Introduction to bridges:

Basic Concepts & Classification

Vishvas Kumar
Sr Professor/Bridge-II
IRICEN

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 Introduction to bridges:
Basic Concepts & Classification
• Will be covered
• Classification 15

• LWR on Bridges
• Basic concept of Rail Structure Interaction 15
• IRPWM Provision for LWR on Bridges
30

• Will Not be covered

• RSI analysis
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 No. of Railway bridges

Importan Major Minor Total

t
As on
729 12493 142056 155278
03Oct 2024

Over IR network,
• About 23.4 per cent are over 100 year old

of which 6,680 bridges are over 140 year old.

• 14,324 bridges are 81 to 100 year old,
• 15,637 bridges are 61 to 80 year old. 3
 Railway Bridges

Masonry RCC/PSC Steel Composite

Arch

Steel Girder with RCC Deck

Hume Pipe Slab Box culvert I - Girder Box Girder

Plate girder Open web girder

Through Type Semi -Through Type Under Slung Type Through Type Semi -Through Type Under Slung Type
MAIN PARTS OF THE BRIDGES
1) Superstructure
– Track Structure
– Girder
– Bearing
2) Substructure
– Bed Block
– Training & Protective Works
– Pier/Abutment/Wing Wall
– Foundations
Monolithic Bridge like Pipe Culvert, Box Culvert
and Arch act like one unit.
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 FOUNDATIONS
1. Open Foundation

2. Pile Foundation

3. Well Foundations

SUB STRUCTURE
1. Masonry

2. Concrete

3. RCC

4. Steel
CLASSIFICATION OF
BRIDGES

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1. ACCORDING TO SPAN OR OPENING

1) Minor Bridge

• Individual span < 12 m & Total Lineal Waterway< 18 m

2) Major Bridge

• Individual span ≥12 M or Total Lineal Waterway ≥ 18 M

3) Important Bridges –

• Total Lineal waterway 300 M OR

• Total Waterway 1000M2 OR
• Those classified as ‘IMPORTANT BY CE/CBE due to their depth of W.Way, Extent of
River Training Works & Past History Maintenance Problem.

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 2. ACCORDING TO FUNCTION

1)Track Bridge (for rail vehicle)

• Over water bodies i.e River/ Nallah /Canal

• Over Valley (viaduct)
• Over Railway (Fly-over)
• Over Road (RUB)

2) Road Bridge (For Road Vehicle)

• Over Railway (ROB) 11

3) Rail cum Road Bridge
• Over river

4) Foot over Bridge (For pedestrian)

• Over Railway (On platform for public)

5) Pipe Line Bridge

• Over Railway

6) Aquaduct
• - Canal or Nallah over Track

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Road Over Bridge
Foot Over Bridge
 3. ACCORDING TO MATERIAL OF
CONSTRUCTION OF SUPER STRUCTURE

1) Timber Bridge (obsolete) Goat Canyan Trestle,

Train passing on wooden bridge

2) Masonry Arch – Stone & Brick

– In lime Mortar & Cement Mortar respectively
3) Steel Bridge
– Riveted Fabrication
– Welded Fabrication
4) RCC Bridge
5) Pre-stressed Concrete Bridge
6) Composite (Steel & Concrete) Bridge 15
4. ACCORDING TO FORM OR TYPE
OF SUPERSTRUCTURE
1) Pipe Culvert
2) RCC Slab
3) Rail opening (Only on branch line)
4) Rail Cluster (Only on branch line)
5) RCC Box Culvert
6) Steel Plate Girder
7) Composite Girder
8) Steel Open Web Girder
9) Arch Bridge
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10) RCC/PSC ‘T” or “I” Beam Bridge
11) RCC/PSC Box Girder
12) Suspension Bridge
13) Cable Stayed Bridge
14) Bow String Bridge
15) Moveable Bridge
– Swing Bridge
– Bascule Bridge
– Lifting Bridge

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RUB NH
 5. ACCORDING TO STRUCTURAL
CHARACTERISTICS OF SUPER STRUCTURE

1) Simply supported
2) Continuous
3) Balanced Cantilever
4) Cable Stayed
5) Suspension
7) Rigid Frame.

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Arch Bridge

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ELEMENTS OF AN ARCH BRIDGE
ELEMENTS OF AN ARCH BRIDGE
Bowstring Bridge

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25
Cable Stayed Bridge

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27
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Suspension Bridge

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Suspension Bridge

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Suspension Bridge:
Forces

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32
RIGID FRAME

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6. ACCORDING TO LEVEL OF
FLOOR SYSTEMS 1) Deck Type – (Track Structure on
Top Flange or Chord)

2) Through Type (Track structure

Floor System Connected to Bottom
Chord Panel)

3) Semi Through Type (Track

Structure Floor System Connected
to Web and no top Bracings).

