Indian Roads Congress

Founded : December 1934

INDIAN HIGHWAYS
Volume: 44

Number: 7

JULY, 2016

ISSN 0376-2756

Contents...
The Union Minister for Road Transport & Highways and Shipping,
Shri Nitin Gadkari launching the Annual Report of the Transport
Research Wing on Road Accidents in India 2015, in New Delhi on June
09, 2016. The Secretary, Ministry of Road Transport and Highways,
Shri Sanjay Mitra is also seen.

4.

From the Editors Desk

5.

News Box

7.

Important Announcement New Membership Fee/

Form
Technical Papers

9.

The Union Minister for Road Transport & Highways and Shipping,
Shri Nitin Gadkari launching the 3rd Edition of TCI IIM study of the
Operational Efficiency of Freight Transportation by Road, in New Delhi
on June 07, 2016.

Cover page : The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi

participating in the mass yoga demonstration at the Capitol
Complex, Chandigarh, on the occasion of the 2nd International
Day of Yoga 2016, on June 21, 2016.

Effect of Non-Linear Behaviour of Materials in

Pavement Design
by Lekshmi Suku, Asha M.Nair, Pratibha R. and
G.L.Sivakumar Babu

21. Morphology and Training of Rivers Near Bridges

by S.K. Mazumder
33. Syzygy between Design and Construction of
Bridges
by Dhananjay A Bhide
53. Tender Notices

Publisher & Editor: S S Nahar, Secretary General, IRC

Email: secygen.irc@gov.in / publication.irc@gov.in
Headquarter: Secretary General, Indian Roads Congress, Sector-6, R K Puram, Kama Koti Marg, New Delhi-110 022.
Phone: 91 11 26185303, Fax: 91 11 26183669.
Cover and Typesetting: Darpan Video India.
Printed at: I G Printers Pvt. Ltd., 104, DSIDC Complex, Okhla Industrial Area, Phase-I, New Delhi-110020.
No part of this publication may be reproduced by any means without prior written
permission from the Secretary General, IRC.
The responsibilty of the contents and the opinions expressed in Indian Highways is exclusively of the
author/s concerned. IRC and the Editor disclaim responsibility and liability for any statements or opinion,
originality of contents and of any copyright violations by the authors. The opinions expressed in the papers
and contents published in the Indian Highways do not necessarily represent the views of the Editor or IRC.

From the Editors Desk

YOGA,
An Invaluable Gift of India to the World in
Turn to Warrant Sound Body and Mind,
thus Safe Mobility

rime Minister Shri Narendra Modi

celebrated the 2nd International Yoga
Day on 21 st June, 2016 at Chandigarh.
Addressing the gathering at iconic Capitol
Complex, the Prime Minister said that yoga is
not about what one will get, but it is about what
one can give up. He said that with zero budget,
yoga provides health assurance, and does not
discriminate between rich and poor.
Yoga is an invaluable gift of ancient Indian
tradition. It embodies unity of Mind and Body;
Thought and Action; Restraint and Fulfillment;
Harmony between Man and Nature and a
Holistic approach to health and wellbeing. Yoga
is not about exercise but to discover the senses
of oneness with ourselves.
It is inevitable to save avoidable and
unaffordable socio-economic loss caused due
to road accidents and deaths occurred as a
result of Non Communicable Disease (NCDs)
since nearly 40% fatal road accidents occur
under the influence of intoxication/tobacco and
consumption of alcohol have significant impact
on deaths occurred as a result of NCDs including
cancers, cardiovascular disease and liver
cirrhosis whereas 2/3rd of these casualties occur
in the age less than 40 years.
In its endeavors aiming at effective
transport system targeting zero road crash
fatalities and contribute to the economic growth
and quality of life, the IRC has framed the
IRC Codes namely Road Safety Audit
Manual(IRC:SP:88-2010), Highway Safety

