Concrete Arch Bridge Research Articles

Concrete-Filled Steel Tube Arch Bridges in China

Abstract In the past 20 years, great progress has been achieved in China in the construction of concrete-filled steel tube (CFST) arch bridges and concrete arch bridges with a CFST skeleton. The span of these bridges has been increasing rapidly, which is rare in the history of bridge development. The large-scale construction of expressways and high-speed railways demands the development of long-span arch bridges, and advances in design and construction techniques have made it possible to construct such bridges. In the present study, the current status, development, and major innovative technologies of CFST arch bridges and concrete arch bridges with a CFST skeleton in China are elaborated. This paper covers the key construction technologies of CFST arch bridges, such as the design, manufacture, and installation of steel tube arch trusses, the preparation and pouring of in-tube concrete, and the construction of the world’s longest CFST arch bridge—the First Hejiang Yangtze River Bridge. The main construction technologies of reinforced concrete arch bridges are also presented, which include cable-stayed fastening-hanging cantilever assembly, adjusting the load by means of stay cables, surrounding the concrete for arch rib pouring, and so forth. In addition, the construction of two CFST skeleton concrete arch bridges—the Guangxi Yongning Yong River Bridge and the Yunnan–Guangxi Railway Nanpan River Bridge—is discussed. CFST arch bridges in China have already gained a world-leading position; with the continuous innovation of key technologies, China will become the new leader in promoting the development of arch bridges.

Negative Angle Vertical Rotating Construction Method of Reinforced Concrete Arch Bridge

The construction method is a key technical factor to determine whether a concrete arch bridge design is reasonable and applicable. In most mountain areas of western China, a new construction method is being applied in concrete arch bridge construction in order to meet the challenge of severe construction condition, inconvenient transportation and high construction expenses. Pearl Bridge is the first to adopt the negative angle vertical rotating construction method in China. This paper takes Pearl Bridge as an example to introduce the construction process of this new method and discusses its key procedure and constructional details.

16.12: Winning steel solution for flat arch bridge

ABSTRACTAs part of a new University Campus development in the city of Northampton (UK), a new road access bridge was required to span over the river Nene. The client's aspirations and the planning requirements were set to keep the character of the existing landscape while creating an appropriate landmark structure for the new campus. The client's specimen design included a concrete flat arch bridge spanning 49m with a shallow rise of 3.7m above the navigable channel of the river.During the tender design competition, closer reviews of the concrete solution were undertaken by the design and build team, concluding that the imposed loads to the foundations and the construction method required to build the concrete deck would not prove to be economical. Thus, an alternative design was developed using a steel‐concrete composite structure. The awarded solution includes 220 tonnes of welded steel plates to form a shallow and flat arch structure with deck cross girders.This bridge case study paper discusses the design aspects from development at planning phase to tender design and detail design as well as the specific construction stages related to the steelwork erection.

Development and application of concrete arch bridges in China

The arch bridge is one of the main bridge types utilized in China, and many concrete arch bridges have been built there. Concrete with its high strength in compression and limited strength in tension is an ideal construction material for the arch since its primary internal force is compression. This paper briefly introduces the construction of concrete arch bridges in China in recent years, provides basic statistics on concrete arch bridges worldwide with a span of more than 200 m, analyses the development of concrete arch bridges, and focuses on the Nanpanjiang and Beipanjian Railway Bridges. Furthermore, this study introduces the common construction methods for concrete arch bridges, and describes the recent progress of research on concrete arch bridges using new materials and structures. Finally, future trends in the research and development of concrete arch bridges are discussed including applications of new materials, structures and construction methods.

An investigation of the seismic behavior of a deck-type reinforced concrete arch bridge

This paper attempts to explore potential benefits of form in a deck-type reinforced concrete (RC) arch bridge in connection with its overall seismic behavior and performance. Through a detailed three-dimensional finite element modeling and analysis of an actual existing deck-type RC arch bridge, some useful quantitative information have been derived that may serve for a better understanding of the seismic behavior of such arch bridges. A series of the nonlinear dynamic analyses has been carried out under the action of seven different time histories of ground motion scaled to the AASHTO 2012 response spectrum. The concept of demand to capacity ratios has been employed to provide an initial estimation of the seismic performance of the bridge members. As a consequence of the structural form, a particular type of irregularity is introduced due to variable heights of columns transferring the deck loads to the main arch. Hence, a particular attention has been paid to the internal force/moment distributions within the short, medium, and long columns as well as along the main arch. A study of the effects of the vertical component of ground motion has demonstrated the need for the inclusion of these effects in the analysis of such bridges.

