FUNDAMENTALS OF BRIDGE

DESIGN

Instructor: Eng.Gulema
 1.Introduction

 A bridge is a structure that crosses over a river, or

other obstructions, permitting the smooth and safe
passage of vehicles, trains, and pedestrians.
 A bridge structure is divided into upper part (the
super structure), which consists of the slab, the floor
system, and the main truss or girders, and
 A lower part (the substructure), which are columns,
piers, towers, footings, piles and abutments.
 The super structure provides horizontal spans,
elevating above the ground surface.
 Bridges must be planned and engineered before it can
be constructed.
Transportation System and Bridges
 Transportation system which is implemented on land needs
bridges.
 Basically in Road Transportation System Bridge is mandatory
for two reasons.
1.To pass obstacles
2.To facilitate the transportation system
 Bridges are expensive structures. The cost per meter of a
bridge is high in comparison to the road. If the bridge fails,
the transportation system will not be in a position to give
function.
 Therefore, bridge designer has control over the
capacity,
cost and
Safety.
 Bridge Terminologies
 Abutment: -A retaining wall supporting the ends of a bridge, and,
in general, retaining or supporting the approach embankment.
 Approach: -The part of the bridge that carries traffic from the land
to the main parts of the bridge.
 Approach Span: - The span or spans connecting the abutment
with the main span or spans.
 Backwater: -The increase in the upstream water elevation results
from an obstruction to flow, such as a bridge and/or embankment
placed in the floodplain.
 Barrier Rail: - A low, reinforced concrete wall along edges of a
bridge to prevent vehicles from going over the sides. The railing
may or may not adopt some form of safety shape.
 Beam: - A horizontal structural member supports vertical loads by
spanning from one support to another
 Bearing: - A device at the ends of beams that is placed on top of a
pier or abutment. The ends of the beam rest on the bearing,
which is an element that provides the interface between the
superstructure and the substructure.
 The bearing transmits load from the superstructure to the
substructure as well as allows for thermal movements and
rotations due to traffic.
 Bearing Pile: - A member constructed of steel and/or concrete
driven into the ground to carry axial loads.
 Culvert: - A drain, pipe, or conduit that allows water to pass
under a road or railroad embankment.
 Deck: - The component of a bridge which is driven upon,
including shoulders. Some Safe & Sound decks are asphalt while
others are constructed as reinforced concrete slabs.
 Fill: - Earth, stone or other material used to raise the ground
level, form an embankment or fill the inside of an abutment, pier
or closed spandrel.
 Freeboard: -The clearance between the bottom of the
superstructure and the design high-water elevation.
 Wing Walls: - The retaining wall extension of an
abutment intended to retain the side slope material of
an approach roadway embankment
 Parapet: - A railing system made of reinforced concrete
along the outside edge of a bridge deck used to protect
vehicles and pedestrians.
 Rip Rap: - Gabions, stones, blocks of concrete or other
protective covering material of like nature deposited
upon river and stream beds and banks, to prevent
erosion and scour by water flow.
 Scour: - Removal of material from the streambed or
embankment as a result of erosive action of stream flow.
 Span: - The horizontal space between two supports
of a structure. Also refers to the structure itself. The
clear span is the space between the inside surfaces
of piers or other vertical supports. The effective span
is the distance between the centers of two supports.
 Substructure: -The substructure consists of all parts
that support the superstructure. The main
components are:
1.Abutments or end-bents
2.Piers or interior bents
3.Foundation
4.Footings
5.Piling
 Superstructure: - The component of a bridge which
supports the deck or riding surface of the bridge.
The superstructure consists of the components
that actually span the obstacle the bridge is
intended to cross. It includes
 Bridge deck,
 Structural members
 Parapets,
 handrails,
 sidewalk,
 lighting and drainage
features
2.Bridge Site Investigation
  
