Analytic Model of Long-Span Self-Shored Arch Bridge

Zhong Liu1; Fang Li2; and W. M. Kim Roddis3

Abstract: An innovative self-shoring staged construction method was developed to build the world’s longest reinforced composite
concrete arch bridge across the Yangtze River at Wanxian, in Chongqing, China. The method uses a steel tube truss frame constructed by
the conventional cantilever launching technique. This steel frame with concrete-filled tubes performs the dual role of arch falsework and
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arch main reinforcement for the final reinforced concrete arch bridge. An optimized schedule for concrete placement was proposed to
control the stresses, deflections, and stability of the arch rib during construction. The time dependent effects of concrete, the nonlinear
stress-strain relationship of steel and concrete, as well as the geometric nonlinearility were considered. Control information at various
stages of construction can be provided using the model developed. A program was developed to conduct parametric studies for selection
of the final construction scheme and to direct the construction progress by monitoring and comparing actual and predicted stress and
deflection.
DOI: 10.1061/共ASCE兲1084-0702共2002兲7:1共14兲
CE Database keywords: Bridges, arch; Bridges, spans; Analytical techniques; China; Steel frames; Concrete, reinforced; Falsework.

Introduction across deep water channels. Construction methods developed to

reduce and even eliminate the requirement for shoring include the
The primary advantage of an arch bridge is that compression is cantilever launching method as well as the horizontal and vertical
the dominant stress induced in the arch under uniform loading. swing methods. The cantilever launching method uses main and
Materials such as stone and concrete, with low cost and high auxiliary cables to maintain stability and balance during construc-
compressive strength, are well suited to the arch form. These tion. The horizontal swing method begins with prefabricating a
heavy material arch bridges have historically been used in small complete half-leaf of an arch rib parallel to the river on both
and medium spans and were constructed using a full shoring sys- banks with their ends supported on spherical hinges at the abut-
tem. Advances in the use of high strength concrete, steel, and ments. With the help of balance weights and hydraulic jacking
concrete-steel composites in recent years have significantly re- equipment, the two prefabricated ribs can be rotated horizontally
duced the weight of the structure and have extended the limits of to the closure position. Using the vertical swing method, two
arch bridges to longer spans. The concrete-filled tubular steel half-leaves of arch ribs are fabricated at ground level to save
composite section combines the primary advantages of steel and shoring cost, and then rotated to the closure position. The com-
concrete for arch structures. The thin-walled steel tube provides bined use of horizontal and vertical swing techniques is also fea-
the required structural stiffness while minimizing steel weight. sible for lightweight arch bridges. Construction methods to main-
The concrete core provides the required compressive strength, as tain balance and stability become more difficult as the span
well as support to prevent local buckling of the steel tube. In increases and as the arch weight increases.
return, the confinement provided by the steel tube to the concrete The Wanxian Yangtze River Bridge 共Yan and Yang 1997兲 is a
core improves its capacity and performance. Much recent re- record-breaking design for a reinforced concrete arch bridge with
search has been conducted in the use of concrete-filled tubular a main arch span of 420 M 共Fig. 1兲. It was completed in July 1997
steel composites to establish acceptable design and construction 共Fig. 2兲. The total length of the bridge is 856 meters. The north
procedures for both buildings and bridges 共Zhou and Zhu 1997兲. approach consists of eight simple spans of 30.7 m and the south
For long-span arch bridge construction, it is often difficult and approach consists of five simple spans of 30.7 m. The bridge
costly to erect a temporary shoring system, especially for bridges carries four-lane traffic and two pedestrian sidewalks. The arch is
a catenary with a rise-to-span ratio of 1:5.
1
Professor, Dept. of Bridge Engineering, Chongqing Jiaotong Univ., A 16-m wide and 7-m deep three-cell reinforced concrete box
Chongqing 400074, People’s Republic of China; and Graduate Research section was selected for the arch rib 共Fig. 3兲. If the conventional
Assistant, Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Univ. of Kan- cantilever launching method were used, crane lifting capacity as
sas, Lawrence KS 66045. E-mail: zliu@falcon.cc.ukans.edu well as number of precasted units would be very high. In addition,
2
Senior Bridge Engineer, Imbsen and Associates Inc., Sacramento, a very large temporary balance tower system would be required to
CA 95827. maintain the balance and stability of the massive cantilever arch
3
Professor, Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Univ. of rib. For these reasons, construction cost of the arch would be
Kansas, 2008 Learned Hall, Lawrence, KS 66045. much higher than that for other design alternatives.
Note. Discussion open until June 1, 2002. Separate discussions must
To reduce the cost and complexity of construction, a new self-
be submitted for individual papers. To extend the closing date by one
month, a written request must be filed with the ASCE Managing Editor. shoring construction method was developed. The method uses a
The manuscript for this paper was submitted for review and possible truss frame fabricated with steel tubes by the conventional canti-
publication on August 4, 1998; approved on March 12, 2001. This paper lever launching technique. This steel tube frame performs the dual
is part of the Journal of Bridge Engineering, Vol. 7, No. 1, January 1, role of arch falsework and arch main reinforcement. After the
2002. ©ASCE, ISSN 1084-0702/2002/1-14 –21/$8.00⫹$.50 per page. steel tube truss frame is completed, concrete fill is pumped into