Innovative precast, prestressed concrete network arches: Elastic response during construction

To the authors’ knowledge, the West Seventh Street Bridge in Fort Worth, Texas is the first precast concrete network arch bridge in the world. Completed in 2013, this bridge consists of 12 identical arches that were precast and post‐tensioned near the bridge site. The prefabricated arches, which were 49.8‐m long and weighed approximately 2,500 kN, were then transported to the bridge site and erected. To evaluate the structural behavior throughout construction and under subsequent live (truck) loading, 224 vibrating wire gauges were embedded in the 12 arches prior to concrete placement. Three‐dimensional finite element models of the arches were also developed to evaluate the structural response under different loading and boundary conditions. Relatively small bending moments were observed in the arches, and the response of the arch elements was generally governed by axial forces. This paper describes the bridge, the instrumentation, and the modeling effort, in addition to the short‐term response of the arches.

Seismic assessment of small to medium spans plain concrete arch bridges

There are numerous old arch bridges in Iran that have been used as railway bridges for more than 70 years. Field load testing of old railway bridges in km-23 and km-24 of Tehran–Qom railway have revealed important characteristics of the bridges and have proven that there is still a large capacity under service load. Since most of these bridges are not designed for earthquake excitation, seismic vulnerability of these structures is uncertain. This fact necessitates the investigation of the earthquake resistance of these kinds of bridges. In this paper, seismic performance of bridges is assessed by the pushover analysis. These bridges are plain concrete arch structures with different span length and mechanical properties which have been built 70 years ago. The results of dynamic load tests are used to calibrate a finite element model of the bridges in which a plain strain analysis is carried out. Using non-linear static analysis method, suggested by several modern standards, the capacity curves of the structures and non-linear demand spectrum are obtained. The choice of control nodes in the pushover analysis and their influences on seismic performance of plain concrete arch bridges are investigated. The crown, centre of mass and a virtual point are selected as control nodes and it is demonstrated that the capacity curves are almost identical in all control node cases. Finally, the demand levels of the bridges are determined and compared with capacity curves. The results show that the earthquake resistance of these kinds of bridges totally depends on material properties and geometry of the structures.

Seismic applicability of a long-span railway concrete upper-deck arch bridge with CFST rigid skeleton rib

To determine the seismic applicability of a long-span railway concrete upper-deck arch bridge with concrete-filled steel-tube (CFST) rigid skeleton ribs, some fundamental principles and seismic approaches for long-span bridges are investigated to update the design methods in the current Code for Seismic Design of Railway Engineering of China. Ductile and mixed isolation design are investigated respectively to compare the structural seismic performances. The flexural moment and plastic rotation demands and capacities are quantified to assess the seismic status of the ductile components. A kind of triple friction pendulum (TFP) system and lead-plug rubber bearing are applied simultaneously to regularize the structural seismic demands. The numerical analysis shows that the current ductile layout with continuous rigid frame approaching spans should be strengthened to satisfy the demands of rare earthquakes. However, the mixed isolation design embodies excellent seismic performances for the continuous girder approaching span of this railway arch bridge.

Seismic Performance Evaluation of a Reinforced Concrete Arch Bridge

The entire Himalayan belt including Nepal area, because of its active tectonic movement, is seismically active causing high risk of earthquake in this region. It is important to evaluate the seismic performance of the structures including bridges to identify to what extent they would survive during earthquake. A reinforced concrete two hinged arch bridge located in Chobhar, Nepal has been selected for the research purpose. This paper presents the determination of seismic performance of a reinforced concrete arch bridge under different ground motions. The seismic input was taken as five different earthquake ground motion histories having different V/H peak ground acceleration ratio for time history analysis. Displacement capacity of the bridge was determined from pushover analysis. Time history analysis was conducted in two different steps: first only horizontal acceleration was applied and next vertical acceleration was applied in addition to horizontal ground motion. Comparisons were made between the responses of the bridge for these two cases. It was found that inclusion of vertical component of ground motion has negligible effect in variation of longitudinal displacement. However, there was remarkable effect in axial force variation. Significant effect in axial force variation in arch rib was observed as V/H ratio increased although the effect in longitudinal displacement with increase in V/H ratio was negligible. Moment demand also increased due to high axial force variation because of vertical ground motion.Journal of the Institute of Engineering, 2016, 12(1): 120-126