2.Bridge Site Investigation
 Aim of investigation is to select a suitable site from
possible alternatives at which a bridge can be built
satisfying economy, safety, traffic demand, stream
demand and aesthetics
 Identification of bridge site location and making
decisions on the type, size and capacity of the bridge are
the first stages in design.
 To arrive on the decisions field surveys and information
concerning:
 The proposed road alignments
 The local terrain and site condition
 The required design life of the bridge
 Traffic volume
 Resources available
 Location of the bridge in relation to the alignment
of the approaches may be determined:
 Total span < 6o m Alignment of approach governs
 Span between 60 and 300m Both alignment and
good bridge site governs
 Total span > 300m Good bridge site governs
 Local terrain and site conditions dictate height,
length of spans, number of spans, location of piers
and design of substructures.
 The traffic volume study will determine the bridge
width and number of lanes.
 2.2 Bridge Site Selection
Preliminary Survey
 objective of the preliminary survey is to study more
than one alternative bridge sites.
 Usually the road plans are not prepared contours at
this early stage, which makes it necessary to use the
topographic maps available in the country.
 Possible bridge sites are first located on topographic
maps.
 maps prepared to a scale of 1:250,000.
 This is especially suited for the planning stage to
calculate catchment areas, possible provisional road
alignments, aggregate quarries and other uses
 Selection of Bridge Site
 In locating a bridge crossing the following
considerations come in to picture.
 The reach of the river should be straight.
 This is necessary so that the approach flow is not
angular and the obstructions caused by piers, etc
have minimum disturbance effect on the flow.
 The river in the reach should have a regime flow free
of excess of currents.
 The channel in the reach should be well defined.
 The crossing site should be as narrow as possible
 The site should have suitable strata at reasonable and
workable depth for founding piers and abutments.
 2.3 Data Collection
 Once the engineer has identified a likely site for the bridge,
he/she needs to obtain field information on
• the catchment area and run off, local terrain conditions
and water levels, and other clearance requirements.
• Field reviews shall be made by the designer in order to
become familiar with the site.
Hydrology
 Information required by the designer for analysis and design
should include all features that can affect the magnitude and
the frequency of the flood flow which will pass the site under
study.
 These are: Climatologically characteristics, land runoff
characteristics, stream gauging records, high water marks and
size and performance of existing structures in the vicinity.
 The size and configuration of the watershed, the
geometry of the stream network, storage volumes
of ponds, lakes, reservoirs, and flood plains, and the
general geology and soils of the basin can be found.
 Having determined these basin characteristics,
runoff times, infiltration values, storage values, and
runoff coefficients can be found
Soil Investigation
 Soil investigation is required to get soil profile,
engineering property of the foundation material
and foundation level of the abutments and piers for
design of the foundation
Field Sketching and Photos
 It has proved very practical to make a simple sketch
of the bridge site with approximate water shores,
existing structures, scour holes, main stream
location, etc including very rough dimensions with
approximate measurements
 photos shall be taken looking upstream and
downstream from the site as well as along the
contemplated highway centerline in both directions
 Close-up photographs complete with a scale or grid
shall be taken to facilitate estimates of the stream
bed gradation.
Check List of Site Investigation
 A form or checklist can be used by the field
investigator/designer to identifying and cataloging field
information
2.4 Design Consideration
Economical Span
 Span determination is usually dictated by the hydraulic
requirement. However, there are conditions where
lengthen spans are chosen for the sake of road
alignment.
 For a given span the most economical span is the
length at which superstructure cost equals to
substructure cost.
Hydraulic Requirements
 Bridges are designed to accommodate design discharge at
design flood.
 When a river has a wide flood plain, the economical solution
may be using short span bridge with proper scour and
erosion protection for the embankment, abutments and
piers.
 Piers should be located in such a manner that they can
provide the required lineal waterway and navigational
clearance.
 The alignment of piers and abutments should, if possible, be
set parallel to the direction of flow during maximum flood.
Free Board
 The waterway below the superstructure must be designed to
pass the design flood and the floating debris carried on it.
 The free board allows for uncertainty in
determining DFL also. The minimum free board
above the design water level is given in table
below
Discharge (m3/s) Vertical Clearance/Free
board (m)
0 to 3.0 0.3
3.0 to 30.0 0.6
30.0 to 300 0.9
> 300 1.2
3.Types of Bridges
and their Selection
 
