bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Assessment of all wide span Timber Structures owned by the City Munich
Authors: Dietsch Philipp , Winter Stefan
Published: October 2011

Following the Bad Reichenhall ice-arena collapse, the Chair of Timber Structures and Building
Construction at the Technische Universität München conducted a large-scale project to assess the
structural reliability of all 152 wide-span timber structures under the responsibility of the City of
Munich.
The paper presents the chosen approach and gives recommendations on how to assess wide-span
timber structures as well as on intervals of future evaluations to maintain a designated level of
safety. The concept of a Building Book will be introduced. The paper will conclude with a
discussion of the observed types of failure, causes for failure and accountabilities for failures,
referring to our database of 214 failed timber structures.
Steel Decks under Temperature Loads due to Road Surfacing
Authors: Humpf Karl , Walser Peter
Published: October 2011

During the last 30 years orthotropic decks have become popular. In Germany the typical covering consists of a sealing to protect the steel deck from corrosion and on top 2 layers of cast asphalt, each 35 mm thick. Cast Asphalt has a good workability and does not need any roller compaction which could lead to a separation from the steel deck due to vibrations. It must be placed with high temperatures up to 250°C which may generate unacceptable high stresses in the bridge deck and reactions in the bearings due to the high heat input. So far Codes do not cover the load case “temperature due to road surfacing”. In this paper a strategy for consideration of this load case is given.
Effectiveness of Repair Methods of Corroded Bridge Cables
Authors: Nakamura Shunichi , Suzumura Keita
Published: October 2011

Cables and hangers of old suspension bridges and stays of cable-stayed bridges often suffer from steel corrosion. It is important to repair them by proper methods so that corrosion does not progress further. In this paper six repair methods were proposed and applied to cable specimens. Then, the specimens were exposed to the severe corrosion environments and effectiveness of the proposed repair methods was compared. Two different types of test cables were used in this study.

The first test group used parallel wire strand cables consisting of 19 non-galvanized steel wires. This aimed at the main cables of suspension bridges. Six repair methods were applied to these cables: coating with zinc or epoxy resin paint or zinc powder paste, filling with epoxy resin or oil, and dehumidification method, and so on. Then the specimens were wrapped with wet gauze and kept at 40oC for 15 months. By investigating mass loss due to corrosion and appearance during this period, effectiveness of six repair methods was compared. As for the surface wires the dehumidification method was the most effective followed by the epoxy resin paint and filling, the zinc powder paste, and the zinc and epoxy resin paint. The oil filling was not very effective compared with other repair methods.

The second group test used spiral strand cables consisting of seven galvanized steel wires. This test aimed at hangers of suspension bridges and stays of cable-stayed bridges. The same repair methods and corrosion acceleration methods were used as the first test. By investigating mass loss due to corrosion and appearance of both inside and surface wires during the 16 month period, the proposed six repair methods were all very effective compared with no repair strands.

This study proves that, even if a cable is corroded, proper repair works are effective in preventing further corrosion.
Systems for fixing of solar panels
Authors: Siebert Geralt
Published: October 2011

Glass as a building material is used in a multitude of new applications like modern glass facades or roof constructions. Important points in these times are a contribution to a positive energy balance. So the application of solar panels becomes more and more important.

There are one the one hand side diferrent techniques to combine the photovoltaic element with the glass pane.

On the other hand side there are different possibilities oft the fixing of the solar panel: Linerar or in points.

First some basics about the topics glass and solar are explained. The "traditional" systems for fixing of solar panels and also a very new system are presented very short; more detail information can be found in other publications [1]-[15].

In addition to this paper in the presentation some build examples will be explained.
Analysis of Composite Bridges in Practice – a Holistic Approach
Authors: Janjic Dorian , Stampler Johann
Published: October 2011

Composite structures are often used in bridge engineering. In most cases steel girders are combined with a cast in place concrete slab, but composite systems with precast concrete girders are also widely built. Although often applied in everyday structures, composite structures require challeng- ing design procedures due to the necessity of considering the difference in behaviour of the materi- als and providing full connection between the structural parts.

These requirements are related to topics like properly considering the actual construction schedule in order to assign different loading components to the respective structural system. Further special needs arise in the simulation of certain loadings such as self weight of wet concrete or temperature differences between the different materials. A third major problem is related to correct simulation of long time behaviour redistributing stresses from the concrete slab to the girders and to dealing with pre-stressing in case of structures with pre-stressed concrete girders.

Once deformations and internal forces have been correctly calculated there still remain several problems relating to result assessment and proof checks. Stress and strain distribution over the composite section is no longer linear, i.e. stress checks have usually to be done separately for the individual parts. Ultimate load checks however relate to the final composite section. Proof checks for the shear keys between the different parts complete the set of requirements.