14 / JOURNAL OF BRIDGE ENGINEERING / JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2002

J. Bridge Eng. 2002.7:14-21.

 Fig. 1. Wanxian Yangtze River Bridge layout
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Fig. 3. Cross section of arch rib

the steel tubes to increase the capacity of the truss frame system.
The stiffened truss frame is then encased by subsequent concrete
placements to become the main reinforcement of the completed
arch section. Once the reinforced concrete arch is in place, the layers are placed at different times, they have not only large dif-
columns, spandrel beams, and deck system are constructed. The ferences in stress levels, but also large differences in tangent
self-shoring staged construction method leads to reduced weight, modulus. The constitutive laws adopted for the analysis corre-
incorporation of shoring into the final load-carrying structure, and spond to those specified in Sargin’s equations 共Sargin et al. 1971兲
savings in construction equipment and labor. The procedure and for concrete and the bilinear equation for steel 共Fig. 7兲.
primary advantages of this technique are summarized in Table 1 Since the concrete layers were placed in stages, time-
and Fig. 4. dependent effects such as temperature, loading age, creep, and
Each time a new concrete lift gains strength, the stiffness and shrinkage need to be taken into account to predict the stress dis-
capacity of the cross section increases so that the weight of each tribution and deflection at various construction stages. High
subsequently placed lift is carried by the steel tube frame and the strength concrete 共60 MPa兲 with relatively low ductility was used
preceding concrete lifts. The stress distribution in the steel and for the construction of the Wanxian Yangtze River Bridge 共ACI
concrete depends on the selected construction sequence. The con- 209 1992兲. The stress-strain relationship for the concrete was lim-
crete material properties at each stage depend on the current ited to the elastic range. However, for the well confined concrete
strain, as well as time-dependent effects such as creep, shrinkage, core in the steel tubes, the ideal elastic-plastic relationship was
aging, and temperature. Geometric nonlinearity due to large dis- used 共Neville et al. 1983; Bazant and Wittmann 1982兲. The labo-
placements may also affect the stress distributions. ratory tests for loading were conducted to obtain discrete values
A study was conducted to select a concrete placement se- of creep and shrinkage at 7, 14, 28, and 90 days. Using the ex-
quence that would lead to a better load distribution, minimized perimental data, the creep and shrinkage functions may be ap-
deflection, and minimized steel requirements, without allowing proximated by a Dirichlet series as given below 共Ketchum 1984兲:
premature yielding of steel truss frame. As a result of this study, a The creep compliance function J(t,␶) may be expressed as
nine-stage erection scheme was selected 共Fig. 5兲. The subdivision
4
of the arch for concrete placement is shown in Fig. 6. 1
J 共 t,␶ 兲 ⫽ 兺 a 共 ␶ 兲关 1⫺e ⫺␭ i 共 t⫺␶ 兲 兴
E c i⫽1 i
(1)