3.1 Types of Bridges
Bridges can be classified in different ways
Traffic type/functionality
- Road bridge
- Railway bridge
- Pedestrian bridge
- Aqueduct
- Viaduct
- Equipment bridge
 Life Span
- Temporary bridges
- Permanent bridges
- Semi-permanent bridges
 Horizontal Arrangement
- Straight/Normal bridge
- Skewed bridge
- Curved bridge
 Vertical Arrangement
- Horizontal/ Flat/ Normal
- Inclined  
 Span
- L ≤ 6m (Culvert)
- 7m < L ≤ 15m (Small span bridges)
- 16 ≤ L ≤ 50m (Medium span Bridges)
- 50 ≤ L≤ 150m (Large Span Bridges)
 Construction Materials
- Timber Bridges
- Masonry Bridges
- Reinforced Concrete Bridges
- Pre stressed Concrete Bridges
- Steel Bridges
 Span Arrangement
- Simply Supported
- Continuous
- Cantilever
• 
 Structural Forms
- Slab Bridges
- Girder (Deck girder Bridges)
- Box Girder
- Portal Frame Bridges
- Arch Bridges
- Truss Bridges
- Plate Girder Bridges
- Cable Stayed Bridges
- Suspension Bridges
- Box Cell/ Box culvert
 Movements
- Movable Bridges
- Fixed Bridges
 Classification by Structural Form
1) Slab Bridge
 The simplest type of bridge to construct and design
and most common bridge.
 It requires less labor and form work and economical
for length up to 12m
 Normally the slab is made with a uniform depth
over the whole bridge and the required depth is
usually 5.5 – 6% of the span length. Slab bridges
carry loads primarily in shear and flexural bending.
2) Girder Bridges
 Girder bridges are structurally simple and common.
They consist of a floor slab, girders and the
bearings, which support and transmit gravity loads
to the substructure.
 Girders resist bending moments and shear forces
are used for spans 12m to 90m. Girders are
classified into
 T-Girder (cast-in situ),
 concrete Box-Girder (RC or Pre stressed), and
 Steel plate Girder.
T – Girder
 It is usually used for a single span bridge spanning between
12-20m.
 The design depth of a normal girder bridge may vary
between 7-10% of the span length depending on the
number of beams.
Steel girder bridges
 are most favorable over deep or muddy waters since
scaffolding from the ground is not necessary
Box Girder
 Are used for span length of between 30-90m, especially if a
slender structure is desired or for curved bridges with small
horizontal curves where a great resistance to torsion is
required with no loss of strength is bending and shear.
3) Truss Bridges
 In truss bridges, the floor slab, which carries the live
load, is supported by the floor system of stringers
and cross beams.
 The load is transmitted to the main trusses at nodal
connections, are on each side of the bridge,
through the floor system and finally to the bearings.
Types of Truss Bridges
 Warren Trusses
– Warren trusses are simple in form and devoid of any
vertical members. They are the most common and is a
frame composed of isosceles triangles, where the
members are either in compression or tension
4) Frame Bridges
 The members are rigidly connected rigid frames.
Unlike the truss and the arch bridge, all the
members are subjected to both axial force and
bending moments.
 The most economical span/opening for a single
span frame bridge is 6  20 m provided that the
height of the walls are more than ¼ of the span
length and that the soil is sufficiently stable,
otherwise a slab or a girder bridge is preferred.
 There are different types of frame bridges such as
portal frame, -Rahmen, V-Leg Rahmen,
Vierendeel frame.
 5) Arch Bridges
 An arch acts like a circular beam restrained not only
vertically but also horizontally at both ends, and
thus results, in vertical and horizontal reactions at
the supports
 Arch bridges may have high fabrication and
erection cost.
Types of Arch Bridges
•Two-hinge arch
•Three – hinge arch
•Fixed Arch
6) Cable –stayed bridges

 A cable stayed bridge hangs the girders form

diagonal cables that are tensioned from the tower.
The cables of cable-stayed bridges are anchored in
the girders.
 The cable stayed bridge is usually analyzed using
linear elastic frame analysis. The cable is modeled
as a bar element with hinged ends
7) Suspension Bridges

 Suspension bridges use two main cables

suspended between two towers and anchored to
blocks at the ends.
 Stiffening girders are either truss or box type and
hung from the main cables using hangers. The
suspension bridge is most suitable for long spans
3.2 Selection of Bridge Type
 In selection of a bridge type the following factors
should be considered.
1.Geometric Condition of the Site: The type of bridge
selected will often depend on the horizontal and
vertical alignment of the highway route and on the
clearances above and below the road way.
• E.g. If the alignment is on a curve, box and slab type
bridges are best options.
2.Subsurface Conditions of the Site: The foundation
soils at a site will determine whether abutments and
piers can be founded on spread footings, driven piles
and etc.
3.Functional Requirements: Bridge should serve the
present and future traffic.
• E.g. If future widening or replacement of bridge
decks is a concern girder type bridge is best option.
4.Aesthetics: It is necessary to understand what
qualities and features of a bridge tend to make that
aesthetics statement a good one. This understanding
requires training and time.
5.Economics and ease of maintenance: In
comparison of the economics of different bridge
types, the construction cost and maintenance cost
should be taken together
6.Construction and erection considerations:

 The selection of the bridge type to be built is often

governed by construction and erection
considerations
The availability of skilled labor and specified
materials will also influence the choice of a
particular bridge type.
 
4.Bridge Loadings
 4.1 Types of loads

 The following permanent and transient loads and forces

shall be considered for design of bridges where applicable.
The load provisions may also be applied to the structural
evaluation of existing bridges.
 Permanent Loads
• DC =dead load of structural components
nonstructural attachments
• DD =down drag
• DW=dead load of wearing surfaces and utilities
• EH =horizontal earth pressure load
• EL = accumulated locked-in effects resulting from the
construction process
• ES =earth surcharge load
• EV =vertical pressure from dead load of earth fill
 Transient Loads
• BR=vehicular braking force
• CE =vehicular centrifugal force
• CR=creep
• CT =vehicular collision force
• EQ =earthquake
• FR =friction
• IM=vehicular dynamic load allowance
• LL =vehicular live load
• LS =live load surcharge
•PL=pedestrian live load
• SE =settlement
• SH=shrinkage
• TG=temperature gradient
• TU=uniform temperature
• WA=water load and stream pressure
• WL=wind on live load
•WS =wind load on structure