposed cyclic motion. Similar behav-
iour was also reported by Hird and Djerbib (1992) in
their centrifuge tests undertaken on an L-shaped model
wall founded on and backfilled with sand. Moreover, the
observed behaviour in the figures is consistent with soil
element test results on dry sand specimens using a simple
shear apparatus (Youd and Craven, 1975; Martinet al.,
1975).
The measured axial compressive stresses in the deck
shown in Figures 8(a) and (b) are consistent with the
measured lateral earth pressures (see Figs. 11(a) and (b)).
During passive perturbations, an increase in axial com-
pressive stress in the deck was expected as the wall was
pushed towards the backfill. For equilibrium, this in-
creased axial stress must be resisted by an increase in later-
al earth pressure acting on the wall. As expected, the
measured lateral earth pressure coefficient was higher in
dense than in loose backfill (see Table 3) at the initial con-
ditions and during small displacement perturbations. On
the other hand, for passive perturbations greater than
± 12 mm, the measured lateral earth pressure coefficients

(CWWN1-retained dense sand) (CWWN1-retained dense sand)

0 ~--------------------------------. 0 ~--------------------------------~
+C1 -C1 +C5 -C5 +C50 -C50 +ClOO -ClOO +C1 -Cl +C5 -C5 +C50 -C50 +ClOO -ClOO
-----------4-~-B--B---+---+-
----- ----Jtr- -4- -4- -a- --8- --+- -+-
All dimensions in prototype
scale
All dimensions in prototype scale

8 ~----~----~~----~------~----~
8 ~--~~--~----~----~----~----~

-1,000 -500 0 500 1,000 1,500 -1,500 -1,000 -500 0 500 1,000 1,500
Bending moment (kNm/m) Bending moment (kNm/m)

Fig. 12(a). Bending moment in wall under +I -6 mm excitation Fig. 12(c). Bending moment in wall under +I -30 mm excitation

+ve Shear force

(CWWNl-retained dense sand) (CWWN1-retained dense sand)

Or--------------------------------, +C1 -Cl +C5 -CS +CSO -C50 +ClOO -ClOO
+C1 -C1 +C5 -C5 +C50 -C50 +C100 -C100
----- ----Jtr- ~ ~ -a- --8-- --+- --+-
----- -·- -4- -4- -a- --8-- --+- --+- Towards the fill Away from the fill
All dimensions in prototype
scale

All dimensions in prototype

scale

8 ~----~----~------~----~----~ 8
-1,000 -500 0 500 1,000 1,500 -3,000 -2,000 -1,000 1,000 2,000

Bending moment (kNm/m) Bending moment (kNm/m)

Fig. 12(b). Bending moment in wall under +I -12 mm excitation Fig. 12(d). Bending moment in wall under +I -60 mm excitation

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 INTERACTION OF INTEGRAL BRIDGE ABUTMENTS 159

were higher in the loose than in the dense fill. This im- moment in the wall approached 50% of the moment
plies that significant soil densification took place in the capacity of the concrete section (2300 kNm/ m), and the
loose backfill. measured bending moment reached full bending capacity
at the 1:120 years event.
Measured Bending Moments Figures 13(a) to 13(d) show the measured bending mo-
Figures 12(a) to 12(d) show the variation of bending ments in the base corresponding to various stages of wall
moments with depth for test CWWN1. For active dis- displacement perturbations. At the serviceability states
placement perturbations in particular, these bending mo- (±6 mm and 12 mm wall displacement in the prototype),
ments varied fairly linearly with depth, rather than maximum bending moments in the base occurred when
varying as a cubic function with depth for a typical rela- the wall was in an active state (solid lines), created by
tively flexible wall subjected to a triangular distribution "lifting'' the fill. These bending moments (at BMSB5 to
of lateral pressure. This seems to imply that the bending BMSB7 below the fill, see Fig. 3) increased significantly
moment of the spread-base abutment wall was domi- during the first few cycles, after which there was only a
nated by structural deformation rather than by lateral small increase in values as the number of cycles in-
earth pressure, particularly for large controlled displace- creased. At the ultimate states ( ± 30 mm and 60 mm wall
ment cycles ( ± 30 mm and 60 mm prototype). However, displacement prototype), the active bending moments in
soil densification and strain ratchetting had a significant the base were not critical. There was a relatively small in-
influence on the deformation of the abutment, which in crease in bending moments as the number of cycles in-
turn governed the magnitude of bending moments. creased. On the other hand, the passive bending mo-
The effect of the number of controlled displacement cy- ments (dotted lines) in the base increased substantially as
cles on the wall bending moment was most significant dur- the magnitude of wall displacements and the number of
ing the first 50 cycles, after which there was only a small cycles increased, particularly during the first 50 cycles.
increase in bending moment as the number of cycles in- These passive bending moments were the greater in the
creased. At the ultimate limit state, the induced bending base, created by high pressures acting on the bottom of