Code(IRC:SP:44-1996), Code of Practice for

Road Signals(IRC:67-2012), Code of Practice
for Road Markings(IRC:35-2015),Road Safety
for Children(IRC:SP:32-1988),Guidelines for
Variable Message Signs( IRC:SP:85-2010) and
Guidelines for Traffic Safety Barriers(IRC:1192015) etc.
With the active support of Patanjali
Yogpeeth and like minded NGOs, it is
warranted to create reason based mass
awareness preferably in vernacular media
through
marketed social media
campaigns on target groups aiming
towards 3 S Surakshit & Suhana Safar (Safe
and Sure Journey) for example creating
awareness among school children to wear
helmet mandatory while driving two-wheeler since
1/3rd of the injuries are brain injuries which have
no full treatment hence warranted to be the
best prevented.
On the yoga day, let us pledge to make
yoga an integral part of our daily life, insuring
unity of mind and body ; thought and action
and endeavor towards enactment of an
effective National Policy on Substance Use
(Alcohol and Drugs) in tune with WHO Global
Strategy; in collaboration with Union Ministries
of Social Justice and Empowerment; Health and
Family Welfare; Food Processing Industries and
active support of Patanjali Yogpeeth, Social
Activists and NGOs to ensure ourselves the
safe mobility, economic growth in turn better
quality of life.

***

Do we Know, the foresightfulness of Dr B R Ambedkar, the Principal drafter of the

Indian Constitution, who had refused to draft Article 370, which was eventually drafted by
Gopalaswami Ayyangar, a former Diwan to Maharaja Hari Singh of Jammu & Kashmir and a
Minister without portfolio in the Union Cabinet of India.

Place: New Delhi

Dated: 21st June, 2016

Sajjan Singh Nahar

Secretary General
E-mail: secygen.irc@gov.in
Indian Highways, July 2016

News Box
 The Minister of Road Transport & Highways and
Shipping Shri Nitin Gadkari on 14.06.2016 has
reiterated his commitment to bring down the number
of accidents and related fatalities. 726 black spots
have been identified and work is on to rectify these at
the cost of Rs11,000 crore and Crash barriers are going
to be installed in hilly terrains like Himachal Pradesh,
he said. The Minister also informed that 10 % of the
CRF funds given to each state is to be used for
identifying black spots on state and other highways.
He called upon state governments to send proposals
for the same. He also said that NGOs have also been
roped in to create awareness.
 The GoM (Group of Ministers) constituted by the
MoRTHto recommend measures to make road travel
in the country safe, convenient and seamless held its
third meeting in Dharamshala on 12.06.2016. Headed
by Rajasthan Transport Minister Shri Yoonus Khan,
the GoM has met earlier in New Delhi on 29th of April
and in Bengaluru on 20 th of May this year. The
recommendations made by the GoM in the three
meetings held so far are as follows :
Sn. Recommendations
1st Interim Report dated 29th April, 2016
1 Road Transport and Safety Bill, 2015 requires
detailed deliberations and subsequent modification.
Hence may take long time. In the meantime
amendments may be carried in the MV Act and Rules
to address urgent issues.
2 Rules of Road Regulations to be notified The Rules of Road Regulation 1989 have become
outdated and there is a need to issue fresh regulations
in line with the present day requirements
3 Include Good Samaritan Guidelines under the MV
Act
The guidelines issued by the Ministry of Road
Transport and Highways for the protection of good
Samaritans has been approved by the Honble
Supreme Court. However to give a statutory backing
there is a need for its inclusion in the MV Act.
4 Simplification of forms under CMVR
In order to make the old forms Citizen friendly
and easy to use and to be filled online the forms under
the Central Motor Vehicle Rules are required to be
modified
5 Online issue of Learning License and stricter
evaluation at the time of grant of permanent license
To make the issue of Learning License citizen
friendly and make the process transparent it is
proposed to have the application and issue of
Learners licence online. However to ensure safety
and proper skills for the driver, stricter evaluation at
the time of issuance of Permanent Licence.
6 Allow License after 16 years for gearless scooters
below 100 cc