Consistent analysis procedures considering all these special problems have recently been developed and are presented herein. The solution allows for considering all required effects with sufficient accuracy in comprehensive manner and in accordance with generally accepted theories.
Shear Strength Evaluation of the Wave Perfobond Rib Shear Connector
Authors: Choi Kyu-Tae , Ahn Jin-Hee , Park Hyun-Min , Kim Sang-Hyo
Published: October 2011

Recently, steel and concrete composite structures are widely used due to the efficiency. In composite structures shear connection should guarantee the composite behavior of two materal. This should be ensured by the capacity of shear connector in the composite structures. In this study, a modified perfobond rib shear connector (wave perfobond rib), is proposed. Push-out tests have been performed to evaluate the shear strength of the proposed wave perfobond rib shear connectors based on Eurocode-4. Various shapes of wave perfobond have been examined to evaluate the effectiveness of some important parameters according to the sensitivity of structural behavior. The parameters considered in this study includes the existence of the holes, the diameter of the holes, the existence of transverse rebar, the diameter of transverse rebar, and the diameter of wave rib curvature.
Dynamic Vehicle-Impact Analysis of U-Channel Segmental Concrete Bridges
Authors: Choi Dong-Ho , Na Ho-Sung , Lee Gwang-Won
Published: October 2011

A U-channel segmental concrete bridge has the advantages of reducing dead load and acting as a guard fence. It is necessary to analyze the behaviors of U-channel segmental concrete bridges and identify dynamic characteristics under vehicle-impact loading because they collapse when the edge beams have ruptured. In this study, static and dynamic vehicle-impact analyses were carried out for evaluating the safety of U-channel segmental concrete bridges under vehicle impact loading based on the AASHTO LRFD Specification (2007). Stresses and displacement from vehicle impact on a U-channel segmental bridge were analyzed. In addition, velocity and acceleration histories of vehicles were investigated.
High Level Engineering for Stay Cable Replacement
Authors: Mellier Erik , Joye Stephane , Maillet Vincent
Published: October 2011

This paper illustrates through Freyssinet experience that stay cable replacement works are highly technical works requiring specialised equipment, techniques and engineering at all stages of the operation. Structural assessment and design, construction methods, work schedule and organisation are closely interconnected and need to be studied in a very coordinated manner by teams having experience in all of these fields. This is necessary to end with a technical solution that is durable according to modern standards, compatible with the structural capacity of the bridge, acceptable for the users in term of disturbance on the bridge operability.

Regarding these concerns, parallel strand cables offer significant advantages as they are highly durable, modular, and they require only light equipment and small space for being installed.

By extending the service life of bridges without traffic interruption, stay cable replacement operations respond perfectly to the rising demand for sustainable solutions permitting material and cost savings.
Nonlinear Finite Element Analysis of RC Beams Subjected to Fire
Authors: Cvetkovska Meri , Trpevski Strahinja , Ivanišević Nenad
Published: October 2011

Determining the fire response of structural elements and their assemblies is a complex problem of nonlinear analysis in which the strength and the stiffness of the elements as well as the inner forces are continuously modified. To solve this problem the computer program FIRE was developed. The program was verified on the bases of the experimental investigation results available in literature. This paper describes the analytically achieved results for the fire resistance of RC beams. Four RC beams, exposed to different fire models are analyzed, and the predicted results are compared with those experimentally achieved by other researchers.
Structural Design of Office Building Using Seismic Suppression System with Monitor
Authors: Kawamoto Shin-ichiro , Komuro Tsutomu , Fujino Hiromichi , Hosozawa Osamu
Published: October 2011

Modern buildings are expected to meet a diverse range of performance requirements, with safety, security, environmental considerations, long-life and planning flexibility all regarded as important. A new seismic response control system called "TASMO" (for TAisei Smart suppression system with MOnitor) has been developed to deliver such performance improvements. The structural elements that absorb seismic energy are completely separated from the parts supporting the vertical load.

Steel dampers and oil dampers are incorporated as energy-dissipating seismic response control devices that, in the case of an earthquake, absorb the seismic energy. Excellent seismic performance is obtained while a new type of architectural framework is realized as well.

This paper gives an outline of this new system, describes its application to an office building and explains the structural design, in which the building's structural system is designed to harmonize with the architectural external walls. By adopting pre-stressed concrete technology to complement the new response control system, open office spaces without columns are achieved. Further, a monitoring system is provided to allow for checking of the energy dissipation devices and the building as a whole from a distance. The result is an office building that offers a long lifetime with flexible space utilization.
Evaluating existing post-tensioned concrete bridges equipped with prestressing steel susceptible to stress corrosion cracking
Authors: Braml Thomas H. , Fuchs Maximilian M. , Keuser Manfred W.
Published: October 2011

Due to extending lifetime of infrastructure in general and post-tensioned concrete bridges in particular the importance of durability aspects increases. Therefore investigations of existing structures and numerical calculations are necessary to recognize and prevent the possible failure of the structures in time and to minimize risk for the owner during remaining lifetime.