Stochastic long-term behavior of a reinforced concrete arch bridge

Beipanjiang Bridge, a railway-reinforced concrete arch bridge with span of 445 m, is located in Guizhou, China. The self-shored technology with a frame of concrete-filled steel tube is applied in this construction, in which the frame performs as the falsework for casting concrete into arch ring and also serves as the major reinforcement of the permanent structure. The time-variant behaviors of long-span concrete arch bridge may be sensitive to the creep and shrinkage of concrete, especially when the staged construction is applied. Owing to the random property of concrete creep and shrinkage, the stochastic analysis is necessary to be employed in order to give a more rational and objective evaluation about the structural long-term behaviors. A hybrid approach including Monte Carlo sampling based on response surface method is developed in this study, based on which the statistical results of long-term deflection and time-variant stress are discussed. Finally, the stochastic contributions of input variables to structural responses are investigated with the sensitivity analyses.

The Influence of The Static Layout on The Stress and Deformation State for Concrete Arched Bridges with Upper Carriageway

Abstract Arch bridges were the first constructions with considerable spans built by man, due to the materials and technologies available at that time. Afterwards, these works of art have diversified and are now solutions used in countless situations, especially when crossing deep valleys. Both their economic and architectonic aspects are hard to combat and have led to selecting this type of structure for more and more locations. The paper will contain a brief presentation of some aspects regarding upper path concrete arch bridges composition and design methods. Also, it will have a case study regarding structural stresses over the different construction stages, and for several support hypotheses. The case study will reflect the Crivadia viaduct, situated on DN 66, at km 150+672. The bridge has a main span of 59.20m and an overall height of 15.00m, serving a 7.80m wide carriageway and two 2.20m wide footways. It has a total length of 107.60m. Based on the results of the case study, conclusions will be drawn regarding stress variation over the construction stages and under different support hypothesis, comparing these with the initial results.

Dynamic Analysis of an Existing Arch Railway Bridge According to Eurocodes

AbstractModern regulations concerning railway bridges are based on the approach of structural dynamics, which is described in PN-EN standards. This paper presents the results of theoretical dynamic analysis of the HSLM-A train set loading on the structure of a pre-stressed concrete arch bridge - the first railway bridge of its type which was built in Poland (completed in 1959). The recommendations of PN-EN have been followed and modal analysis was carried out to define the sensitivity of the structure to chosen eigenforms. Additionally the paper presents a course of calculations and the conclusions obtained from the analysis of displacements, accelerations, and bending moments induced in the structure through a simulated passage of a high-speed train in the context of the requirements of PN-EN Standards. The conclusions from the current calculations can be used for dynamic analysis of bridges of similar structural solutions.

Analysis of Long-Term Observation of Highway Arch Bridge Oparno

The paper deals with evaluation of experimental data collected during the Oparno arch bridge construction and with subsequent analysis of the construction process and long-term behavior with regard to rheological properties of concrete. The Oparno valley bridge is composed of two separate concrete arch structures with spans of 135 metres (this is currently the second longest span of concrete arch bridge in the Czech Republic). It was built using cantilever casting technology with temporary cable-stays and auxiliary pylons. The data recorded for this study include detailed geodetic measurement of the bridge structure during construction, along with measured strains and temperatures in the arches. Most of the data was measured during the bridge construction in 2008 and 2009. Data significant for long term behavior of structure are still being collected. Verification of different concrete material models and their suitability for design of arch bridges built by free cantilevering will be a main result of the analysis. On the basis of a detailed comparison of numerical results and measured deflections, strains and temperatures, it is possible to quantify the impact of rheological properties of the material (or their individual input parameters) on the resulting structural behavior. Unlike previous research, the examined structure is made of reinforced concrete (not prestressed) and consists of compact solid section and in the final state it is mainly in compression.