Indian Highways, July 2016

10

11

12

13

14

Now a days lots of young citizens are to use the

two wheelers for commuting to local places especially
schools, other institutions etc. As 50 CC vehicles are
no longer available and further with the mass
availability of 100 CC vehicles it is proposed to allow
licence after 16 years for gearless scooters below 100cc
Do away with the dress code for the drivers (truck
drivers)
Now a days the drivers especially of trucks and
buses are many times harassed by the authorities for
not wearing the prescribed dress.
Allow registration of vehicles at Dealers end
With the availability of Vehicle Data from the
Original Equipment Manufacturers because of
VAHAN database of NIC availability with the dealers
and with a lot of time wasted by the Citizens having
their vehicles physically inspected with the RTOs
office the Dealer may have the registration done and
be made responsible.
Create National Road Safety and Traffic Management
Board
To provide for a lead agency for implementing
the road safety strategy, advisory body having
necessary expertise and resources is proposed to be
created.
Include accidental insurance for drivers in third
party insurance
Presently the drivers of the transport vehicles
do not have any financial support available in case of
an unfortunate incident of accident and requiring
medical treatment and are left at the mercy of the
owners.
First fitness renewal be after three years. Review
periodicity of fitness renewals to 2 years upto the life
of eight years
With improved vehicle and road technology the
periodicity of vehicle inspection need to be increased
Review periodicity of driving license renewals
The life expectancy and physical well being of
the individuals have now a days increased. The
renewal process sometimes causes harassment and is
time consuming for the individuals. This may be
increased with check and stringent mechanism in place
for the driving licence issuance.
Automated fitness centres for fitness test
In order to have an objective mechanism for the
vehicle fitness testing and saving the drivers / owners
of the transport vehicles from harassment and time
loss automated fitness centres is the need of time.
Automated equipment for driving license issuance
test
To have an objective mechanism for testing the
driving skills of the individuals and to save the
harassment of citizens, the automated equipments for
driving license are proposed.

News Box
15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

2nd Interim Report dated 20th May, 2016

Implementation of directions issued by Supreme
Court Committee on Road Safety
The Supreme Court appointed committee has
issued a number of directions to the states for
ensuring improvement in the road safety scenario.
These need to be implemented in letter and spirit.
States may amend law/ rules to control non motorised
and pedestrian movement on roads
The regulation of pedestrians and non-motorised
transport is important from the point of view of road
safety. However, it comes under the domain of state
governments and has traditionally been done under
the Police Act of the states. There is a need to update
these regulations in line with present day requirements.
Regulation of traffic on NH- creation of a separate
highway police force by States to be funded by Centre
Enforcement of traffic regulations is very
important to ensure safe user behaviour on the road.
The presence of enforcement machinery on the
highways is presently inadequate. It is therefore
required to augment the same by creating a dedicated
highway police and use of modern technology. The
central government will explore funding such efforts.
Funds for Road Safety- Centre to provide for
correction of black spots and other initiatives for road
safety
The central government will fund the efforts for
rectification of Black Spots and other road safety
measures by the states.
Increase the allowable load carrying capacity of goods
vehicles in view of newer technologies and better
roads
In view of better vehicle technology of roads
and vehicles, the permissible load carrying capacity
of goods vehicles may be reviewed to legalise the
payload, improve revenue and to prevent harassment.
Stricter Penalties for violations of MV Act provisions
To provide for better deterrence from violation
of traffic regulations, enhanced penalties have been
proposed.
Double penalties for those entrusted with
enforcement of laws
To set an example among the road users and to
emphasise upon the need to follow traffic regulations,
higher penalty for those entrusted with the
enforcement of traffic regulations, has been proposed.
Revoke license on 3rd default in case of offenses
included in new proposed section 207A
For creating deterrence and making the transport
safe stricter mechanism is proposed
All powered vehicles should be included in the
definition of motor vehicles
To ensure that all motorised vehicles are
regulated, it is proposed to include all of them under
the category of Motor Vehicles.
States may be given powers to fix the fees and charges