Constitutive Modeling

Since the steel tubes frame members comprise the initial self- Table 1. Construction Schedule
shoring structure of bridge, they have large stresses, and elasto-
plastic behavior must be taken into account. Since the concrete Age
共days兲 Construction steps
12 Completion of steel truss frame by cable crane
12–29 Pumping concrete fill into steel tubes
25–109 Placing bottom slab of middle cell in twelve steps
109–154 Placing lower portion of interior webs in six steps
154 –205 Placing upper portion of interior webs in six steps
209–253 Placing top slab of middle cell in eight steps
263–275 Placing bottom slab of exterior cells in four steps
278 –322 Placing exterior web in four steps
327–339 Placing top slab of exterior cells in four steps
344 –398 Erecting columns of bridge
400– 426 Erecting top spandrel beams of bridge
429–500 Erecting bridge deck
865 One year late after completion
1,230 Two years late after completion
Fig. 2. Bridge open to traffic 1,595 Three years late after completion

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J. Bridge Eng. 2002.7:14-21.

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Fig. 6. Working subdivision for concrete placements

The shrinkage function ␧ sh (t,␶) may be expressed as

4

␧ 共 t,␶ 兲 ⫽
sh
兺 sh i共 ␶ 兲关 1⫺e ⫺␭ 共 t⫺␶ 兲 兴
i⫽1
i (2)

where retardation coefficients are ␭ 1 ⫽1, ␭ 2 ⫽0.1, ␭ 3 ⫽0.01, and

␭ 4 ⫽0.001, respectively; E c ⫽elastic modulus of concrete; a i (␶)
⫽creep compliance coefficients; sh i (␶)⫽shrinkage coefficients
共Table 2兲; t⫽observation time in days; and ␶⫽loading age in
days.

Finite-Element Formulations

Staged construction presents engineers with a difficult analysis

problem. At each stage of construction, the cross section changes
its weight, strength, and stiffness as the new layers of concrete are
placed. An explicit model requires the use of different types of
elements and assumptions for compatibility between layer inter-
faces. Such an explicit approach often becomes impractical when
a large number of parameter studies are required for the selection
of a better solution among possible alternatives. A simplified ap-
Fig. 4. Construction scheme: 共a兲 Construction of truss frame; 共b兲 proach is to model the composite section as an equivalent thin-
Pumping concrete fill into steel tubes; 共c兲 Construction of concrete walled beam member for each stage from bare steel to partial or
layers complete composite cross section. This equivalent thin-walled
beam approach has been proposed elsewhere, and the analytical
results based on this approach has been experientially verified to
be quite effective.
The 3D beam element was used to model the composite box
section of the arch ring. The element geometry is defined with
respect to a local coordinate system. Each element is divided into
a discrete number of layers. The geometry of each layer is defined
by its area and position with respect to a fixed local coordinate
system, and each layer is in the state of uniaxial stress defined by
a given nonlinear stress-strain relationship and -time dependent

Fig. 5. Construction scheme of cross section Fig. 7. Constitutive laws for 共a兲 concrete; 共b兲 steel

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J. Bridge Eng. 2002.7:14-21.

