Bridges

REFERENCE
S
• D. Johnson Victor, “Essentials of Bridge Engineering”
• N. Krishna Raju, “Design of Bridges”
• N Rajagopalan, “Bridge Superstructure”
• V K Raina, “Concrete Bridge Practice”
• W-F Chen & L Duan (Ed), “Bridge Engineering
Handbook”

2
 INTRODUCTIO
N
• What is ‘Bridge’?
• Main components of a bridge
• Brief history of bridge
development

3
 ‘BRIDGE’
?
• A ‘bridge’ is an elevated transportation structure
spanning across some obstacle (a river, a valley, a road
or a railway).
• It provides a passage for transporting pedestrians,
vehicles, pipelines, etc.

4
 ‘BRIDGE’
…
• “Of all inventions (the alphabet and printing press
alone excepted), those inventions which abridge
distance have done the most for the civilisation of our
species”. (Macaulay)
• Bridges have great importance in terms of urban,
social, cultural and economic development. They also
have major military significance.

5
 COMPONENTS OF A
BRIDGE
• Superstructure:
• Deck slab
• Girders / trusses / arches / cables…
• Handrails, guard-stones,…

• Bearings (for deck)

• Substructure:
• Abutments
• Piers
• Foundations for abutments and
6
piers
COMPONENTS OF A
BRIDGE

7
 CLASSIFICATION OF
BRIDGES
• based on function
• based on material (for deck)
• based on type of superstructure
• based on superstructure support
conditions
• based on relative elevation of bridge floor
• …
8
 CLASSIFICATION…

• based on function:
• pedestrian bridge
• highway bridge
• railway bridge
• road-cum-rail bridge
• aqueduct (canal over a river/valley)
• viaduct (rail/road bridge over a
valley)
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 CLASSIFICATION…
• based on material (for
deck):
• timber bridge
• masonry bridge
• iron bridge
• steel bridge
• reinforced concrete bridge
• prestressed concrete bridge
• composite bridge
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 CLASSIFICATION…

• based on type of
superstructure:
• slab bridge
• T-beam bridge
• box-girder bridge
• truss bridge
• arch bridge
• cable-stayed bridge
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• suspension bridge
 CLASSIFICATION…

• based on support conditions

for superstructure:
• simply supported bridge
• continuous bridge
• cantilever bridge
• rigid frame bridge

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 CLASSIFICATION…

• based on relative elevation of bridge

floor:
• deck bridge
• through bridge
• half-through bridge
• suspended bridge

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 BRIEF HISTORY OF
BRIDGES
• Natural bridges:
• fallen trees
• stepping stones
• rock arches
• overhanging branches, creepers

“The primitive man who felled a tree deliberately so that

it fell across a stream was the first bridge builder”.

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BRIEF
HISTORY…

15
 BRIEF
HISTORY…

90 m span natural stone arch

16
 BRIEF
HISTORY…
• Primitive bridges:
• timber trestle construction (Swiss)
• timber platform suspended on ropes (India)
• rope bridge (China, Japan)
• timber cantilever bridge (India)

The oldest bridge still surviving is a pedestrian stone slab

bridge across the Meles River in Turkey (2800 BC).
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BRIEF
HISTORY…

18
BRIEF
HISTORY…

19
 BRIEF
HISTORY…

Timber Cantilever bridge over the river Jhelum, Srinagar

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 BRIEF
HISTORY…
• Early bridges:
• brick masonry arch bridge (Mesopotamia)
• stone masonry arch bridge (Roman, Chinese)
• stone masonry segmental arch bridges…
(middle ages, Renaissance period)

“I have left a bridge that shall remain for eternity”

(inscription in Latin on the central tower of an arch bridge at
Alcantara in Spain, built by Julius Lacer for Roman Emperor Trajan in
98 AD)
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BRIEF
HISTORY…
Ponte Fabricio
(Rome)
Spans between
the bank of
the River Tiber
and Tiber
Island.
Built in 64 B.C.

