______ _____________
________________ ________ _________
Bandera Bridge, Slovenia
Franc Saje, Assist. Prof.
Univ. of Ljuhljana. Slovenia
Viktor Markelj, Chief Structural Eng.
Ponting. Maribor. Slovenia
Design
The Bandera Bridge on the Ljublja-
na—Trieste Highway (Fig.I) is the first
externally prestressed concrete bridge
in Slovenia. It lies in a horizontal curve
with a radius of 1500 m and a longitu-
dinal inclination of5%.
The bridge consists of two separate
viaducts. each composed of a pre-
stressed concrete box girder. piers and
abutments with parallel cantilevered
wings. The foundations for the abut-
ments and piers consist of bored rein-
forced concrete piles from 11 to 13 m
deep and a diameter of 150 cm. Each
viaduct is 13.72 m wide. The right
viaduct, in the direction of Trieste. has
nine spans: 24.() m + 6 x 33.6 + 22.8
+ 24.0 m: the left has eight spans: 24.0
+ 6 x 33.6 + 24.0 m.
Superstructure
The cross section of the box girder
(Fig. 2) is trapezoidal in form. with two
3.23 m long cantilevers; the contour
height of the box is 2.50 m. The box
girder is prestressed with straight
bonded tendons in the upper and low-
er slabs and external polygonal ten-
dons running inside the box.
Supporting Structure
The two lower abutments of both
viaducts are separate from one anoth-
er. Each is founded on three piles with
diameters of 150 cm. On the higher
end of the bridge, one abutment is
above the supports
3.23
---—-13.72 ——_________
Fig. 2: Box girder cross section
Structural Engineering International 1/97
___________________
__________ ______
Fig. 1: The Bandera Bridge
shared. This shared abutment is found-
ed on seven piles with diameters of
150 cm.
The cross section of the intermediate
piers is H-shaped, with outer dimen-
sions 5.0 x 2.20 m. The heights of piers
are between 5.50 m and 26.4 m (Fig. 3).
They are founded on four piles with a
diameter of 150 cm each. The heads of
the abutments and piers are appropri-
ately shaped so as to allow installation
of hydraulic jacks for replacement of
bearings.
The height of the bearings gradually
increases from the centre pier (70 mm)
to outer piers (270 mm). Slide bearings
are installed on both abutments.
in the fields
I Launching the Box Girder
.100r
5.00— 3.23
Construction
The superstructure was erected by the
incremental launching of the box gird-
er from the higher abutment over the
piers toward the lower abutment. Sim-
plified, efficient fabrication and erec-
tion was a basic goal in the design of
the bridge. This is also the reason why
the thickness of the webs and of the
upper slab of the box girder is constant
along the whole length of the bridge.
The construction of anchorages and
deviators for the unbonded external
tendons inside the box was designed
to follow later. simultaneous with the
launching of the girder.
As noted. launching the box girder was
directed from the upper toward the
lower abutment. In dimensioning the
pushing and braking devices, the high-
est value for the friction coefficient
was considered to be = 0.080. and
the lowest k-11 = 0.0 15. The construc-
tion of each individual 16.80 m long
segment took one week. During the
launching of the girder. the displace-
ments of the column heads were also
monitored.
Structures in the Alps 11

Fig. 3: Piers of the Bandera Bridge
Presrressing the Box Girder
Straight bonded tendons in the upper
and lower slabs of the box girder were
dimensioned upon the loading in the
stage of launching it on the piers. The
total prestressing force of these ten-
dons was approximately 35 MN. The
distribution of tendons in the upper
and lower slabs is such that they pro-
voke approximately uniform compres-
sive stresses of 4.0 MPa in the girder
cross section.
External polygonal tendons running
inside the box girder take over the
loading caused by the weight of the
topping. railings and the traffic load.
These tendons are placed symmetrical-
ly along the walls inside the box girder.
Individual tendons run uninterrupted
over two spans. Couplings of tendons
are provided by switching in 1.0 m
wide crossheams. above the supports.