25

26

27

28

29

30

31

32

for administering the provisions of MV Act

The fees and charges under the MVA and CMVR
Rules may be fixed by the state governments keeping
in view local circumstances and requirements.
3rd Interim Report dated 13th June, 2016
Improving mechanism for helping accident victims
and trauma care facilities
a. Comprehensive scheme for improving capacity
development for trauma centresb.
b. Expedite setting up of Trauma centresc.
c. Cashless treatment of accident victims on all
stretches of NHd.
d. Special cell for road accidents within NonCommunicable diseases wing in MoH&FWe.
e. Incentives for attracting professionals in trauma
centresf.
f. Explore possibility to use CSR Funds
Implementation of e-tolling across the country on a
common RFID carda. Expand E-Tolling on all lanes of toll booths
b. Provide for integration with State and other toll
Roads
Facilitating Barrier free movement of freight
transport across States
a. States should relax transit time provisions
b. Integrated border check posts may be created
c. Centralised Transportation Information and
Payment Network (CTIPN) to allow smooth movement,
Task force to be set up to work out the modalities
Liberalizing intra-city taxi permit system and other
automobile aggregation policy
a. Liberalise City Taxi permit scheme
b. They should follow the rules relating to fares,
fuel and safety as mandated by Transport Department.
c. Upper cap for the fares be fixed by Transport
deptt.
d. Aggregators may be permitted but they have to
aggregate only taxis which have legally valid permits.
Improving parking facilities for taxies and other
public transport vehicles in the cities
a. Reserve atleast 20% space in Public parking lots
for Taxis.
Steps for promoting low cost last mile connectivity
solution
a. Allow e-rickshaws and two wheeler taxis as they
are safe and low cost solutions for the passengers
b. Allow seat sharing in taxis & auto rickshaws.
Strengthening rural transportation
a. Scheme may be launched by Central Government
for rural transport vehicles
b. States may allow permits for such vehicles
Strengthening public transport systems
a. Central Government may introduce scheme to
strengthen STUs
b. Exempt STU buses from taxes
c. Deregulate luxury segmentto motivate people to
Indian Highways, July 2016

News Box
shift from personalised transport to public transport
d. Address to the problems of insurance in STU
sector
33 Public Transport in Hill Areas
a. Create a sub group to address to the problems of
transport in hill areas
34 Higher Compensation in accident cases
a. Include accidental insurance for drivers in third
party insurance
b. Rationalise Insurance provisions in accident
cases
c. Cover loss to property in accidents cases in
insurance
 NHAI on 13.06.2016, in order to save time, leakage
of money and fuel on toll plazas, has decided to keep
a dedicated FASTag lane at 48 toll plazas on Delhi
Mumbai, Mumbai-Chennai Corridors w.e.f.
20.06.2016. To facilitate purchase of FASTag by road
users, Points of Sale (POS) on 23 Toll Plazas are
available on these corridors. Out of these, 19 POS are
already working and 4 will be added within a
week. FASTag has a onetime fee of Rs. 200 and is
affixed on the wind screen of the vehicle.Government
has allowed NHAI to give 10% cash back incentive
on toll payments in financial year 2016-17 for FASTag
users. The cash back amount for a particular month is
credited back to the FASTag account at the beginning
of the next month.
 The Minister of Road Transport & Highways Shri Nitin
Gadkari launched the report Road Accidents in India
2015 in New Delhi on 09.06.2016. According to the
report compiled by the Transport Research Wing, the
total number of road accidents increased by 2.5 per
cent from 4,89,400 in 2014 to 5,01,423 in 2015. The
total number of persons killed in road accidents
increased by 4.6 per cent from 1,39,671 in 2014 to
1,46,133 in 2015. Road accident injuries have also
increased by 1.4 per cent from 4,93,474 in 2014 to
5,00,279 in 2015. The severity of road accidents,
measured in terms of number of persons killed per 100
accidents has increased from 28.5 in 2014 to 29.1 in
2015. The analysis of road accident data 2015 reveals
that about 1,374 accidents and 400 deaths take place
every day on Indian roads which further translates
into 57 accidents and loss of 17 lives on an average
every hour in our country. About 54.1 per cent of all
persons killed in road accidents were in the 15 -34
years age group.Thirteen top states namely Tamil
Nadu (69,059), Maharashtra (63,805), Madhya Pradesh
(54,947), Karnataka (44,011), Kerala (39,014), Uttar
Pradesh (32,385), Andhra Pradesh (24,258), Rajasthan
(24,072), Gujarat (23,183), Telengana (21,252),
Chattisgarh (14,446),West Bengal (13,208) and
Haryana (11,174) together accounted for 86.7 per cent
of all road accidents in the country. Delhi had the
highest number of deaths (1622) due to road accidents
Indian Highways, July 2016