 Table 2. Creep and Shrinkage Coefficients of Concrete Tested
Age
共days兲 a1 a2 a3 a4 sh1(␮) sh2(␮) sh3(␮) sh4(␮)
7 0.427 0.316 0.375 0.729 2.83 154.0 243.0 ⫺127.0
14 0.213 0.232 0.401 0.262 3.69 35.7 210.0 ⫺23.5
28 0.177 0.125 0.467 0.072 1.83 ⫺27.9 225.0 ⫺97.6
90 0.081 0.153 0.197 0.976 8.04 ⫺6.4 58.1 127.0

effects of materials. In different construction stages, the shifting where T Ke ⫽elastic matrix at time T; T KG ⫽geometric matrix at
of the centriod and twist center can be accounted for by a trans- time T; q⫽nodal diplacement; T⫹⌬T R⫽external force at the time
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formation matrix. T⫹⌬T; T F int⫽internal force at time T; and F0 ⫽incremental

The bracing members of the truss frame can be idealized as an quasi-initial strain matrix from T to T⫹⌬T.
equivalent thin-walled layer with conversion thickness, d, of Because the centroid and shear center of cross sections change
as construction of the arch box proceeds, it is necessary to estab-
2EA sin2 ␸ cos ␸ lish a new finite-element method to analyze this kind of structure.
d⫽ (3)
Gs Referring to Fig. 8, consider the displacements of an arbitrary
where E and G⫽elastic and shear modulus, respectively, A point on the cross section in the y and z directions for small but
⫽area of the inclined truss member of truss; s⫽truss spacing; finite deformations. The displacement components u i , v i , and w i
and ␸⫽inclined angle. may be expressed in terms of axial displacement of the centroid,
The geometric nonlinearity due to the relatively large displace- u, the shear center displacements, v and w, and the angle of
ment of the steel truss frame was also included in the formulation rotation, ␪ x , about the shear center. Thus:
共Spillers 1990; Chen and Agar 1993兲. The formulation is based on ⳵␯ ⳵w
the following assumptions: u i ⫽u⫺ 共 y⫺y 0 兲 ⫺ 共 z⫺z 0 兲 (10)
⳵x ⳵x
1. Plane sections remain plane 共i.e., linear strain distribution兲;
2. No slippage between the interface of steel and concrete, or ␯ i ⫽␯⫹␪ x 共 z⫺z a 兲 (11)
concrete layers of different ages;
3. The nonlinear stress-strain relationship for concrete or steel w i ⫽w⫺␪ x 共 y⫺y a 兲 (12)
layers is defined in a state of unaxial stress; The coordinates of the centroid relative to the original point of
4. The creep functions of tension and twist are similar to those elemental orthogonal coordinate system are y 0 and z 0 . The coor-
of compression; dinates of the shear center relative to the original point of elemen-
5. No distortion of cross sections; and tal orthogonal coordinate system are y a and z a .
6. Small strains, but displacements and rotations can be mod- During the finite-element analysis, the forces and displace-
erately large. ments of differing coordinate systems need to be transformed.
To include all time-dependent effects and nonlinearities, at the Because the shear center and centroid can be different at each
time stage t, for concrete layers, the incremental total strain, ⌬␧, construction stage, the fixed reference local coordinate system has
can be obtained as to be used to describe the total beam element. The displacements
⌬␧⫽⌬␧ e ⫹⌬␧ p ⫹⌬␧ c ⫹⌬␧ sh ⫹⌬␧ Te (4) and the element forces will be translated to fixed reference local
coordinate system, before being stored.
The incremental elastic strain, ⌬␧ , and incremental plastic
e
If the cross section of an element is composed of different
strain, ⌬␧ p , satisfy the equation pieces, here called layers to emphasis the staged manner of laying
共 ⌬␧ e ⫹⌬␧ p 兲 ⫽⌬␴/E c 共 t 兲 (5) down each arch component, every layer has its own modulo, con-
struction time, sectional features, and location in the principal
where ⌬␴⫽incremental stress; E t (t)⫽tangent modulus for this
time and this stress state; ⌬␧ c ⫽incremental creep strain; ⌬␧ sh
⫽incremental shrinkage strain ⌬␧ sh ; and ⌬␧ Te ⫽incremental
temperature strain.
Therefore, the linear relation of initial stress and strain is
⌬␴⫽E t 共 t 兲共 ⌬␧⫺⌬␧ 0 兲 (6)
Here, the incremental quasi initial strain ⌬␧ 0 is
⌬␧ 0 ⫽⌬␧ c ⫹⌬␧ sh ⫹⌬␧ Te (7)
From these assumptions, the linear relation of initial shear stress,
⌬␶, and shear strain, ⌬␥, is
⌬␶⫽G t 共 t 兲共 ⌬␥⫺⌬␥ 0 兲 (8)
The generalized quasi-initial stress-strain relationship can be
used to establish the global analytical model, and the incremental
equilibrium equation at a given time step can be expressed as
共 T Ke ⫹ T KG 兲 q⫽ T⫹⌬T R⫺ T F int⫹F0 (9) Fig. 8. Composite beam element

