September  2005  

Integral abutment practices in the United States

Edward P. Wasserman

In the United States of America, jointless bridges with integral abutments have been constructed since the late 1930s. Through the intervening years, more and more states have utilised jointless bridge construction in varying degrees. However, no national standards or uniform policy regarding permissible bridge lengths, skews, details or design procedures have ever been clearly established, although certain general concepts have become common in practice. This paper will attempt to capture the state-of-practice in the United States, but will lean towards practices favoured by the Tennessee Department of Transportation, an acknowledged leader in the field.



















Integral abutments for bridges in seismic regions : Californian practice

Satinder P. Singh

The use of integral abutments is common in short-span bridges. These bridges have performed well in the regions with low seismicity where total seismic and thermal movements in the superstructure can be accommodated at the abutment by proper detailing. In high seismic zones where superstructure movement due to earthquake far exceeds that due to temperature variations, bridges cannot be economically designed to prevent significant damage to integral abutments. This paper describes the general design practice in California in the use of integral abutments for bridges in seismic regions.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Integral bridges : Examples from quarter century experience

V.V. Nori, B.S. Joshi and M.N. Patel

Traditionally, masonry bridges have always been an integral form of construction - free of joints. However, introduction of structural steel in combination with masonry piers lead to introduction of joints with bearings for accommodating thermal movements. This trend somehow continued for reinforced concrete bridges with simply supported spans supported on bearings and each span separated by expansion joints. There has been considerable innovation in the type of bearings and expansion joints. However, the expansion joints still present a major problem for maintenance and replacement. The benefits of adoption of monolithic construction without joints is presented in this paper and the experience gained in the design and construction of integral form of bridge is described. All these bridges have shown good performance.

 

 

 

 










Integral flyovers in Delhi

Alok Panday and Mahesh Tandon

The problem of satisfying both the aesthetics, durability, maintainability on the one hand and the performance of bridges and flyovers under seismic conditions on the other are attracting attention all over the world. In this regard, integral bridges are becoming more acceptable because of better knowledge of structural behaviour of such structural system and realisation of inherent merits of integral connection between deck and piers. An integral bridge is a concrete bridge in which bearings are eliminated and expansion joints are either eliminated or provided at long distances in the case of long bridges. The deck slab and piers are cast monolithic in an integral bridge. This paper describes the salient features of integral flyovers located at the intersection of Maa Anandamoyee Marg (near Kalkajee Temple) and Khegaon Marg (near Panchsheel Club) on Outer Ring road and Moti Nagar and Punjabi Bagh Club intersections on Ring Road, New Delhi. These have become the longest integral flyovers in India. These flyovers, constructed by Delhi PWD in the heart of Delhi, would certainly become a landmark in this historic city.

 

 

 

 

 



 

 


Design and construction of elevated viaduct in Dwarka City, Delhi

Rajan Kataria, Haroon Shaikh and V.V. Nori

The entire stretch of 6.47-km long viaduct in Dwarka City, Delhi, is free of bearings, with expansion joints located typically at 61 m. The viaduct is built using integral form of construction with precast post-tensioned girders. The authors describe the salient design features of the viaduct and some of the issues that were considered while adopting integral form of design. The construction methodology of the viaduct is also briefly given.























Design and detailing of integral bridges: Suggested guidelines

Alok Bhowmick

Integral bridges have been constructed all over the world including India and these have proved to be economical and maintenance free. The author describes the general aspects of planning, analysis, design and detailing of integral bridges. In the absence of specific codal guidelines, an attempt has been made to provide broad design and detailing guidelines which could be adopted in the design and construction of such bridges.























Design of soil loading for integral bridges

George L. England and Neil C.M. Tsang

In the United Kingdom, the adoption of an "integral" type of bridge is recommended for deck lengths shorter than 60 m. The behaviour of integral bridges is dominated by cyclical (daily and seasonal) length changes in the bridge deck and the resulting effect of cyclical horizontal displacements to the back fill soil of the abutments. The authors have conducted experiments to study the escalation of the lateral earth pressures over the back of the abutments with time. The test results have illustrated two major effects, namely, densification and granular flow. The ratcheting flow behaviour of the back fill soil is highlighted. Finally, an equation is proposed for lateral soil loading over the upper half of the abutment wall.























Integral bridges on the Konkan Railway

S.C. Gupta, S.D. Limaye, M.K. Gupta, V.L. Dodeja, and V.V. Nori

This paper describes the design and construction aspects of some of the rail bridges in Ratnagiri South sector for the Konkan Railway Corporation Limited. Unlike most of the other bridges, these bridges are continuous reinforced concrete structures without intermediate expansion joints.