One pair tendons is coupled at one
crossbeam, the other pair at another
[1]. The polygonal longitudinal course
of tendons is made possible by devia-
tors that are subsequently concreted
Fig. 4: Course of external tendons
12 Structures in the Alps
(Fig. 4,i. The safety of the girder against
fiexural failure is ensured by internal
tendons and the reinforcement steel.
The external tendons are placed in
grout-filled. impermeable high density
polyethylene pipes for protection
against corrosion. Research in anti-
corrosion protection of oblique ropes
on suspension bridges has shown that
after 2 million stress oscillations in
tendons of an amplitude between 100
and 200 MPa. 0.05 to 0.10 mm wide
cracks appeared at a distance between
5 and 10 cm from each other in the in-
jected protective mass [2]. Considering
that the expected stress oscillation am-
plitude in the external tendons of the
Bandera Bridge is only between S and
10 \tPa. it is assumed that the protec-
tive sheathing of the tendons will not
crack and expose the tendons to cor-
rosion [3]. The pipes are an important
part of the anti-corrosion protection
of the external tendons, preventing
carbonation of the grout by their high
degree of impermeability.
Load Testing
Before the bridge was set in service.
static and dynamic load tests were car-
ried out. The measurements and data
acquisition. as well as the results. are
reported in [4]. By positioning eight
3-axle trucks representing a total load
of 300 kN each. approximately 90%
of the calculated effects due to traffic
load were achieved during the static
test. During the dynamic test of the
bridge, the response of the structure
was measured from driving one or two
trucks across the bridge at speeds
ranging between 32.8 and 99.9 km/h
in both directions.
The measured vertical displacements
in the spans. as well as the longitudinal
strains, matched relatively well with
the calculated values. The largest de-
flection of the girder under the im-
pact of the static test load amounted
to 3.08 mm. while the calculated dis-
_-
"ii
cj
—i--
placement was 3.42 mm. The largest
increnient of the displacement during
30 minutes of load action was 3.9%,
and the residual displacement immedi-
ately after the unloading was 7.7%
of the measured initial displacement.
ilie largest dynamic amplification
factor was measured from one vehicle
driving at a speed of 99.9 km/h. and
amounted to 1.12.
Conclusion
The Bandera Bridge is a cost-effective
and durable monolithic bridge struc-
ture made in a relatively short time.
The technology of launching the box
girder with a radius of 1500 m in the di-
rection of the 5% incline proved suc-
cessful and efficient. Prestressing of
the superstructure by combined use of
bonded straight internal tendons and
additional external unbonded polygo-
nal tendons inside the box girder al-
lowed for simplified execution and ra-
tionalisation of the structure. The load
test of the bridge showed that the
structure behaved in accordance with
the computational analyses under the
impact of static and dynamic traffic
loads.
Owner:
Republic of Slovenia
Designer:
Viktor \larkelj. Ponting Inc.. Marihor
Design review:
Franc Saje. Univ. of Ljuhljana
Ivan Seëar. Ministry for Traffic
.aiI1 contractor:
SGP Primorje. Ajdovëina
Service date:
May 1995
References
[1] SCH I. 'TI. K. Eniwickiwig and A,zwen-
dung eines Spannglieds für externe Vor-
spannung. Beton und Stahlhetonbau 411991.
pp. 91—95.
[2] SAUL. R.: SVENSSON. H. S. On the
Corrosion Protection of Star Cables. Stahl—
hau 6/1990. pp. 165—176.
[3] MARKELJ. V Viaduci.s on the High-
;tav Razdrxo—Cebzdoiica.16. Conference
of Structural Engineers of Slovenia. Bled.
Sept. 1994. pp.231—237.
[4] LOPATIC. J. Automated Long- ii'r,,i
Monitoring of Bridges. International
Bridge Conference. Warsaw 94. Proceed-
ings 2. June 1994. pp. 57—66.
Structural Engineering International 1/97