(retained dense sand under +/-6mm excitation) (retained dense sand under +/-30mm excitation)

300 1,500

~
All dimensions in bmsbS +Cl -Cl +CS -CS
prototype scale -------.-~~

~
200
+ ;
g~
1,000

I 100 ....··
...........
~>-., J /~
'--:~l /
+CSO
-B-
-C50 +ClOO
-B--+- -+-
-C100

~ '·
~ 0 /)
;::
-100
'::::;;:;;.~~~~/ c:
~
500
~-/
8 ~ All dimensions in prototype scale

~
~ -200 +Cl -C1 +C5 -CS bl)
0
bl) c:
:acc: -.------~~
:a
-300 5

~
Q.) j:Q
j:Q
+CSO -CSO +ClOO -CIOO
-400 -500 bmsblO
-8-- -B- -+- -+-
-500
-3 -2 -1 0 2 -1,000
Distance from the centre line of stem (m) -3 -2 -1 0 2 3
Distance from the centre line of stem (m)
Fig. 13(a). Transverse bending moment in base (CWWN1)
Fig. 13(c). Transverse bending moment in base (CWWN1)

G +veBM

0 (retained dense sand under +/-60mm

excitation
4,000
(retained dense sand under +/-12mm excitation) bmsb5 ~ +C1 -Cl +CS -CS

3,000
+ . ·~ I----------~~
~
~
+CSO -CSO +ClOO -ClOO
200
g 2,000 -a- -a- -+- -+-
;::
~0 1,000

1 -200
+C1 -C1 +C5 -C5
8
bl)

~c: 0
All dimensions in prototype
scale

~
Q.)

-400 -.---.--~~ j:Q

~ +CSO -CSO +ClOO -CIOO -1,000

bmsblO
-600 -B- -B- -+- -+-
All dimensions in prototype scale -2,000
-800 . __ _......___ _......___ _......___ _..___ _..___ ____. -3 -2 -1 0 2
-3 -2 -1 0 2
Distance from the centre line of stem
Distance from the centre line of stem (m) (m)

Fig. 13(b). Transverse bending moment in base (CWWN1) Fig. 13(d). Transverse bending moment in base (CWWN1)