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SEMI THROUGH TRUSS

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THROUGH SEMI THROUGH
BRIDGE BRIDGE

DECK TYPE
BRIDGE

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38
PLATE GIRDER

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PLATE GIRDER

ELEVATION

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PLATE GIRDER
CROSS SECTION

MAIN GIRDER

END CROSS FRAME

BEARING
BED BLOCK

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Plate Girder Bridge

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Plate Girder Bridge

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COMPOSITE GIRDER
Open Web Girder Bridges

Through Girder

Under
Slung

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 Open Web Girder
• Mostly open web type girders are used for track
bridges over valleys and large rivers on account of
economy in cost.
• This is achieved by using smaller sections than plate
girders and also fixing rail level as per site conditions
resulting less earth work .
• Open web girder on which track structure is provided
on the bottom of girder is called as through type girder.
• Open web girder on which track structure is provided
on the top of the Girder is called Underslung type
Girder.
• Presently steel used is conforming to IS: 2062 Grade
‘B0’ for rolled sections. 46
Through Girder Bridge

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 Under slung Girder Bridge

Open web girder on which track structure is provided on the top of the Girder
is called Underslung type Girder.
Latest drawing No. RDSO/B-17141 to 17155 is issued by RDSO for 25 tonne
axel loading welded type. 48
Under slung Girder Bridge

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BOGIBEEL BRIDGE

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Through girder bridge

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PSC BOX GIRDER
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PSC I GIRDER
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RCC BOX
SEGMENT

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RCC SLAB BRIDGE

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MOVEABLE BRIDGES :
• Swing Bridge
• Bascule Bridge
• Lifting Bridge

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 Bascule Bridges

Video

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Video

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Swing Bridges

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 Lifting bridges

Video

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7. ACCORDING TO TYPE OF SERVICE

1) Permanent
2) Temporary
– Restricted Head Girder (RH Girder)
– Calender-Hamilton Bridge
– Pontoon Bridge

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 TEMPORATY BRIDGES
Type of girder Span
1. Rail Cluster 3660mm (12’)
2 RH Girder a) 1800mm
(Plate girder type, b) 7200mm (24’)
duplicate girders) c) 9680mm(31’-9”)
d) 13200mm (44”)
e) 16400mm (53’-6”)
f) 26480mm (87”)
3. Calendar Hamilton a) 24400mm (80’)
Girder(open web b) 30500mm (100’)
through type) c) 45700mm (150’)
d) 61000mm (200’)
4. Standard Span a) 12200mm (40’)
(Plate girders) b) 18300mm (60’)
c) 24400mm (80’)
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RH Girders – Salient Features
• Single Leaf girders
• Sleepers provided on top.
• Welded girders, welded intermediate
stiffeners
• Bracing/ cross frames with turned bolts
• Designed for 0.6 million cycles of loading as
per SBC
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Pontoon Bridges

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8. ACCORDING TO METHOD OF CONNECTION
(STEEL GIRDER)

1) Riveted
2) Welded
3) Bolted

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9. ACCORDING TO LEVEL OF DECKING
WITH REFERENCE TO HFL

1) High Level bridge

2) Causeway or Irish Bridge
3) Siphon Bridge

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 10. ACCORDING TO RAILWAY
GAUGE
1) Broad Gauge (BG – 1676 MM)
2) Metre Gauge (MG – 1000 MM)
3) Narrow Gauge (NG – 762 MM)

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11. ACCORDING TO LOADING
Broad Gauge
– DFC
– 25 T
– MBG – 1987 (Modified Broad Gauge)
– RBG – 1975 (Revised Broad Gauge)
– BGML (Main Line)
– BGBL (Branch Line)

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LWR Track over Bridges

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 LWR Track over Bridges

For Ballasted Deck

1. Rail and sleeper work as a frame.
2. There is no relative movement between rail and sleeper. This is
ensured by providing elastic fastenings
3. Resistance to longitudinal movement of track is provided by
ballast resistance (longitudinal resistance between rail and
sleeper is higher than the resistance mobilized by ballast)

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What Causes Relative movement between rail and bridge
deck?
1. The thermal expansion of the deck only, in the case of CWR, or the
thermal expansion of the deck and of the rail, whenever a rail
expansion device is present.
2. Horizontal braking and acceleration forces
3. Rotation of the deck as a result of the deck bending under vertical
traffic loads
4. Deformation of the concrete structure due to creep and shrinkage
5. Longitudinal displacement of the supports under the influence of the
thermal gradient
6. Deformation of the structure due to the vertical temperature
gradient
Note- In most cases, 1st three are of major importance for bridge design

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Rail-structure Interaction takes place due to:
1. Thermal movement of Bridge Deck/Rail
2. Tractive Effort/Braking Force
3. Deck Bending (End rotations)