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J. Bridge Eng. 2002.7:14-21.

 Table 3. Construction Control Data of Arch Crown Section
Top steel tube Bottom concrete plate Deflection
共MPa兲 共MPa兲 共cm兲
Date T* M* P* M* P* M* P*
1/12 7 52 82 — — 31.4 31.6
1/29 12 91 185 — — 37.5 40.1
4/19 22 185 191 0.04 0.0 57.2 54.6
6/3 28 209 209 3.29 2.78 59.7 56.3
7/24 32 242 246 6.42 5.26 69.9 62.5
9/10 27 260 282 8.75 5.82 87.4 73.0
10/2 24 278 304 10.8 7.35 94.9 79.8
10/21 29 380 361 11.0 9.52 97.6 97.0
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11/18 13 345 377 12.6 10.2 105.0 103.0

12/5 10 356 390 12.8 10.9 108.0 109.0
Note: M * measured; P * predicted; Date: month/day in 1996; T * temperature 共°C兲.

reference coordinate system. Supposing the section of a layer is a by the location and distribution of the loads and the variation of
rectangle and, based on assumption 1, sectional features can be the flexural and torsional stiffness of the cross section. Two types
described in terms of only a few variables with compact data of analyses were conducted to evaluate the stability and ultimate
structures as can the stress and strain of a layer. Just like a section strength of the global structure at each construction stage and to
of normal beam, we can establish relation equations between avoid a loading scheme that adds unnecessary bending and twist.
them. By means of these data structures, the incremental stress The inelastic analyses were carried out to estimate the ultimate
and strain for the composite system can be added and stored strength of the arch section or a stability limit load 共Galambos
easily, although the centroid and shear center change in each step 1998兲. With stability coefficient k i defined as the ratio of the stage
of the calculation. structure dead weight to applied external loads at each construc-
The nonlinear factors of creep, shrinkage, and temperature are tion stage, the ultimate external loads can be determined. The
analyzed by quasi-initial strain method. Geometrical and material applied load at each stage can thus be controlled to an acceptable
nonlinearities are analyzed by Newton-Raperson iteration. Based level. From the analyses, the variation of stability coefficient k i
on the resulting, according to analysis of the design scheme, the was found to vary from a low of 3.2 共start concrete placement兲 to
latter nonlinearities have little influence during construction a high of 4.5 共complete entire section兲. This indicates that the
stages. Therefore, time-consuming iteration can be avoided in ultimate capacity increases as new layers are added to the cross
construction control analysis. section, and the critical stage is at the initial concrete pour. Ec-
centric and unsymmetrical loads can significantly reduce the total
applied external loads, so the amount of such loads was limited.
Design Phase Analysis Elastic stability analyses were also carried out to provide an
upper bound stability limit for the partial cross section at different
The analytical model based on the selected construction scheme stages, and to determine the auxiliary supporting locations to im-
and working schedule 共Table 3兲 was used to provide an initial set prove lateral and torsional stability. The bifurcation analyses as-
of construction control data. In the analysis, the cross section is sume that prebuckling deformations are small and the tangent
subdivided into 44 component layers 共Fig. 9兲. Layers 1–10 are stiffness of structure can be divided into the linear stiffness 关 K L 兴
assigned to steel tubes, layers 11–20 are assigned to core concrete and nonlinear or geometric stiffness 关 K G 兴 . Critical loads may be
filling the steel tubes, layers 22, 24, 32, 34, 36, 42, and 44 are calculated by the following eigenvalue problem:
assigned to mild reinforced steel, and the rest of the layers are
assigned to concrete. det兩 K L ⫹␩K G 兩 ⫽0 (15)
The stability of the arch structure is sensitive to geometric
in which ␩⫽eigenvalue or elastic stability limit coefficient. The
imperfection and load eccentricity. The critical load is influenced
variation of upper bound elastic stability limit coefficient is
shown in Fig. 10.
The self-shoring construction method has not been used at
such a large scale, and no previous experience could be used.
However, the experience gained in building composite concrete
and steel arch bridges in China in the past two decades provides
sufficient information and knowledge for engineers to deal with
this challenge. Parameter studies were conducted to select a con-
crete placement sequence that will lead to better load distribution,
minimized deflection, and reduced steel usage. With the predeter-
mined design concrete properties and statistic temperature curve,
design analyses were carried out to provide an initial set of con-
trol data at some selected control points and sections. It was ex-
pected that the behavior of the concrete could be more compli-
cated due to temperature and loading age differences. Since
Fig. 9. Discrete layers of cross section
placing strain gauges in the concrete layers at each stage is diffi-