22
 BRIEF
HISTORY…

Pont-du-Gard.
Roman aqueduct built in 19 B.C. to
carry water across the Gardon Valley
to Nimes (near Remoulins, Fran2c3e)
BRIEF
HISTORY…
Multi-span
masonry
railway viaduct
over River
Sitter
(Switzerland)
Built 1900
years after
Pont-du-Gard,
not much
significant
advancement!

24
BRIEF
HISTORY… 'Stari Most'
built in 1566
spanning the
Neretva River
(Turkey).

25
BRIEF
HISTORY…
End view of 'Stari
Most'
It is recorded that the
first time the falsework
was removed, the arch
collapsed. The Sultan
ordered the builder to
be executed if he was
not successful on the
second attempt. The
builder fled before the
supporting timber was
removed, but the
bridge has stood for
over 400 years.
26
BRIEF
HISTORY…
Pont d'Avignon
(France)
Built in 1177-1187
across Rhone River by
Benezet and the
Freres Pontiffes.
Considered the most
famous of the
medieval chapel
bridges.
There were originally
more than 20 spans
(101-110 feet) of
which only four with
chapel now remain.
27 Elliptical arches.
BRIEF
HISTORY…
Pont Vecchio
(Florence)
Italian Renaissance
bridge built in 1340.
Its most important
feature is its
segmental arches
(segment of circle less
than a semi-circle),
first built in the West.
This design required
fewer piers, and hence
caused less
obstruction to
navigation than semi-
circular Roman
28 bridges
BRIEF
HISTORY…
Rialto Bridge
(Venice)
Another example of
Renaissance bridge
design, spanning
Grand Canal. For
many years the only
bridge joining the
two halves of the
city. Built in 1587, it
replaced a timber
bridge which
collapsed when a
crowd used it to
watch a ceremony
on the canal.
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 BRIEF
HISTORY…
• Late 18th and 19th century bridges:
• stone masonry arch bridges
• iron arch/truss bridges
• iron chain suspension bridges
• steel arch/truss bridges
• steel suspension bridges
• steel cantilever bridges
• concrete arch bridges
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BRIEF
HISTORY…
Dunkeld Bridge
(Scotland)
Arch bridge
designed by Telford
(1757-1834) who
revolutionized
bridge design.
During this period,
designs developed
from this kind of
traditional masonry
arch to wrought
iron arches and
suspension bridges

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BRIEF
HISTORY…
Coalbrookdale Bridge
(England)
First iron bridge (over River
Severn) - cast iron arch
Built by Abraham Darby in
1779.
Cast iron used elegantly, similar to
compression arch in stone
masonry, except that since cast
iron is much stronger in
compression than stone, the
cross-sectional area needed much
less. The reduced material
is what allows this bridge to have
such an open, light-looking
32 framework.
BRIEF HISTORY…
Bridge (Scotland)
Craigellachie
Cast iron bridge (over
River Spey) built by
Telford in 1815 using
150 ft cast iron ribs.
Fixed arch. Telford
designed a 600 ft. span
cast iron bridge to
replace the Old London
Bridge, but the design
was considered too
daring and was rejected.

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 BRIEF James Finley patented a
design for the first
HISTORY… suspension bridge in 1808
using wrought iron chain
cables.
As many as 40 such
bridges were built in USA
within the next 8 years.
In England, Thomas
Telford built the then
longest suspension bridge
(with a span of 177 m) in
1826: Menai Strait Bridge
in Wales.
However, this bridge was
severely damaged
subsequently due to
Menai Straits Bridge (Wales, 1826) 34 strong cross-winds.
BRIEF Hammersmith Bridge
over the River Thames
(London, 1887)
HISTORY…

double chain arrangement

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BRIEF Westminster Bridge
(London)
HISTORY… This cast iron fixed arch
bridge (replaced a 1750
bridge made of 15 stone
arches) consists of seven
spans. The bridge is 85 ft.
wide and has a total length
of 1160 ft. Abutments and
piers are supported on
timber piles driven into the
London clay.