amongst fifty Million Plus Cities. Driversfault has

been revealed as the single most responsible factor
for road accidents, accounted for 77.1 per cent of total
road accidents during 2015 as against 78.8 per cent
during 2014. Within the category of driversfault, road
accidents caused and persons killed due to exceeding
lawful speed/over speeding by drivers accounted for
a share of 62.2 per cent (2,40,463 out of 3,86,481
accidents) and 61.0 per cent (64,633 out of 1,06,021
deaths) respectively.Speaking on the occasion the
Minister reiterated Indias resolve and commitment
as a signatory to the Brasilia Declaration, to reduce
the number of road accidents and fatalities by 50 per
cent by 2020. He dwelt at length on the various
measures being taken in this direction, including steps
like rectifying black spots, incorporating engineering
solutions at the design stage, safety standards for
automobiles, proper trauma care and generating public
awareness.
 The Minister of Road Transport & Highways and
Shipping Shri Nitin Gadkari launched the TCI IIM
Calcutta joint study report on the operational
efficiency of freight transportation by road in India in
New Delhi on 07.06.2016. The report is based on a
study commissioned by the Transport Corporation of
India (TCI), of 28 routes in the country over the period
2014-15 with the objective to make an assessment of
the operational efficiency of freight transportation by
road and recommend ways to improve the same. The
Minister informed that his Ministry is actively working
to promote transportation of freight through
waterways, as this brings down logistics cost
drastically. He informed that in China about 47 % of
the freight is carried through waterways, in Japan and
Korea it is about 43-44 percent and in European
countries more than 40 percent. In India only about 6
percent of the freight is carried through waterways.
He said his Ministry is committed to raising this
percentage on a priority basis as this will make Indian
products more competitive. He informed that for this,
many waterways projects are already under various
stages of implementation. The report says that
although the average journey time and vehicle speed
have improved across all the major routes, more needs
to be done to reduce stoppage delaysat toll plazas,
check posts (State Tax Collection) etc.this not only
leads to wastage of time but also raises fuel
consumption cost. The report also recommends that
Government should ensure that trucker replace their
old, fuel-inefficient vehicles with new-generation fuelefficient vehicles like multi-axle tractor-trailer units.
The study also stresses upon the need to encourage
multi modal transportation of goods in a big way as
this is more efficient, economic and environment
friendly. In this context the study recommends
promoting transportation of freight by railways and
waterways.


Indian Highways, July 2016

Table 7.1
in
reference
to clause
7.4
(Page
22-23)

Sl. No. Clause No.