Especially older prestressed bridges built in the 1960s and 1970s in Germany are subject of these investigations. Some of these post-tensioned concrete bridges used tension wires with high susceptibility to stress corrosion cracking as we know nowadays. Due to this high corrosion susceptibility these structures are characterized by a fracture behavior determined by sudden collapse instead of a favoured preannouncement of failure. To use these bridges in the future with minimized risk of a sudden collapse special evaluation is necessary.

This paper deals with recalculation and evaluating methods for post-tensioned concrete bridges including reliability analysis for endangered bridges. The currently recommended approach for assessment and evaluation of these specially endangered bridges in Germany is illustrated and the essential parameters are presented. The procedure is shown exemplarily at an existing multi girder bridge. To compare the results of the assessment with the recommended approach and to show the influence of the basic variables e. g. material properties, cross section of the tendons, additionally reliability analysis has been carried out. Finally the results are presented and the contribution closes with a conclusion including recommendations concerning the future handling of post-tensioned concrete bridges with prestressing steel endangered to stress corrosion cracking.
Evaluation of Fatigue Crack Initiation Point of Load Carrying Cruciform Welded Joints
Authors: Kinoshita Koji , Arakawa Shinpei
Published: October 2011

Incomplete penetration occurred in load carrying cruciform welded joints by poor welding in spite of full penetration in design. There is a high possibility that the tip of incomplete penetration may be an initiation point of a fatigue crack due to high stress concentration. In this study, in order to grasp influences of incomplete penetration on the initiation point of the fatigue crack in load carrying cruciform welded joints, parametric FEM analyses using effective notch stress approach were carried out. As a result, the influence of incomplete penetration increases with an increase of the plate thickness, and the reduction of stress at the weld root by increasing the weld size with the increase of the plate thickness on was not expected due to the unequal leg length welding.
Buckling of Thin-walled Cylinder Shell Specimens with Cut-out Imperfections
Authors: Zhao Cheng , Matsuda Hiroshi , Morita Chihiro , Huang Mei
Published: October 2011

In present paper, the effects of imperfections on the buckling behaviours of aluminium cylindrical shells under compression are investigated by experimental and numerical methods. The imperfections are produced by one or two circular cut-out on the shell surface. The configuration of specimens is fabricated by the geometric parameter, which is calculated from the circular cutout radius a, thickness t, and cylinder radius R. Recently, a lot of numerical analysis have been carried out by using cylindrical shell with imperfections. However, there are a few experimental substantiations. Further more, the combined effect of two circular cut-out on the buckling load of cylindrical shell is not treated from experiment point of view. In this experiment, Digital Image Correlation Method (DICM) was used to obtained 3D displacement and strain data of the specimens during the test. The numerical simulations are also calculated. They are also compared with numerical results from the literature. In this study, the difference between them and the effects of parameter on the buckling load of specimens are also discussed in this paper. It is shown that the experimental and FE analytical results combine well. Moreover, the effects of imperfections found to be sensitive to the buckling load of specimens.
Design of Two Pylon Cable Stayed Bridge in Busan-Geoje Fixed Link
Authors: Cho Kyung-Sik , Kim Woo-Jong , Lee Jae-Joong , Lee Jae-Koo , Jeong Sang-Kyoon , Kim Se-Hoon
Published: October 2011

Busan-Geoje Fixed Link was planed to link Geoje island to Gaduk island in Busan. There are two cable stayed bridges. Lot1 cable stayed bridge has 2x230m main spans and Lot2 cable stayed bridge has 475 main span. They have composite deck girders for superstructure, i.e. edge I-girder type. In this paper, the steel girder design and the details are described mainly regarding the Lot2 cable stayed bridge.
Bridge Vibration Monitoring using Passing Train Loads
Authors: Kaito Kiyoyuki , Sugisaki Koichi , Sogabe Masamichi , Fujino Yozo , Matsuoka Kodai , Watanabe Tsutomu
Published: October 2011

In order to appropriately conduct maintenance of railway bridges with progressed deterioration, 1) Understanding the actual behavior of bridges under the passing train loads, and 2) Identifying vibration characteristics such as natural frequency, damping ratio and vibration mode shapes, are extremely important issues. In this paper, focusing on open deck bridges, a vibration monitoring method using the passing train loads is proposed. In order to verify the effectiveness of the proposed method, vibration measurement tests were carried out on an actual bridge and vibration characteristics were identified. Furthermore, by quantitatively evaluating the contribution rate of each mode component of actual behavior, the difference from the response characteristics of a general impulse hammer impact is clarified, and the significance of vibration monitoring using the passing train loads is discussed.
Retrofitting of Historical Masonry Buildings in Seismic Zones
Authors: Bob Corneliu , Dan Sorin , Badea Catalin , Gruin Aurelian , Pavlou Dimitrios
Published: October 2011

The paper is focused on the analysis, redesign and rehabilitation solutions applied for old existing structures in seismic zones.