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 BRIEF
HISTORY…
Many railway iron arch/truss bridges built during 1840-90,
using Howe, Pratt, Fink and Warren truss forms.
Some of these, however, failed! Notably, the Howe truss
bridge at Ohio (1877) and the Firth of Tay bridge in Scotland
(1879), which led to serious loss in life.
This led to a new era in bridge building, with emphasis on
analysis, research and careful detailing and thorough
inspection.
Also, it resulted in the development and adoption of a
more
durable and stronger alternative to iron: steel.
More efficient truss forms were discovered: Baltimore,
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Parker, Pennsylvania and K-truss.
BRIEF
HISTORY… High Level Bridge
(Newcastle)
Historic iron railway
bridge designed by
Stephenson and
completed in 1843.
One of the first tied-
arch structures. Each
span uses four iron
'Bowstring girders',
the arch ties
consisting of iron
chains between the
ends of each rib. A 2-
level bridge,
carrying a railway
on the top level and
38 road traffic on the
suspended deck.
BRIEF High Bridge (New

HISTORY… York, 1848)

3 iron arch bridges
over the Harlem river,
New York. The white
bridge (High Bridge)
is 2-hinged, the blue
one (Hamilton
bridge) is fixed and
the red one
(Washington bridge)
is 3-hinged.

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 Eads Bridge
BRIEF (Missouri)
First steel (arch)
HISTORY… bridge (1874). Three
500 ft spans using
shallow segmental
profile. Introduced
high standards on
the quality of steel
used in construction.

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BRIEF Pont Alexandre III
(Paris)

HISTORY… Built across River Seine

in 1890. Steel 3-hinged
arch is a 350 ft. span
ellipse with a rise/span
ratio of 1/17. Note the
variation in arch section
and line of hinges at
mid-span.

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BRIEF
HISTORY… Pont d’Austerlitz
(Paris)
A 3-hinged railway
bridge across the
River Seine. Note
that it is not
necessary for the
hinges to be at the
abutment.
In this design the
outer hinges are
internal to the
structure and at
deck level. The
arch rib section is
a variable depth
truss.
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BRIEF
HISTORY… Tower Bridge
(London)
Completed in 1894, the
side-spans of this
bridge represent a rare
example of a three-
hinged suspension
bridge where the
tension member itself is
stiffened by being
designed as a truss.

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 Brooklyn Bridge
BRIEF HISTORY… (New
Designed by John Roebling
York)
in 1867 and completed by
his son in 1883, this bridge
is a milestone in bridge
engineering. Steel cables
were used (by spinning) for
the first time. The double-
cable system supports two
roadways that behave
essentially independently in
the vertical direction.

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BRIEF Brooklyn Bridge
(New York)
HISTORY…
Detail of the stiffening truss at mid-span. A
sliding connection in the top chord of the truss
takes shear but no axial force. The lower chord
has a pin directly beneath this detail. Hence the
truss is effectively hinged at mid-span.

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BRIEF Firth of Forth
Bridge (Scotland)
HISTORY… Famous cantilever
bridge, with two main
spans of 521m, built in
1889. The bridge was
built by cantilevering
in a balanced manner
about each pier. This
procedure included the
suspended spans
which were
subsequently released
at the hinges. All
compression members
are tubular steel, the
maximum diameter
being 12 ft. Tension
and bracing members
are of open lattice
46 sections.
BRIEF Concrete Arch
Bridge (England)
HISTORY… Reinforced concrete
bridges were first
introduced in England
in the 1870s. They
were mostly arch
bridges.

Arch bridge in
Hampshire, 1875

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 Concrete Arch
BRIEF Bridge (San
Fransisco)
HISTORY…
America’s first
reinforced concrete
bridge, built in 1889 at
Golden Gate park in
San Fransisco, and still
in use.

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 BRIEF
HISTORY…
• Twentieth century bridges:
• steel arch bridges
• steel cantilever bridges
• steel suspension bridges
• reinforced concrete bridges
• prestressed concrete
bridges
• cable stayed bridges
• composite bridges49
 Hell Gate Bridge
(New York)
BRIEF Famous steel arch
bridge, with a span of
HISTORY… 297m, built in 1917 by
Lindenthal.

50
BRIEF Sydney Harbour
Bridge
HISTORY…
Famous steel arch
bridge, with a span
of 503m, built in
1932.

51
BRIEF Henry Hudson
Bridge (New York)
HISTORY…
Famous steel arch
bridge, with a span
of 244m, built in
1936. This long-
span steel fixed
arch bridge carries
two levels of
highway. Note
transverse bracing
between arch ribs.