(Page No.)
Title
1
(Cover
Page)

BC and DBM for VG10 bitumen

BC and DBM for VG30 bitumen
BC and DBM for VG40 bitumen
BC and DBM for Modified Bitumen (IRC:SP:53-2010)
BM with VG 10 bitumen
BM with VG 30 bitumen
WMM/RAP treated with 3 per
cent bitumen emulsion/foamed
bitumen (2 per cent residual
bitumen and 1 per cent cementatious
material

Mix type
40
800
1250
2000
1300

Mix type

3500

1250

40
800

3800

2400

1650

1300

* 9.8% permissible variation

500 MPa at 35 0C
700 MPa at 35 0C
600 MPa at 35 0C (laboratory values
vary from 600 to 1200 MPa for water
saturated samples.

5700

6000* 5000* 4000* 3000* 2000*

1700

3000

20
2300

2500

Temperature 0C
25
30
35
2000 1450 1000

Table 7.1 Resilient Modulus of Bituminous Mixes, MPa

IRC:37-2012: GUIDELINES FOR THE DESIGN OF FLEXIBLE

PAVEMENTS

To be read as:

BC and DBM for VG10

bitumen
BC and DBM for VG30
bitumen
BC and DBM for
0
500 MPa at 35 C
VG40 bitumen
700 MPa at 35 0C
BC and DBM for Modi600 MPa at 35 0C (laboratory values fied Bitumen
vary from 600 to 1200 MPa for
(IRC:SP:53-2010)
water saturated samples
BM with VG 10 bitumen
BM with VG 30 bitumen
WMM/RAP treated with
3 per cent bitumen
emulsion/foamed
bitumen (2 per cent
residual bitumen and
1 per cent cementatious
material

20
2300
3500
6000
5700

Temperature 0C
25
30
35
2000 1450 1000
3000 2500 1700
5000 4000 3000
3800 2400 1650

Table 7.1 Resilient Modulus of Bituminous Mixes, MPa

IRC:37-2012: TENTATIVE GUIDELINES FOR THE DESIGN OF

FLEXIBLE PAVEMENTS

As written in the IRC:37-2012

IRC: 37-2012: TENTATIVE GUIDELINES FOR THE DESIGN OF FLEXIBLE PAVEMENTS

ERRATA NO1: IRC: 37-2012/DECEMBER 2012

Indian Highways, July 2016

7.3.1 Unbound Base Layer

7.3.1
(Page 20)
The base layer may consist of wet mix macadam, water bound macadam,
crusher run macadam, reclaimed concrete etc. Relevant specifications
of IRC/MORTH are to be adopted for the construction.

On new roads, the aim should be to construct the pavement as far

11.2
(Page 43) above the water table as economically practicable. The difference
between the bottom of subgrade level and the level of water table/high
flood level should, generally, not be less than 1.0 m or 0.6 m in case of
existing roads which have no history of being overtopped. In water
logged areas, where the subgrade is within the zone of capillary
saturation, consideration should be given to the installation of suitable
capillary cut-off as per IRC:34 at appropriate level underneath the
pavement.

On new roads, the aim should be to construct the pavement as

far above the water table as economically practicable. The
difference between the bottom of subgrade level and
the level of water table/high flood level (i) for non-flood
zones-should not be less than 0.6 m (ii) for flood zonesshould not be less than 1.0m and (iii) for water logged
zones-should not be less than 1.5m.

The base layer may consist of wet mix macadam, water bound
macadam, crusher run macadam, reclaimed concrete etc.
Relevant specifications of IRC/MORTH are to be adopted for the
construction. The CBR value of granular base consisting of
WMM/WBM/ crusher run macadam/reclaimed concrete
etc. shall not be less than 100%.