Analysis of thermal behavior on concrete box-girder arch bridges under convection and solar radiation

The two-dimensional finite element method can be used to calculate the thermal field distribution of prestressed concrete bridge girders. However, this method is not appropriate for the concrete box-girder arch bridges, because they have different azimuth and dip angles at the top and bottom flanges along arch axis. Thus, an experimental and analytical study was conducted on a concrete box-girder arch bridge located in Guizhou, China, to investigate the thermal behavior under convection and the solar radiations. To determine the vertical temperature gradients, a two-dimensional plane finite element model was used to calculate the thermal field based on meteorological parameter methods. In addition, the three-dimensional beam finite element model was proposed to study the thermal stress and displacement of arch bridges using the vertical temperature gradients. Finally, the thermal behavior of the concrete box-girder arch bridges determined by the two-dimensional plane and three-dimensional beam finite element model was verified by three-dimensional solid finite element model.

The real static behaviour of historic bridge in town Krásno nad Kysucou in Slovakia

The paper is focused on real static behaviour of the oldest reinforced concrete arch bridge in middle Europe, which is located in the town Krasno nad Kysucou over the river Bystrica. This bridge was diagnosed and the task was to determine the load-carrying capacity of the bridge. Documentation of the object has not been available, so, it was not clear what the static schema of the bridge is – whether it is fixed arch or two-hinged arch and whether the spandrel walls located on the both sides in the longitudinal direction are cooperating with the arch. The paper is focused on the static calculation and the load-carrying capacity calculation in order to compare various static schemas.

Durability Evaluation of Reinforced Concrete Arch Bridge Based on Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process Method

Durability damages in varying degrees occur in numerous bridges during the service stage. Most problems caused by durability damages, including insufficient carrying capacity, aging, and breakage, among others, will directly threaten the safety performance of the structure and affect its normal condition. It requires field test to inspect in detail and reassess the structure, so that proper action can be taken to maintain the structure. Based on the Analytic Hierarchy Process, this study aims to establish a durability assessment model of a reinforced concrete arch bridge through membership function by combining fuzzy theory, to solve the sensitivity of different degrees of damages on assessment result by setting weight, and to conduct durability assessment of the superstructure of reinforced concrete bridges through the application of comprehensive weight variation fuzzy assessment. Results indicate that the structure is in a good state, and the durability assessment is in good agreement with the actual situation of the bridge.

Trends and Development of Precast Concrete Closed Spandrel Arch Bridge Systems

Arch bridges which have existed since thousands years ago showed surprising durability. Due to the aesthetic value of arch bridges, it is widely used as crossing over valleys and rivers nowadays. Closed spandrel arch bridge is one type of arch bridges that has been developed using precast concrete technology since 1965. Currently, the available Precast Concrete Arch Bridge Systems are BEBO arch, Matiere arch, CON/SPAN arch, TechSpan arch, NUCON arch, Concrete-Filled FRP Tube arch, Flexi-Arch, Rivo CS-P Series arch and Pearl Chain arch. In this paper, development of the Precast Concrete Closed Spandrel Arch Bridge System is reviewed. The advantanges of precast closed spandrel arch bridge system will also be briefly presented. Comparisons in terms of arch sections, moulding, handling, transporting and installing among different Precast Concrete Closed Spandrel Arch Bridge Systems are also highlighted.

Construction stresses in the world’s first precast concrete network arch bridge

Construction stresses in the world’s first precast concrete network arch bridge

The Study on Bore Piles Foundation of the Reinforced Concrete Arch Bridge Beams of Tukad Pekerisan and Tukad Penet

The foundation of the reinforced concrete arch bridge beams ofTukadPekerisan andTukadPenet (Pekerisan River and Penet River) Bali, were first designed to use well foundation on a rock soil adapted to the boring results. However, at the time of excavation, the base soil was founded to have textures that contain of both longitudinal and transverse cracks. The fractures were found to form a rectangular pattern and continued down to the layer of soil. It was feared that the slope will not be strong enough and could collapse. The purpose of this study is to determine the strength and stability of the bore piles foundations of reinforced concrete arch bridge, in order to avoid the possible collapse of the banks on the bridge foundation. The alternative of bore piles as underpinning were selected by considering the field problems, such as the elongated soil crack sand a very steep slope of soil near the construction.

Evaluation and Study on the Bearing Capacity of Deck Type Concrete Arch Bridge

As more and more arch bridges built with the construction method of cantilever erection, the strength and entirety of the bridge shall worry the designers. This paper studies an arch bridge with a 65-meter span, gives the static loading test plan and the dynamic test plan, analyzes the testing data of the displacement and strain, explains the methods of static and dynamic load test in detail, and gives a conclusion about the bearing capacity and dynamic properties of bridge. This can be referred by the similar bridge.