52
 BRIEF Howrah Bridge
(Kolkatta)
HISTORY…
Famous steel cantilever bridge, with a main span of 457m, built in 1943, over
the Hoogly river.

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 Howrah Bridge
(Kolkatta)

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BRIEF
HISTORY…

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BRIEF
HISTORY…

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BRIEF
HISTORY…

Royal Gorge
Bridge
(Colorado)

57
 Golden Gate
BRIEF Bridge
(San Fransisco,
HISTORY… 1937)

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BRIEF
HISTORY…

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 Great Belt East
Bridge
BRIEF (Denmark)

HISTORY…

6.7 km, main span 166204m, 2.8km

continuous
 Saginatobel Bridge
(Switzerland,
1930)

Robert Maillart
produced fine arch
bridges in
reinforced
concrete,
integrating the
structural action
of thin arch slabs
with monlithically
case stiffening
beams.

61
 Schwandbach
Bridge
(Switzerland,
1933) by Maillart
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BRIEF Gladesville Bridge
(Australia, 1964)
HISTORY…

One of the
longest arch
bridges in
reinforced
concrete, with
a main span
of 305m and
overall length
of 488m.

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BRIEF
HISTORY…

64
BRIEF
HISTORY…

65
BRIEF
HISTORY…

66
BRIEF
HISTORY…

67
BRIEF
HISTORY…

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BRIEF
HISTORY…

69
BRIEF Panval Nadi
Viaduct (Konkan
Railway)
HISTORY…
A 424m long railway bridge for a single line of
broad gauge track. The bridge superstructure is a
single-cell continuous prestressed concrete box
girder with nine intermediate 40m spans and two
end spans of 30m each. The substructure consists
of hollow octagonal reinforced concrete piers
resting on open foundations. The construction of
the prestressed box girder was the first use of the
incremental launching technique in India.

70
BRIEF Akkar bridge
(Sikkim, 1988)

HISTORY… India’s first vehicular cable

stayed bridge, with two
spans of 76.2m each and
34 cables on each side.
5 people met with a watery
grave when the
construction was in
progress. A large chunk fell
off, crushing the workers.
A Gammon engineer was
also killed.

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72
73
BRIEF
HISTORY…

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BRIEF
HISTORY…

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82
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84
The MillauConstruction
Viaduct of World’s Tallest
Paris - Barcelona
Cable Stayed Bridge in France,
Millau Bridge
The Cable Stayed bridge has a total length of 2.5 km and

crosses the Tarn River. It is 343 meters high, a world

record. The road, with two lanes on each side, will cross

the river at 270 meters above ground. At its highest point,

the viaduct is even higher than the Eiffel Tower. Conceived

by Norman Foster, this bridge is supported by seven

pylons, instead of the two that are common for this kind of

construction.
Under struction is the highest bridge in the
world.
of
the
A75
to
link
Paris
with
The total cost of the project is around 310 million
$525 million). It will be open to traffic in
onths after work began.
Translated from Portuguese by Mark Harrison, Adelaide
 COMPOSITE CONSTRUCTION