The old malting building, erected between 1857-1876 at the “Timisoreana” Brewery, is a five storeys masonry structure and a tower composed of: walls of 140 – 50 cm thickness; inter-storey floors - brick masonry vaults supported by steel profiles; a tower, of about 14 m height and 2.80 m diameter, supported by an interior dome.

The main structural damages were: vertical cracks in the tower masonry structure; corrosion of steel members: horizontal circular rings for confining the tower; profiles for supporting the floor masonry vaults.

The static and dynamic analysis at different actions showed up major structural vulnerability, mainly due to the period of design and erection (19th century).

In order to preserve the old building as architectural monument and to reduce the seismic failure risk, the following strengthening solutions were designed and applied:

for general stability of masonry tower: vertical reinforcement bars embedded at the upper side of the tower in a RC beam and welded on steel profiles placed in the dome, at the tower base; vertical CFRP wrap on the entire tower height;

in masonry structure, at zones with stresses greater that masonry tensile strength, were placed horizontal RC straps: at the tower – dome crossing; at the base of dome that supports the tower; at the level of steel profiles for its embedding into vertical masonry structure;

on the vertical cracked tower due to temperature variations: corroded circular steel rings for confining the tower on outside face were replaced by horizontal CFRP strips.

The strengthening solutions for rehabilitation of historic structure were selected in order to obtain technical and economical advantages: safe behaviour at seismic actions; slight change of overall structural stiffness; easy strengthening technology and short refurbishment period; low rehabilitation cost. The rehabilitation performed in 2008 is presented during execution on-site.
Fatigue Implications of Growth in Heavy Vehicle Loads and Numbers on Steel Bridges
Authors: Ancich Eric , Brown Steve , Chirgwin Gordon , Madrio Huber
Published: October 2011

It is known that 75% of the total Australian road freight task passes through NSW and the Pacific Highway is a major recipient of this freight. There are numerous crossings of major rivers between Newcastle and the Queensland border and until the late 1960’s, steel bridges were preferred as lift spans could be easily incorporated in the design.

Over the past 10-15 years, heavy vehicle numbers using the Pacific Highway have increased dramatically, with a stepwise increase in 2001 and exponential growth of about 2% per year otherwise. This growth has been matched by a parallel exponential growth in loads and an even faster growth in axle group repetitions due to the greater utilisation of B-doubles and tri-axle semi-trailers.

Three bridges along the Pacific Highway were investigated using a structural dynamics based approach. The investigation revealed numerous compression/tension stress reversals for each heavy vehicle transit. Whilst the dynamic amplification factor (DAF) for a single controlled heavy vehicle transit was comparable with current Codes, the load effect for fatigue from uncontrolled heavy vehicle traffic significantly exceeds the value which would be predicted using the test vehicle factored for dynamic effects and multiple presence.
Decision Making On Repair Priority of Steel Railway Bridges Under Budget Constraint
Authors: Kaito Kiyoyuki , Sugisaki Koichi
Published: October 2011

When conducting asset management on infrastructures, it is important to plan a repair strategy that considers not only the minimization of cost but also the maximization of cost performance. Therefore, this paper proposes a method of deciding repair priority in which past repair performance is reflected into the decision-making, implementing cost performance as the index. Also, the validity of the proposed method is evaluated with empirical analysis on visual inspections of 30 steel railway bridges. In the empirical analysis, visual inspections were actually carried out on 30 steel railway bridges and the current damage and deformation was grasped, and also damage and deformation expected in the near future was extracted and deterioration estimation was performed on each in accordance to technician’s experience. Based on this, cost performance of all bridges was compared and the repair priority was decided specifically. Furthermore, the effect of lifetime extension due repairs is quantitatively analyzed and the influence of a budget constraint on repair strategy and remaining lifetime is presented.
Effective Design of Automatic and Real-time Bridge Monitoring System
Authors: Miyazaki Sanae , Ishikawa Yuji , Ito Noboru , Izumi Kimihiko , Sasaki Eiichi , Miki Chitoshi
Published: October 2011

A prototype system has been developed that incorporates a previously proposed design of a system that remotely monitors a bridge in real time and that provides a valuable source of information for managing response to a natural disaster, maintaining its structure, and estimating the extent of structural fatigue. The system consists of various sensors, high-speed data transmission networks, and an information centre that collects and disseminates high-level information on how well a bridge performs. A prototype system for monitoring the Metropolitan expressway in Tokyo, Japan, that has a lot of excessively-loaded heavy vehicles, has been developed, and it was found to be both reliable and durable.
Reliability Assessment and Prediction using Monitoring Information
Authors: Strauss Alfred , Frangopol Dan M. , Kim Sunyong
Published: October 2011

