The Bridge Through the College (Part-1): Conception and Construction of Reinforced Concrete Bridge Across College Campus

Abstract

“The bridge through the college” highlights how contracts and agreements signed many decades ago have to still be respected and fulfilled. A public highway planned to originally be laid on top of a filled-out irrigation canal passing through the campus of a college that commenced in 1977 was later replaced with a elevated bridge that has finally finished completion in 2023 and is now open to public. The bridge is designed as reinforced concrete girder bridge with concrete slab top poured composite with the girders. This article explains in detail the engineering, design and construction of a reinforced concrete girder bridge through the campus of Velagapudi Ramakrishna Siddhartha Engineering College in Vijayawada city of India. The challenges associated with design and construction are also discussed. Finally, the lessons learnt at the end of the completion of the bridge are enlisted and recommendations to improve efficiency of our design and construction methods are made. Keywords: Concrete, Bridge, Engineering, Construction, Pier, Girder, Reinforcement