KTH, Raid Karoumi

Lecture 1, part 1
General
(Report 116, Infrastructure Structures, Chapter 1)

Raid Karoumi
Structural Engineering & Bridges

Contents

 What is a bridge?
 Classification of bridges
 Bridge elements/parts
 Structural honesty

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What is a bridge?

 A bridge is normally a by man or nature

created structure that can carry traffic over
or by-pass a by man or nature created
hindrance
 Whatever structure with a free span more
than 2 m. (I.e. even a culvert under the road
for carrying a little water stream under the
road)

Classification of bridges

 After
 The main material of the bridge
 Type of traffic
 Structural behaviour
 Function of the bridge
 Example:
”Pre-stressed, concrete, box-girder, railway
bridge on integral abutments (over river X at Y)”
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Classification based on traffic

type
 Road bridges
 Railway bridges
 Foot bridges
 War bridges (often used as temporary bridges)
 Aqueduct (bridges used by boats)
 Wildlife bridges (bridges used by animals)

Bridge or tunnel?

Bridge or tunnel?

According to Trafikverket
Bridge < 100 m length
Tunnel > 100 m
In rock – always a tunnel!
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Classification based on the material

of the main load carrying structure
 Stone or masonry bridges
 Timber bridges
 Concrete bridges
 Steel bridges
 Aluminium bridges
 Composite bridges
 steel-concrete
 soil-Steel
 timber-concrete
 …
The Ljunga Bay Bridge, Sölvesborg
60-metre long stainless steel arches
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Classification based on the structural

behaviour of the main load carrying system

 Beam and beam-frame bridges

More in lecture part 2!
 Slab and slab-frame bridges
 Arch bridges
 Suspension bridges
 Cable-stayed bridges
 Openable (bascule) bridges
 Special cases

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Three main load carrying

principles
Suspension
principle

Beam
principle

Arch
principle

The largest bridges

1500

Beam bridges
Cable-stayed bridges
Suspension bridges
Span (m)

Arch bridges
1000

500

0
1800 1850 1900 1950 2000
Year
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The Öresund bridge – harp

shaped cable-stayed system

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The largest cable-stayed bridges

recently inaugurated
Stonecutters Bridge,
HK 1018 m

Sutong Bridge China, 1088 m

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Millau bridge

The towers are higher than the Eiffel tower

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Arch bridge – the Svinesund

bridge

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Pons Fabricius
62 B.C.

Arch bridge, still standing

in Rome

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Suspension bridges

Akashi Kayko is the largest

bridge in the world 16

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Classification after different

function
 Movable bridges
 Openable bridges (Bascule bridges)

 Underwater bridges
 SFT (Submerged floating tunnels)

 Floating bridges
 Pontoon bridges

Floating Bridge in Maladives17

Underwater bridge (SFT)

A submerged floating tunnel (SFT) is placed deep enough to avoid water traffic
and weather, but not so deep that high water pressure needs to be dealt with,
usually 20–50 m is sufficient. Cables either anchored to the Earth or to pontoons
at the surface prevent it from floating to the surface or submerging. 18

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Notations for different parts and

elements of a bridge

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More notations
End diaphragm wall, end Diaphragm wall,
bulkhead, end cross beam bulkhead, cross
Expansion joint (Ändtvärbalk) beam (Tvärbalk)
(Övergångskonstruktion)
A

Abutment A Pier
(landfäste) (mellanstöd)

Length section
Railing
(Räcke) Deflector rail
Diaphragm wall,
(Navföljare)
bulkhead, cross beam
Curb (stone) (Tvärbalk, tvärskott)
(Kantsten)

Kantbalk De-watering
(Avvattning)

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Section A-A

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Cross-section examples
i) ii)

iii)

iv) v)

vi) vii)

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Steel bridge deck

So-called orthotropic plate

i) ii)

iii) iv) v)

vi) vii)
a)

b) viii)

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Abutment
examples

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Design process
 Preliminary conceptual design
 Economy etc.
 Investigation
 Study of environmental consequences
 Geotechnical aspects
 …
 Preliminary design
 Proposal documents
 Construction documents
 Often performed by the contractor in the form of “design and build
contract”

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Structural honesty
“Structural honesty”: a structure shall be designed so
that it in an honest way show the structural behaviour
and the flow of forces!

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Column Design

The Firth of Forth Bridge in Scotland. Opened

1890. Had the world largest span 521m until
1921. 26

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