The reliability and performance assessment of engineering structures by monitoring systems in its nature is a complex challenge, since not only a couple of physical quantities, such as material strength properties, environmental conditions, and local stresses but the comprehensive time dependent behavior of structures are of interest. This behavior has to be deducible by sensor readings and associated descriptive mechanical functions. In addition, the layout/design of monitoring systems and the monitored properties are accompanied by uncertainties. Nevertheless, down to the present, probabilistic-statistic principles are hardly involved in the design of monitoring systems and in the assessment of monitoring readings. However, such principles can significantly contribute in the optimization of location and number of sensors, and in the reduction and efficient assessment of recorded data. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to present (a) stochastically analytical assessment methods usable for the adjustment of monitoring systems, (b) possibilities to merge visual inspection methods with monitoring methods, and (c) to present Bayesian strategies for the incorporation of past information from visual inspection results or from analytical prediction models in monitoring.
Axle Load Monitoring of Multiple Vehicles Using Dynamic Bridge Responses
Authors: Asnachinda Pattarapong , Pinkaew Tospol
Published: October 2011

A practical approach of axle load identification of multiple vehicles using continuous bridge bending moment is presented. Axle loads are identified using least squares regularization method via the updated static component (USC) technique in order to improve solution accuracy and calculation robustness. A parametric study considering effects of various characteristics of vehicles- bridge system including vehicle mass, moving speed, axle spacing, axle weight ratio, vehicle type and bridge surface roughness is performed. The experimental verification is carried out through a scaled model of vehicles/bridge system. Comparison on different schemes of moving characteristic including following movement and overtaking movement is also considered and discussed. The obtained results indicate that identification of vehicle axle load of multiple vehicles is very effective and robust for all moving schemes of multiple vehicle travel when the USC technique is applied.
A new cost efficient measurement system for bridges
Authors: Mangerig Ingbert , Hess Andreas
Published: October 2011

The test and maintenance of existing bridges require a large part of the available resources. In order to analyse the bridges faster and economically the Institute for Structural Engineering at University of the German Armed Forces in Munich is developing a system, which enables the user to estimate the bending stiffness of a bridge without any documents of the structure. A shaker system will be developed, which will be installed temporally on the bridge. It will vibrate the bridge with selective frequencies. The response of the bridge will be measured and recorded at the same time. In the second step a procedure will be developed to obtain the bending stiffness of the bridges by means of the calculated modal parameters such as natural frequencies.
An Investigation on the Performance of the Sealing Gaskets Used in Shielded Tunnels in Taipei MRT Projects
Authors: Yang Hsi-Chi , Liang Chung-Chen , Chiang Kang-Hua
Published: October 2011

The gasket designed and specified in the contract should have had the capability theoretically to seal the ground water. However, when constructed, due to some unanticipated and uncontrollable factors, leakage spots could be present at the lining segment joints. It is important to study the performance of the installed gaskets in the built tunnels. This paper documents the field observation conducted in Bid A and Bid B in one of the Taipei MRT lines. The 8mm thick gasket was used in Bid A, while the 9mm thick in Bid B. For both projects, the number of leakage spots was recorded at 24 hours, 15 days, 30 days, and 60 days duration. After being identified, the leakage spots were grouted using the OH-A waterproof sealant. An analytical comparison on the performance of the sealing gaskets between the two projects is conducted with respect to construction quality, time and cost. The results show that the modified gasket performs much better than the original one.
Components for Local Load Transfer at Glass Compression Layers
Authors: Weller Bernhard , Ebert Jan , Reich Stefan
Published: October 2011

The TU Dresden is decisively involved in the development of a sustainable and transparent glazed roof structure. The designed transparent space grid structure is based on a conventional steel space grid, in which all steel members of the compression layer are replaced by glass panes. The glazing transfers large in-plane forces and serves as roof covering. Prerequisite for these structures is the load application of significant compression forces into brittle glass edges. Until now, no comprehensive scientific research has been carried out to investigate suitable contact materials for axial load application at glass edges. The intended detail design requires a contact material, which is softer than glass while providing a high compressive strength, low creeping and a working temperature range between -20°C and +80°C. A large number of metal alloys and polymers were tested with regard to their compressive strength. Tests on their creeping behavior started in 2008.

The results of current investigation were applied to optimize a full-size roof mock-up, spanning over a distance of 15m.
Shrinkage and Creep of Concrete Prepared with Quaternary Blended Cement
Authors: Serdar Marijana , Bjegovic Dubravka , Stipanovic Oslakovic Irina
Published: October 2011

Environmental protection and energy saving are crucial problems set up against today's cement industry. The use of industrial by-products such as silica fume, slag, lime and fly ash in the concrete as cement substitution reduce cement production, and consequently lower the CO2 emission and save energy.

