Digital assignment 1

BRIDGE -A bridge can be defined as a crossing the road, railway and river or a natural obstacle,
which allows people vehicles, animals to go easily from one point to another according to the way
carried this bridge is called road bridge railway bridge or canal bridge.

BOX GIRDER BRIDGES:- The single or multiple main girder consists of a box beam fabricated from
steel plates or formed from concrete, which resists bending, shear, torsion effectively.

A box girder bridge is one in which the principal structural element is one or more closed cells, acting
in bending. Box girders are used for highway bridges, railway bridges and footbridges different
structural forms are chosen for each of these applications.

Historical development and description of box girder:

The first box girder cross section possessed deck slabs that cantilevered
out only slightly from the box portion shown in figs a to e. With the
prestressed concrete the length of cantilever could be increased. The high
form work costs caused a reduction in the number of cells fig (f, g, h). In
order to reduce the construction loads to minimum possible extent or to
require only one longitudinal girder in working states even with multiple
traffic lanes.

It was only with the development of high strength prestressing steel that it
became possible to span longer distances. The first prestressed concrete
bridges, most of I-cross sections were built towards the end of the 1920’s.The
great breakthrough was achieved only after 1945. “THE SCLAYN” bridge over the
river Maas, which was built by Magnel in 1948, was the first continuous
prestressed concrete box-girder bridge with 2 spans of 62.70m. In following
years the ratio of wages to material costs climbed sharply. This thereby shifted
the emphasis of development of construction method. The box girder cross-
section evolved structurally from the hollow cell-deck bridge or T-beam Bridge.
The widening of the compression zone that began as a structural requirement at
the central piers was in the extended throughout the entire length of bridge
because of advantages transverse load-carrying characteristics.

CONSTRUCTION & MAINTAINENCE

The box girder deck may be constructed in two ways, namely, precast/prefabricated or in situ. Using
precast concrete or prefabricated steel allows for good quality control under factory conditions. The
size of the units is usually determined by the size of the largest available lifting equipment and site
accessibility. It is usually quicker than in situ construction.
In situ construction is carried out using a travelling formwork, a temporary metal structure which
supports the concrete deck while it is being poured. The size of the formwork depends on the size of
the spans but it is usually designed to allow the deck to be constructed in segments while being
 supported off the previous completed deck. A deck unit is completed on either side of a column so as
to ensure balance is maintained, hence it is called balanced cantilever construction. The construction
continues to midspan where it then joins the deck construction from the adjoining column. These
decks usually incorporate prestressing or post tensioning to facilitate construction and also to reduce
the size of the box girder that would otherwise be required
Box girder can be of concrete, steel or composite i.e. combination of steel and concrete. Box girder
is manufactured according to the need, it can also be prefabricated in fabrication centre and then
transported and then placed where it is required.
Steel box girder are generally fabricated in fabrication centre and then placed using connection
method i.e. bolting, welding.

If made of concrete, box girder bridges may be cast in place using falsework supports, removed
after completion, or in sections if a segmental bridge. Box girders may also be prefabricated in a
fabrication yard, then transported and emplaced using cranes.

For steel box girders, the girders are normally fabricated off site and lifted into place by crane,
with sections connected by bolting or welding. If a composite concrete bridge deck is used, it is
often cast in-place using temporary falsework supported by the steel girder.

Either form of bridge may also be installed using the technique of incremental launching. Under
this method, gantry cranes are often used to place new segments onto the completed portions of
the bridge until the bridge superstructure is completed.

Advantages Associated with Box Girders:

 In recent years, single or multi-cell reinforced concrete box Girder Bridge
have been proposed and widely used as economic aesthetic solution for
the over crossings, under crossings, grade separation structures and
viaducts found in modern highway system.

 The very large Torsional rigidity of the box girder‘s closed cellular section
provides structures beneath is more aesthetically pleasing than open-web
type system.

 In case of long span bridges, large width of deck is available to

accommodate prestressing cables at bottom flange level.

 Interiors of box girder bridges can be used to accommodate service such

as gas pipes, water mains etc.

 For large spans, bottom flange could be used as another deck

accommodates traffic also.

 The maintenance of box girder is easier in interior space is directly

accessible without use of scaffolding.
 Alternatively space is hermetically sealed and enclosed air may be dried
to provide a non-corrosive atmosphere.

 It has high structural efficiency which minimizes the prestessing force

required to resist a given bending moment, and its great Torsional
strength with the capacity this gives to re-centre eccentric live loads,
minimizing the prestress required to carry them.

Disadvantages:
One of the main disadvantages of box decks is that they are difficult to
cast in-situ due to the inaccessibility of the bottom slab and the need to
extract the internal shutter. Either the box has to be designed so that the
entire cross section may be cast in one continuous pour, or the cross
section has to be cast in stages.

Advantages and disadvantages[edit]

Advantages[edit]

 Reduces the slab thickness and self-weight of bridge

 Cost effective
 Greater strength per unit area of concrete
 Quality assurance, as precast girders are made off-site
Disadvantages[edit]

(Mainly non-modular designs)

 Structural steel girders are costly

 Logistical inefficiencies and transportation cost
.

Design aspect SteelConstruction.info

The selection of a box girder form usually results in relatively thin plate panels (in terms of thickness to
width ratio) for the webs and bottom flanges (and for top flanges, in all-steel boxes). Avoidance of local
buckling in compression zones and in shear requires appropriate stiffening and longitudinal stiffeners are
often required. Although box sections offer high torsional stiffness, internal cross frames are usually
needed to prevent distortion (when one web is subject to greater shear than the other, one diagonal
dimension across the cell increases and the other decreases). Bearings at supports are normally within the
width of the bottom flange (rather than directly under the webs) and an internal diaphragm is needed to
transfer the reactions.
When open-top boxes are used, they have very little torsional stiffness at the bare steel stage and the
narrow top flanges might be susceptible to lateral buckling (a later-torsional buckling mode for the U-
shaped section). It is therefore necessary to introduce some plan bracing to the top flange (not necessarily
over the full lengths of the spans) to restrict twist and slenderness for buckling. Such bracing must avoid
conflict with slab construction.
For any closed cell that requires internal access to construct it or to carry out inspection and
maintenance, Health and safety considerations require sufficiently large and well-placed openings that an
injured person could be quickly evacuated. All internal stiffening and diaphragms must therefore be
designed such that openings are big enough and that movement along the cell is unimpeded. The following
design aspects are discussed in Guidance Note 1.08:
 Complexity of fabrication
 Internal access
 Stability during construction
 longitudinal stiffening of plate panels
 Transverse stiffeners and beams
 Control of distortion
 Web/flange welds

Guidance on design of composite highway bridges is given in SCI P140 (although the main design standard
referred to in that publication is BS 5400-3[1], the principles are equally applicable to design to
the Eurocodes).
Guidance on the design of railway bridges is given in SCI P318. Design requirements for the Network Rail
Standard Box Girder bridge are given in documents available from Network Rail.