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Fig. 12. Temperature variation during construction

Fig. 10. Coefficient of elastic stability

Construction Control

cult and the results are often unreliable, only the stresses in the The actual material parameters, temperature, and loading condi-
steel tube frame were closely monitored. For the global structure tions during the construction phase can differ significantly from
behavior, deflections at selected control points were monitored. those assumed during the design phase. In addition, the self-
The initial design results indicated: shoring construction method had not been used for such a large
1. Creep and shrinkage of the concrete can result in significant scale. It was expected that the behavior of the concrete could be
increases in the stresses 共as large as 39%⬃55%兲 in the steel more complicated than previous smaller scale applications due to
tubes and more mature concrete layers. temperature and loading age differences. A carefully planned con-
2. Long-term creep and shrinkage can cause a significant in- trol procedure was established to closely monitor the changes of
crease 共about 37%兲 of the bridge deflection. stresses and deflections during construction. The primary empha-
3. Steel tubes will reach compression yield. However, the stress sis was on the concrete placement process with the goals of elimi-
increase or redistribution to the concrete layers due to the nating premature yielding of the steel tubes and reducing the ten-
yielding of the steel will be small, if the tubes are encased in sion stresses in the concrete layers. This control was established
concrete, because of the relatively large concrete section. by monitoring the stresses and deflections at selected governing
4. The effect of temperature on the bridge deflection can be sections. The most critical components of the cross section are the
significant. Also, the change of temperature 共Fig. 12兲 can steel tubes and middle bottom concrete slab with the highest
cause tension cracks in the new concrete layers when it is stress accumulation. In addition, some small scale laboratory tests
coupled with the effects of creep and shrinkage. were established to predict possible problems that might be en-
5. The effects of geometrical nonlinearity accounted for only a countered during full scale placement. A seven-stage concrete
5% increase in stress and displacement. erection scheme was used 共Fig. 5兲. In the longitudinal direction,
6. The final stage model with a complete cross section can be each arch strip is divided into six working sections and each
used to estimate the ultimate load-carrying capacity, because working section is subdivided into 4 –12 segments depending on
the elaborate staging model only leads to a change in ulti- the maximum concrete volume allowed for each placement 共Fig.
mate capacity of 15% or less. 6兲. Concrete placement was required to be simultaneous in all six
7. The cross section has the lowest stability coefficient after working sections starting from the first segment, with only a half-
one or two initial concrete layers are poured. segment deviation permitted.
After the steel frame was erected 共Fig. 11兲, the stresses and
deflections at controlling sections were measured. The real-time
values of the concrete temperature 共Fig. 12兲 as well as loading
were collected at the construction site and were fed back into the