This research work is inspired with the idea of replacing part of the cement with by-products of thermal power plants and metallurgical industry. Research already done in this area show that concrete prepared with blended cements has better permeability properties than the ordinary Portland cement concrete. In the present research emphasis was given on deformation properties of concrete and the effect of quaternary blended cements on total shrinkage, creep and mechanical properties of concrete. After performing shrinkage and creep tests and obtaining experimental results, shrinkage strain and creep coefficient were calculated according to European standard EN 1992-1 and Gardner/Lockman model, in order to compare the results and evaluate whether the values proposed by standards and model can be used during structural design of concrete prepared with quaternary blended cement.
Design and Construction of Pre-tensioned Prestressed Concrete Box-Girders in Incheon Bridge Viaduct
Authors: Cho Ik-Sun , Suh Suk-Koo , Lee Sang-Hee , Park Kyoung-Lae
Published: October 2011

This study intends to explain the design and construction of the prestressed concrete(PSC) box- girders used for Incheon Bridge Viaduct. The superstructure of the Viaduct was planned and designed to be built with PSC box-girders, which consists structurally continuous 5 spans. Total 336 box-girder elements, each one is 15.7m wide, 50m long, 3m high, and weighing about 1,360 tons, were made by the pre-tensioned prestressing method at a specially built casting factory, transported to the construction site at sea, and erected by the FSLM(Full Span Launching Method), using specially developed methods and equipments. The details of prestressing tendons/bars and reinforcement were designed according to the AASHTO LRFD Bridge Design Specifications. In this paper, the major design items of PSC box-girders as well as related brief construction methods and sequences are introduced.
Investigations and testing of full-scale glass roofs for individual approval
Authors: Weller Bernhard , Reich Stefan , Ebert Jan
Published: October 2011

The TU Dresden is decisively involved in the development of a sustainable and transparent glazed roof structure. The designed transparent space grid structure is based on a conventional steel space grid, in which all steel members of the compression layer are replaced by glass panes. The glazing transfers large in-plane forces and serves as roof covering.

Two full-scale mock-ups of a double layer space grid structure in the structure geometries half- octahedron plus tetrahedron and half-Vierendeel demonstrated the feasibility to build such new structures.

To achieve an individual approval comprehensive testing was conducted. This included small sized testing of block elements for the local load application into the glass edge, in-plane stability tests, walk-on and post breakage behaviour tests and load bearing tests at roof strips of about 15 m length. In the structural tests the glazing had to resist a load with the safety factor of 3.0.
Performance Study of Steel Fibre Reinforced Artificial Sand Concrete
Authors: Chitlange Mahendra R. , Bang Radha S. , Pajgade Prakash S.
Published: October 2011

In India, conventional concrete is produced by using natural sand from river bed as fine aggregate. Dwindling sand resources poses the environmental problem and hence government restrictions on sand quarrying resulted in scarcity and significant increase in ist cost. This paper presents the performance study of artificial sand as fine aggregate for concrete by comparing ist basic mechanical properties with that of conventional concrete. Three matrices with compressive strength 20, 30 and 40 Mpa were designed and reinforced with crimpled steel fibers at dosage rate of volume fraction 0, 0.5, 1.0 and 1.5 percent. Sufficient numbers of specimens were prepared, cured and tested for compressive strength, flexural strength and split tensile strength at 7 and 28 days curing. The experimental results encourage the full replacement of natural sand by artificial sand. The promotional use of artificial sand will conserve the natural resources for the sustainable development of the concrete in construction industry.
Bridge across Vistula River in Plock (Poland) – Project Realization
Authors: Stipanic Bratislav , Hajdin Nikola , Krawczyk Jozef , Wąchalski Krzysztof
Published: October 2011

The paper presents the project realization of the Roadway Bridge across Vistula River in Plock (Poland) as it was designed, built and open for traffic in October 2007. The bridge, having width of 27,5 m and total length of 1.200 m, consists of two different parts: main bridge part (length of 615 m) over the Vistula riverbed and access bridge part (length of 585 m) over the inundation. The main bridge structure is steel cable-stayed bridge consisting of: continuous bridge girder with orthotropic deck (main span of 375 m and side spans of 2x60 m each), cable stays in the single plane and two obelisk-type pylons fixed in the deck. The access bridge part consists of two bridge structures with composite deck, having structural system of continuous girder, spanning 5 x 58,5 m each. The bridge, as the part of modern bypass, is well incorporated in the environment - plain terrain on the left bank and hilly landscape on the right bank featuring Plock town.
Kafr Shukr Eco-Bridge Design
Authors: Abbas Hussein , Ghali Youssef
Published: October 2011

The paper discusses a countryside eco-bridge designed to serve pedestrians and cattle in an agricultural area near Cairo in Egypt. This green design presents a simple and safe link that addresses serviceability and economy.

