Numerical and experimental analyses of an integral bridge

Abstract

In this paper, we present the analysis of a numerical and an experimental study of the Scotch Road integral abutment bridge located in Trenton, NJ, USA. Three-dimensional, nonlinear finite element (FE) model of the full bridge has been developed to study the effect of thermal loading on the bridge substructure. The bridge substructure was fully instrumented. Data analysis was performed to study the effect of several design parameters on axial stress in piles. An analysis of the pile-soil system was performed using the finite difference software LPILE. The maximum displacement of the bridge superstructure obtained from the FE model due to a maximum expected temperature change of ±42°C during the lifetime of the bridge was applied to the substructure model. The effect of bridge skew on the build-up of soil pressure behind the abutment was studied. A significant increase in the soil pressures and axial stresses behind the abutment at the obtuse side versus the acute was observed. The effect of the size of the galvanized steel sleeve on the induced axial stresses in piles was studied. We found that increasing the size of the steel sleeve increases their capacity to resist bending.