Fig. 11. Steel arch truss frame after closure Fig. 13. Stresses of top tubes at crown

JOURNAL OF BRIDGE ENGINEERING / JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2002 / 19

J. Bridge Eng. 2002.7:14-21.

 placing concrete layers must be carefully studied to assure safety
and reasonability for this kind of arch bridge during the construc-
tion stages, which are comparatively more dangerous than other
times in the bridge service life.

Notation
The following symbols are used in this paper:
A ⫽ area of inclined truss member of truss;
a i (␶) ⫽ creep compliance coefficients;
d ⫽ conversion thickness;
E ⫽ elastic modulus;
E c ⫽ elastic modulus of concrete;
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Fig. 14. Stress of bottom tubes at crown

E t (t) ⫽ tangent modulus for time t;
F0 ⫽ incremental quasi-initial strain matrix from T
to T⫹⌬T;
G ⫽ shear modulus;
G t (t) ⫽ tangent shear modulus for time t;
J(t,␶) ⫽ creep compliance function;
K G ⫽ nonlinear or geometric stiffness;
K L ⫽ linear stiffness;
q ⫽ nodal displacement;
s ⫽ truss spacing;
sh i (␶) ⫽ shrinkage coefficients;
T F int ⫽ internal force at time T;
T Ke ⫽ elastic matrix at time T;
T KG ⫽ geometric matrix at time T;
T⫹⌬T R ⫽ external force at time T⫹⌬T;
t ⫽ observation time in days;
Fig. 15. Deflection at crown u ⫽ axial displacement of centroid;
v , w ⫽ shear center displacements;
u i , v i , w i ⫽ displacement components of arbitrary point of
computer model to carry out a modified analysis. The measured cross section;
stresses and deflection data were compared with the results from y a , z a ⫽ coordinates of shear center relative to original
the analyses. If a significant discrepancy was found, the cause of point of elemental orthogonal coordinate sys-
the discrepancy needed to be identified. Recalculations based on tem;
modified parameters such as temperature, material coefficients, y 0 , z 0 ⫽ coordinates of centroid relative to original
the change of schedule, and load condition were carried out to point of elemental orthogonal coordinate sys-
determine the control parameters for the next stage construction. tem;
After the concrete arch rib section was completed, local yield- ⌬␧ ⫽ incremental total strain;
ing of the steel tubes would no longer cause instability of the ⌬␧ c ⫽ incremental creep strain;
bridge. Thus, the erection of columns, spandrel beams, and deck ⌬␧ e ⫽ incremental elastic strain;
system become a relatively easy task. ⌬␧ p ⫽ incremental plastic strain;
The primary results of the construction control analyses can be ⌬␧ sh ⫽ incremental shrinkage strain;
described as follows: ⌬␧ Te ⫽ incremental temperature strain;
1. Comparison of stresses in steel tubes at crown is shown in ⌬␥ ⫽ shear strain;
Figs. 13 and 14. The discrepancy at initial stages appears to ⌬␴ ⫽ incremental mechanic stress;
be large. The modified calculation indicates that this is prob- ⌬␶ ⫽ initial shear stress;
ably due to underestimation of initial concrete strength. ␩ ⫽ eigenvalue or elastic stability limit coefficient;
2. Deflections at some control points were closely monitored ␪ x ⫽ angle of rotation;
during construction. A comparison of deflection at crown is ␭ I ⫽ retardation coefficients;
shown in Fig. 15. The measured deflection appears to have ␶ ⫽ loading age in days; and
good match with the calculated value. ␸ ⫽ inclined angle.

Summary and Conclusion References

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