The designer proposed a crossing made out of steel and cast-in-place concrete. Special architectural treatments were applied to demonstrate the flexibility of concrete and steel. Steel railings, protecting fences, attractive light poles and textured concrete stairs complement the character of this particular site. Color and texture are chosen to be coherent with the environment inspired by climate, culture and landscape.
Serviceability Performance of Material Efficient Concrete Structures
Authors: Hoang Linh C.
Published: October 2011

This paper deals with some basic features of optimized reinforced concrete structures. For orthogonal mesh reinforced panels with given boundary conditions and given outer geometry, the theoretical criterion for a material efficient (optimized) structural layout is established. The criterion is based on a lower bound plasticity design approach. Subsequently, by using the principle of minimum complementary elastic energy, it is shown that for optimized panels, there is a close relationship between the stress distribution in the fully cracked elastic state and the stress distribution used in the ultimate limit state. It is discussed how this finding may be used for serviceability analysis of optimized structures.
Problems of code design concepts ensuring the reliability and efficiency of structures
Authors: Melcher Jindrich J. , Kala Zdenek , Karmazínová Marcela
Published: October 2011

The topic of this paper is an analysis of the reliability misalignment of a steel structure designed according to the EUROCODE 3. For the elaboration of the parametric study, a simplified problem of a compressed member loaded by permanent load action combined with a single variable load action is considered. Majority of input material and geometrical characteristics are independent random variables. The probabilistic reliability assessment is calculated by the Monte Carlo method.
Seismic Performance Verification of the Akashi-Kaikyo Bridge
Authors: Takeguchi Masahiro , Endo Kazuo , Fukunaga Susumu
Published: October 2011

Seismic retrofit work for the Honshu-Shikoku Bridges has recently been launched because there is a concern that seismic risk for the bridges increases. This paper presents a seismic performance verification of the Akashi-Kaikyo Bridge, the world’s longest suspension bridge, against large-scale earthquakes that are predicted at the bridge location. In the verification, an analytical model incorporated nonlinear behaviors, such as geometric nonlinearity, material nonlinearity, bearing failure and collision between a girder and an anchorage, was used for dynamic analyses. And analysis was also conducted simulating damage of members which had less effect on seismic performance. As a result, although some accessory members such as expansion joints or bearings are damaged partially, it was found that taking some minor countermeasures ensured the target seismic performance.
Sutong Bridge – A cable-stayed bridge with a main span of 1088 meters
Authors: You Qingzhong , He Ping , Dong Xuewu , Zhang Yigang , Wu Shouchang
Published: October 2011

The Sutong Bridge is the longest spanning cable-stayed bridge in the world with a main span of 1088 meters. In this paper, the design and construction concepts are briefly presented. Key technologies and innovative achievements are summarized. These focus mainly on pile foundation bearing capacity analysis , river bed scour protection and monitoring, superstructure wind-resistance study, mid-span closure method, as well as long cantilever structure construction control.
Wuhan Tianxingzhou Bridge over the Yangtze River – A great salute to the first crossing of the Yangtze River in fifty years
Authors: Qin Shunquan
Published: October 2011

The Tianxingzhou Yangtze River Bridge is an important fixed link across the Yangtze River in Wuhan for both the city's highway network and the high speed railway line from Guangzhou to Wuhan. Its main bridge is a double-deck cable-stayed bridge with main span of 504m, carrying four rail tracks on the lower deck and six road lanes on the upper. The paper describes some of its main features and key technologies that has been successfully studied and adopted on the bridge including structural system, a cable-stayed bridge with three cable planes and three truss planes as well as the choice of foundation type, foundation construction features and the erection of bridge by truss segments, which is first time used in the country for a truss bridge.
Dashengguan Bridge – The longest span arch bridge for high-speed railway
Authors: Gao Zongyu , Yi Lunxiong , Xiao Haizhu
Published: October 2011

The Nanjing Dashengguan Bridge is the control project on the Beijing-Shanghai High­Speed Railway , whose design speed is 300 km/h. The main bridge adopts large span continuous steel arch truss structure with a total length of 1 615 m. The two main spans over main navigation channels of the Yangtze River utilizes steel arch truss 336 m long each. The arches comprise three truss planes above orthotropic deck. Erection of the steel arch truss adopts double cantilever method with auxiliary cables supported by towers on piers.
China's Major Bridges
Authors: Feng Maorun
Published: October 2011

In response to continuous economic development over the past 30 years, China has mobilized a program of large scale bridge construction. The technology of various types of bridges , including girder bridges, arch bridges, and cable-supported bridges , has been developed rapidly. Bridge spanning capacity has been continuously improved. Girder bridges with main span of 330 m, arch bridges with main span of 550 m, cable-stayed bridges with main span of 1 088 m and suspension bridges with main span of 1 650 m have already been built. Moreover, two sea-crossing bridges with overall length over 30 km have also been opened to traffic. This paper briefly introduces China' s major bridges, including girder bridges with spans greater than 200 m, arch bridges with spans greater than 400 m, cable-stayed bridges with spans greater than 600 m, and suspension bridges with spans greater than 1 200 m. These bridges represent technological progress in such aspects as structural system, materials, as well as construction methods and equipment.
Aesthetic Design of Large Bridges – From some personal involvement
Authors: Ito Manabu
Published: October 2011

