Construction Of Composite Bridges Research Articles

Cold-formed steel in composite bridge construction

Laboratory tests were conducted on a full scale prototype of a segment of a bridge superstructure of cold-formed steel box girders in composite construction with a reinforced concrete slab. The results indicate that such a superstructure has adequate ultimate load carrying capacity, is effective in distributing concentrated loads laterally, and that the specially-formed shear connectors (lugs) are quite successful in shear transfer; furthermore, the design parameters can be predicted by means of ordinary analytical methods. Based on the field performance of a similar superstructure for a bridge over the Slate River and on the laboratory test results, refinements in the design that should lead to further economies for this type of construction are suggested.