Composite Truss

Shear studs Concrete deck slab

Top Chord

Web Diagonals

Steel truss Bottom Chord

97
COMPOSITE CONSTRUCTION

Sardar Vallabhai Patel Flyover

98
 CHRONOLOGY of
BRIDGES...
Pre2000 BC
Arch construction techniques used in Mesopotamia, Egypt and elsewhere, but not
in
bridge-building.
Primitive suspension bridge techniques probably known and used in China, India
and elsewhere.
Probable earliest use of floating pontoon and cantilever bridges in China.
7-6th C BC
Corbelled stone aqueduct, at Jerwan, Mesopotamia.
Bridge built across the Euphrates at Babylon.
Floating pontoon bridges built across the Danube and Bosphorus by Mandrocles
of Samos.
5th-2nd C BC
Xerxes builds a pontoon bridge of over 600 ships across the Hellespont.
Earliest records of Chinese bamboo and iron chain suspension bridges.
Romans build masonry bridges over foundations secured in
99
cofferdams.
 CHRONOLOGY of
BRIDGES...
1st C BC
c 62 BC: Ponte Quattro Capi (Pons Fabricus) built in Rome.
c 55 BC: Julius Caesar erects timber trestle bridge across the Rhine.
1st C AD
c 14 AD : Construction of Pont du Gard, France, and Pons Augustus, Rimini.
c 100 AD: Trajan builds aqueduct at Segovia, and bridges at Alcántara, Spain and
across the Danube.
2nd - 12th C AD
c 134 AD: Pons Aelius or Ponte Sant'Angelo built in Rome.
605 AD: Segmental-arched An Ji Bridge built in China.
10th-12thC AD: Heyday of Romanesque architecture, based on the semi-circular arch.
mid12thC AD: Gothic style, based on the pointed arch, begins to replace
Romanesque. 1188: 21-arch Pont d'Avignon.
1210: Old London Bridge: 19 pointed arches.
100
 CHRONOLOGY of
13th C
BRIDGES...
1210: Old London Bridge: 19 pointed arches.
1215? Villard de Honnecourt designs timber truss
bridge. 1218: Chain-suspended Twärenbrücke,
Switzerland.
14th C
1345: Segmental-arch Ponte Vecchio begun in
Florence. 1357: Charles bridge across Danube in
Prague.
1371: The longest masonry arch span of the Middle Ages,72m (237ft), built at Trezzo
by the Duke of Milan.
15th-16th C
1507: Pont Notre-Dame, first stone bridge in Paris.
1567: Ponte Santa Trinita, Florence, built by
101
Ammanati. 1591: Rialto Bridge, Venice, built by da
 CHRONOLOGY of
BRIDGES...
17th C
c1600-40: Allahverdi Khan and Khaju Bridges built in Isfahan.
18th C
1750: Westminster Bridge: London's first crossing since Old London Bridge.
1755-60: Timber arch bridges spanning over 61 m (200ft) at Schaffhausen, Reichenau
and
Wettingen by the Grubenmann brothers.
1772: Perronet builds the Pont de Neuilly across the Seine.
1776: World's longest suspended span of 200m (660ft), bamboo, built in
Szechuan province, China.
1779: Ironbridge at Coalbrookdale: the first cast-iron arch.
1791: Perronet builds Pont de la Concorde in Paris.
1796: Iron arch Wear Bridge, Sunderland, Buildwas Bridge, and iron-trough Longdon-
on- Tern Aqueduct. 102
 CHRONOLOGY of
19th C BRIDGES...
1800: First rigid suspension bridge built in USA by Judge James
Finley. 1805: Pontcysyllte Aqueduct built by Telford.
1808: Finley patents suspension system.
1811: Lewis Wernwag's timber arch/truss "Colossus" Bridge built over the
Schuylkill. 1815: Iron arch Craigellachie and Bonar Bridges built by Telford in
Scotland.
1817: First Waterloo Bridge, in masonry, built by Rennie.
1819: First Southwark Bridge, in cast iron, built by
Rennie.
1820: Capt. Samuel Brown builds 137m (449ft) span suspension bridge across the
Tweed. 1822-40: Several hundred wrought-iron wire suspension bridges built in Europe
by the
Seguins, Dufour, and others.
1824-31: Old London Bridge demolished and New London Bridge built, in masonry, to
Rennie's design. 103
1826: Telford builds the iron-chain Menai Straits suspension bridge, and Conway
 CHRONOLOGY of
19th C (contd)
BRIDGES...
1834: "Grand Pont Suspendu", the then world's longest suspension bridge built
by Chaley at Fribourg in Switzerland.