In this article, some examples of aesthetical design of large cable-supported bridges in Japan, in which the writer was somehow involved, are illustrated. And in addition, the collaboration of engineers and architects/industrial designers in bridge design is discussed.
Advanced Robot System for Automated Bridge Inspection and Monitoring
Authors: Lee Jong Seh , Hwang Inho , Hyun Hong Sang , Seok Lee Hu
Published: October 2011

Conventional bridge inspection process is time consuming, hazardous, and may be affected by environmental conditions. It is of great interest, therefore, that an automated and/or teleoperated inspection robot be developed to replace the manual inspection procedure. An advanced robot system for automated bridge inspection and monitoring is developed at the Bridge Inspection Robot Development Interface (BIRDI) at Hanyang University in Korea. The advanced robot inspection system consists of three parts; a modified crane truck with a robotic arm, a robot platform and control system, and a machine vision system for an automatic detection of cracks and other damages. The advanced robot crane truck looks similar to the conventional bucket crane, but is much smaller in size, light-weight and equipped with multi-linkage mechanism of seven degrees-of- freedom with hydraulic actuators. The inspection robot platform consists of rotary joint

mechanisms for both pan and tilt motions for the machine vision system and a prismatic (up/down) joint mechanism for the gravitational direction movement. The machine vision system is developed to detect automatically the cracks and other damages on the underside of the bridge deck from the captured images. The developed robot system can allow remote inspection of bridges while reducing human risks and improving efficiency and data reliability, thereby enabling more rational bridge maintenance practice. The advanced robot inspection system is expected to contribute to advancement of infrastructure maintenance technology and enhancement of construction industry competitiveness.
Design of Cheong-Poong (Steel-concrete Hybrid cable-stayed) bridge
Authors: Yoo D-H. , Ko J-S. , Moon C.
Published: October 2011

‘Cheong Poong’ Bridge is a cable-stayed bridge, which has a main span of 327 meters crossing over the lake ‘Chung Ju’, Korea. After careful investigation of site conditions, the bridge was planned with span composition of 57.5m+327m+57.5m. The unbalance of span composition and the uplift reaction (due to the unbalance) have to be carefully treated during detailed design stages. Hybrid construction, that is, the combination of steel girder with concrete deck slab and concrete girder for the bridge girder was applied and proven to be very efficient in such an unbalanced arrangement. In addition, the extra pier support at side span and cable spacing variation provide the uplift reaction countermeasure. Under this kind of superstructure composition, superstructure erection in center span would be possible with normal truck crane that can travel over the side span superstructure built up by full staging method and special equipment such as derrick crane became to be unnecessary, therefore. Hybrid connection detail has been studied based upon the member forces history acting on the connection throughout the erection stages and after completion. Wind tunnel test has been carried out to figure out wind vibration characteristic of the bridge during erection and after completion. From the test results, it was decided to attach ‘extension flap’ at both sides of the superstructure in main span to mitigate and/or suppress the vibration due to vortex and torsional flutter.
A Repair Robot System for Automated Bridge Maintenance
Authors: Lim Kye Young , Lee Jong Seh , Hwang Inho
Published: October 2011

Manual crack repairing operations under bridge decks are time-consuming and hazardous. Replacing the manual operations with an automated or tele-operated robot system is therefore of great interest for improved safety, quality, and productivity. This paper presents a prototype repair robot system which has been developed for automated bridge maintenance. The repair robot system consists of a robot platform mounted on the tip of the working boom of the articulated crane robot developed by the Bridge Inspection Robot Development Interface (BIRDI) in Hanyang University at Ansan. The repair robot platform can position itself under bridge decks and perform crack repairing operations. The robot system can allow an operator to tele-operate the entire crack repairing procedures. The paper discusses the capabilities and limitations of the prototype repair robot and provides an outlook for the further development of the automated maintenance technologies by robots.
Research of Risk Assessment Technology for Long-span Bridge
Authors: Zhang Jie , Liu Gao , Zhao Junli , Chen Jianlei
Published: October 2011

Risk assessment technology is very important to improve the bridge construction and operation of the safety level, and to reduce the risk loss. This paper summarizes the main advances in risk assessment technology of bridge at home and abroad. This paper elaborates the key technique system of long-span bridge risk assessment at the recent years and the problems that are needed to solve urgently, the comprehensive assessment of standard system, and risk assessment method, technology, results, conclusion of long-span Bridge. The major technical and the key common technical are integrated comprehensive. The applications of risk assessment achievements in the typical project have important practice significance.