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160
the base. This seems to imply that the build-up of passive
resistance below the base became very important at large
wall displacements and this outweighed the effect of the
fill acting downward on the top of the base. Similarly to
the induced bending moments in the wall, about 50%
and 100% of the bending moment capacity was reached
at the ultimate limit state and the 1 in 120 years return
event respectively.
For the test in loose fill (CWWN2), the general pattern
of bending moments varying with depth is similar to the
results of the test in dense sand, especially for large wall
displacements. At the serviceability limit states ( ± 6 mm
and 12 mm prototype), the measured maximum bending
moments of the wall in loose sand were generally smaller
than those of the wall in dense sand. However, at the ulti-
mate limit states (±30 mm and 60 mm prototype), the
magnitudes of the measured bending moments in these
two tests (CWWN1 and CWWN2) were very similar, ir-
respective of the initial density of the fill. This may rein-
force further the speculation that the behaviour observed
for this type of abutment is mainly governed by the struc-
tural response rather than soil stiffness, after significant
densification has occurred and subsequently a failure
wedge has been formed.
The measured distribution of bending moments in the
base for the loose sand fill test (CWWN2) were similar to
those in the dense sand fill test (CWWN1) described previ-
ously (see Fig. 13(a)-(d)). However, the measured maxi-
2,000
•
Axial force at 30mm displacement
1,500
•
Axial force at 60mm displacem~qt ·'
1,000
500
0 20
0 5 10
Passive wall displacement at LVDTW2 (mm)
Fig. 14. Observed soil-deck interaction diagram
NO ET AL.
mum bending moment was higher in the loose than in the
dense backfill due to large structural deformation in the
loose fill test.
OBSERVED SOIL-STRUCTURE INTERACTION
DIAGRAM
To a certain extent, retained granular fill material be-
hind an integral abutment subjected to cyclic thermal
loading is analogous to a sand specimen in a large simple
shear box under repeated reversals of the direction of
strain. However, the response of the granular backfilled
material is always complicated by the unknown effects of
soil-structure interaction, whereas in the simple shear
box, the sand specimen is subjected to known and fixed
boundary conditions, even if the internal strain condi-
tions are not uniform.
The soil-structure interaction diagram for a typical in-
tegral bridge abutment shown in Fig. 1 seems to imply
that the bridge is completed in an initial cool reference
weather such as in the winter. As the temperature rises in
the summer, compressive stress induced in the deck will
force the abutment wall to move towards the backfill. As
the wall displacement increases, the temperature-induced
compressive stress decreases. This passive wall displace-
ment towards the backfill will be resisted by the soil be-
hind the wall, leading to an increase in lateral earth pres-
sure. As the temperature falls, the deck will contract and
140
120
100
80
60
··········0-·········
Earth pressure at 30mm displacement
·····8····· 40
Earth pressure at 60mm displacement
15 20 25 30
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 INTERACTION OF INTEGRAL BRIDGE ABUTMENTS
pull the wall away from the backfill. This will result in a
reduction of both axial compressive stress and lateral
earth pressure. If the temperature falls below the initial
reference value, tensile stress may be induced in the deck
and the lateral earth pressure will drop and may even
reach its active limiting value.
To model the effects of temperature variation on the
soil structure interaction at the soil/ wall interface of an
integral bridge abutment, an actuator was used in the cen-
trifuge tests to push and pull the abutment wall via an in-
tegrally connected bridge deck. Figure 14 shows the meas-
ured axial compressive force in the deck varying with
passive wall displacement near the level of the deck
(L VDTW2). Care was taken when interpreting the axial
stress measured in the deck during the centrifuge tests. In
the prototype, as the abutment wall is somewhat re-
strained by lateral earth pressure, internal axial compres-
sive stress in the deck will be induced as the temperature
rises above the initial reference temperature at which the
bridge was constructed. Accordingly, the initial lateral
earth pressure will increase when the deck elongates.
However, this thermally induced compressive axial stress
will decrease when any elongation is permitted. In con-
trast, during the centrifuge tests, compressive axial stress
in the deck was generated when the wall was pushed by
the actuator against the retained soil. The stiffer the back-
fill, the larger the axial force generated. Therefore, the
measured axial stress in the deck increased, rather than
decreased, with the magnitude of initial passive wall dis-
placement at the start of each sequence of perturbations
(see Fig. 14). For equilibrium, the measured earth pres-
sure also increased with the magnitude of the initial pas-
sive wall displacement at the start of each sequence of per-
turbations.
During the subsequent passive perturbations, the am-
plitude of passive wall displacements decreased progres-
sively as the number of cycles increased, due to an
increase in lateral earth pressure as a result of soil den-
sification and strain ratchetting effects. As expected for
equilibrium, an increase in lateral earth pressure led to a
rise in the axial force in the deck. The magnitude of the
axial forces appeared to vary linearly with the wall dis-
placement. However, a non-linear earth pressure
response was observed at large wall displacements during
which a "V-shaped" failure wedge (see Fig. 6) formed be-
hind the abutment wall (Ng, 1995a).
CONCLUSIONS
1. The behaviour of integral spread-base bridge abut-
ments subjected to cyclic loading as a result of
effective temperature variations in the deck has
been studied using the centrifuge modelling tech-
nique. Based on the experimental evidence, rigid
body motions were observed, including transla-
tional and rotational motions. Movements of the
abutment depended on the magnitude of perturba-
tions at the top of wall, the number of strain cycles
and the density of the fill materials. Bending deflec-
161
tions do not seem to be significant for rigid abut-
ments.
2. The observed soil-deck interaction diagram in the
centrifuge tests was substantially different from
the conventional design diagram in which soil den-
sification and strain ratchetting effects have not
been considered. The observed strain ratchetting
and soil densification behaviour led to an increase
in axial compressive stress in the deck and in earth
pressure in the passive mode, and they also result-
ed in substantial translational motion at the base.
With the reduction in the passive wall deflection
with the number of cycles, the observed behaviour
in the tests should be considered carefully for the
design of integral bridge abutments in the future.
3. The measured lateral earth pressure shows an in-
crease with the amplitude of the passive mode dis-
placements at the top of the wall and the number
of cycles, but at a decreasing rate. At the
serviceability limit states, the measured maximum
earth pressure coefficients in the two tests were
greater than twice Ko but less than 2.0. For the ulti-
mate limit state and the 1 in 120 years return
event, the measured lateral earth pressure
coefficient was 3.7 and 4.2 for the abutment back-
filled with dense and loose sand respectively.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The work described in this paper forms part of the
research activities of the Transport Research Laboratory
(TRL) and was funded by the Highways Agency (UK).
The Project Managers at TRL and at the Highways Agen-
cy were Dr D. R. Carder and Dr D. I. Bush, respectively.
The authors are most grateful for advice given by Dr Mal-
colm Bolton and Professor Andrew Schofield of Cam-
bridge University, UK. The views expressed in this paper
are not necessarily those by the Highways Agency.
NOTATION
The following symbols are used in this paper
BM bending moment
C cycle
E Young's modulus
EI stiffness of a member
I second moment of area
lv relative density
K coefficient of earth pressure
Ka active earth pressure coefficient
K 0 coefficient of earth pressure at rest
KP passive earth pressure coefficient
LVDT linear variable differential transformer
PC pressure cell
z depth
o angle of friction at interface
y shear strain
L1 displacement at the top of wall
cp' internal angle of soil friction
cp~rit internal angle of soil friction at the critical state
If/ angle of dilation
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