1849: High Level Bridge, Newcastle, designed by Stephenson. Ellet's record-breaking
Wheeling suspension bridge over the Ohio - the first "thousand-footer".
1850: Robert Stephenson builds tubular-iron Conway and Britannia Bridges.
Collapse of Bass-Chaine suspension bridge in France.
1855: John Roebling's double-deck road/rail suspension bridge at Niagara.
1859: Opening of tubular suspension Royal Albert Bridge, Saltash, built by Brunel.
1866: Roebling builds world-record suspension span, 322m (1,057ft), over the Ohio
at
Cincinnati.
1867: Joseph Monier patents "reinforced concrete".
1874: James Eads builds his triple-arch bridge across the Mississippi at St. Louis: the
first great steel bridge.
1876: USA's worst bridge disaster: collapse of Ashtabula Bridge, Ohio, on 29
104
December.
 CHRONOLOGY of
19th C (contd)
BRIDGES...
1879: Destruction of first Tay Bridge (re-opened 1977).
1883: Construction of the record-breaking (486m/1,595ft) suspension Brooklyn Bridge
by the Roeblings.
1884: Gustave Eiffel completes the Garabit Viaduct.
1889: Completion in steel of Forth Rail Bridge, the world's two longest
spans (cantilever) each 521m (1,710ft).
1894: Tower Bridge, London.
20th C
1907: Collapse of unfinished Quebec bridge.
1916: Hell Gate Bridge completed in New York - the first thousand-foot steel arch.
1929: Ambassador suspension bridge, Detroit, becomes longest span of any type
at
564m.
1930: Maillart builds Salginatobel Bridge, Switzerland. Freyssinet completes
Plougastel
Bridge, Brittany.
1932: Sydney Harbour
1931: The George Washington Bridge and105 Bayonne Bridge.
Bridge.
 CHRONOLOGY of
20th C (contd)
BRIDGES...
1937: Golden Gate Bridge.
1940: Tacoma Narrows suspension bridge collapses.
1950: Freyssinet completes revolutionary prestressed- concrete bridges over the
River Marne, France.
1952-58: First modern cable-stayed bridges in Germany and Sweden.
1956: Construction of "world's longest bridge" (actually comprising hundreds of
smaller spans) across Lake Pontchartrain, Louisiana.
1957: Then overall world's longest suspension bridge at Mackinac Straits. .
1962: Lake Maracaibo Bridge, Venezuela: multiple cable- stayed and viaduct
structure. 1964: New record suspension span, at Verrazano Narrows.
Europe's first long-span suspension bridge, Firth of Forth, Scotland.
Gladesville Bridge, Sydney: first thousand-foot concrete bridge.
1966: Tagus Bridge, Portugal: mainland Europe's first long-span
suspension bridge.
Severn Bridge: first use of aerodynamic deck.
Australia
1970: Steel box-girder bridges collapse at106
Milford Haven, Wales, and
.
Melbourne,
 CHRONOLOGY of
20th C (contd)
BRIDGES...
1978: New River Gorge Bridge, West Virginia: current world's longest steel
arch. 1980: Ganter Bridge, Switzerland. Longest concrete arch: Krk Island to
Croatia. 1981: Then world's longest suspension span: Humber Bridge, England.
1988: First Honshu-Shikoku bridge complex, Japan.
1991: Then world's longest cable-stayed span: Skarnsundet Bridge, Norway.
1992: First all-fibre composite bridge erected in Scotland.
1993: 602m (1,975ft) cable-stayed bridge at Shanghai.
1994: Pont de Normandie: longest cable-stayed
bridge.
1997: 1,137m (4,519ft) double-deck Tsing Ma
suspension bridge, Hong Kong, opened.
1998: Second Honshu-Shikoku link completed with Akashi-Kaikyo Bridge,
world's longest span and longest overall suspension bridge.
Great Belt complex, Denmark, completed 107with East Bridge, world's second-longest
suspension bridge.
 CHRONOLOGY of
BRIDGES...
20th C (contd)
1999: Third Honshu-Shikoku link to be completed: includes Tatara Bridge,
world's longest cable-stayed span.
2000: l6km (10 mile) 0resund link between Copenhagen, Denmark, and
Malmo, Sweden, completed.
1688m (5538ft) span Izmit Bay Bridge, Turkey, under construction.
21st C
2001> Strait of Messina Bridge, Italy; Femer Belt link (Denmark Germany).
Pearl River Bridge (Hong Kong/China).
Malacca Strait Bridge (Malaysia/Indonesia).

108