NOTE
 First phenomenon is gradual while remaining two are rapid
 Interaction effect due to thermal movement of Rail will take
place only if SEJ is present on bridge or within 100 m of
approaches
 Long term phenomenon like deformation of deck under
creep/shrinkage are considered to be dissipated during various
track maintenance operations hence not considered while
carrying out RSI studies
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Interaction due to temp variation

RAIL

DECK
𝑓 𝐾𝑁 / 𝑚
A B
L
TENSION Forces in
Rail

COMPRESSION
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Variation of Additional
Rail Stress
Force in Rail due to thermal movement of deck

TENSIO
N

Support reaction

COMPRESSIO
N 79
Additional Stresses in LWR due to deck movement
RSI due to Longitudinal force (Braking Force)

Direction of
Vehicl traffic

e
Approach RAIL Approach
Reaction Reaction

Deck
Fixed Reaction Movabl
Bridge Deck e

Pier

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 Interaction Due to Longitudinal Force
(TE/BF)
• The tractive force cause tension in front and compression in
rear of the Locomotive.
• The braking force cause compression in front and tension in
rear of the train.
• Sharing of longitudinal loads between approaches and bridge
substructure depends upon the relative stiffness of track and
bridge in longitudinal direction.
• Stiffer part will attract more load.
• The fixity of rail at approaches will increase the rail stress and
reduce the load at bearing.

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 Shortening RSI due to Deck
of deck top
Bending Lifting of edge

L TOP
L TOP’

L NA

L NA'

L BOT

L BOT'

LTOP’ < LTOP LNA’ = LNA LBOT’ > LBOT

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 LWR on Bridges
• 329 Bridges with Ballasted Deck (without bearing):
• LWR/CWR can be continued over bridges with ballasted deck without bearings like
slabs,
box culverts
and arches.

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 LWR on Bridges
• 330 Bridges with Ballasted Deck and Ballast Less Track (BLT) (with bearing):
• Detailed calculations shall be done by the Design office of Chief Bridge Engineer/CAO(C) to
ascertain the effect of LWR on such bridges and its effect on the Sub-structure of the bridge
as per Para 2.8.1.2 of “Bridge Rules”.
• The LWR/CWR may be permitted on a case-to-case basis based on the above calculations.
• In case detailed calculations are not done, LWR on ballasted deck bridges (with bearings)
may be permitted as per Para 331 below for bridges with un-ballasted deck.
• The LWR/CWR on BLT Bridges may only be permitted, if found satisfactory on the basis of
above calculations. Chief Bridge Engineer/CAO(C) may further permit use of special
arrangements to control RSI effects as stipulated in the RDSO report no. BS-114

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 LWR on Bridges
• 331 Bridges with Un-Ballasted Deck:
• LWR/CWR shall be continued over such bridges with overall length as specified in sub-Para(1)
to (3) below:
(1) Bridges provided with rail-free fastenings
(single span not exceeding 30.5 metre and having sliding bearings on both ends)
Overall length of the bridge should not exceed the maximum as provided in Table-1with following
stipulations:

a) Rail-free fastenings shall be provided throughout the length of the bridge between
abutments.
(b) SEJ of the LWR should be located such that
– bridge does not fall in the breathing length of the LWR.
– The approach track upto 50 m on both sides shall be well anchored by providing PRC sleepers with elastic rail clips
with adequate toe load so as to arrest creep.
(c) The ballast section of approach track upto 50 metre shall be heaped upto the foot of the rail
on the shoulders and kept in well-compacted and consolidated condition during the86
months of extreme summer and winter.
 LWR on Bridges
• 331 Bridges with Un-Ballasted Deck:
• (2) Bridges provided with rail-free fastenings and partly box-anchored
(with single span not exceeding 30.5 metre and having sliding bearings at both ends)
• Overall length of the bridge should not exceed the maximum as provided in Table-1 with
following stipulations:
(a) On each span, 4 central sleepers shall be box-anchored with fair ‘V’ or similar type creep
anchors and the remaining sleepers shall be provided with rail-freefastenings. For fair ‘V’ type
anchors, typical drawing Nos. RDSO/T-1045 for 60 Kg rail section and RDSO/T-10327 for 52 Kg rail section may
be referred.
(b) The track structure in the approaches shall be laid and maintained to the standards as stated in
(1) (b) & (c) above.
(c) The girders shall be centralized with reference to the location strips on the bearing, before
laying LWR/CWR.
(d) The sliding bearings shall be inspected during the months of March and October
each year and cleared of all foreign Materials. Lubrication of the bearings shall be 87
done once in two years.
 LWR on Bridges
• 331 Bridges with Un-Ballasted Deck:
• (2) Bridges provided with rail-free fastenings and partly box-anchored

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LWR on Bridges

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 LWR on Bridges
• (6) Bridges on which LWR/CWR is not permitted/provided as per above
shall be isolated by a minimum length of 30 metre of well anchored PSC sleeper track
on either side.

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Thanks 92