7.3.1 Unbound Base Layer

Important Announcement
Revision of Advertisement Tariff/Subscription Charges
REVISION OF ADVERTISEMENT TARIFF FOR IRC PERIODICALS
(INDIAN HIGHWAYS & QUARTERLY JOURNAL)
IRC, as a matter of policy decision, has resolved to revise the existing advertisement tariff
for IRC Periodicals (Indian Highways & Quarterly Journal) in accordance to the directives
of Directorate of Advertising and Visual Publicity (DAVP), Ministry of Information &
Broadcasting, GoI. The revised tariff will be applicable for the advertisements (on first
cum first serve basis)to be published in the September, 2016 edition of Indian Highways
& Quarterly Journal (October- December, 2016) edition.

REVISION OF THE SUBSCRIPTION CHARGES FROM INSTITUTIONS/

ORGANISATIONS TOWARDS IRC PERIODICALS
(INDIAN HIGHWAYS & QUARTERLY JOURNAL)
IRC, as a matter of policy decision, has resolved to revise the existing subscription charges
@ Rs 800/- per year to Rs 2100/-per year for IRC Periodicals (Indian Highways & Quarterly
Journal). The revised subscription is applicable from the month of August, 2016 onwards.
All the stakeholder Institutions/Organisations are requested to subscribe balance charges
by cheque drawn in favour of Secretary General, Indian Roads Congress and address to
Kama Koti Marg, R.K. Puram, New Delhi-110 022.

With Best Compliments

From

D2S INFRASTRUCTURES PVT.LTD.

ENGINEERS, DESIGNERS AND REGISTERED CLASS SS CONTRACTORS OF DIRECTOR GENERAL BORDER
ROADS, NEW DELHI.CLASS 1"A CONTRACTOR OF ASSAM P.W.D. ROADS, BUILDINGS AND IRRIGATION
AND CLASS 1"A CONTRACTOR OF B.R.P.N.N.LTD.
OUR SPECIALTY DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION OF PRESTRESSED/RCC/STEEL BRIDGES AND ALL TYPES
OF WELL/PILE FOUNDATION, GUINITING AND REHABILITATION OF STRUCTURES ETC.
Some of our Bridges completed:1. We have constructed the prestigious 280M Long (160M Central Span + 2x 60M end Span) PSC
Cantilever Bridge over River Chenab atAkhnoor in J&K State. Awarded Outstanding Concrete Structure
by the ICI-MC-Bauchemie (Year - 2008).
2. Constructed Indias Most Unbalanced 124 Mtr Span Cantilever Bridge at Beripattan on Road SunderbaniNaushera in J&K State.Awarded S.B. JOSHI MEMORIAL AWARD 2012 by the ALUMNI ASSOCIATION
OF COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING, PUNE (Year - 2012).
3. Constructed (24Nos x44.60 M each) 1121.88 Mtr long Aie Bridge PSC Box Girder Bridge with well
foundatiuon under NLCPR in Chirang Distt. of Assam for PWD Assam Guwahati (Year-2013).

Regd. Office
House No. 457, A.T.Road,
Guwahati 781001,
Ph. 0361-2541238, 2603598
Fax. 0361-2634387
Email d2sinfrastructure@gmail.com

10

Branch
I-1603, Chittaranjan Park,
New Delhi - 110019
Ph. 011- 26270908, 26273292
Fax. 011- 26273306
Email d2sinfra@gmail.com
Indian Highways, July 2016

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Indian Highways, July 2016

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Effect of Non-Linear Behaviour of

Materials in
Pavement Design

by Lekshmi Suku (LM41185), Asha M.Nair (LM41168), Pratibha R. (LM41125) and G.L. Sivakumar Babu (LM30667)

INTRODUCTION
The concept of adopting
mechanistic-empirical models in
the design of pavement
structures, so as to predict
accurate pavement responses,
such as stress, strain, and
deformation has proven to be
effective in the recent times as
it demands accurate material
characteriza-tions of pavement
structural layers. In this design
method, the pavement is
idealized as a layered elastic
structure consisting of various
sub layers of bituminous
surfacing, granular base, sub
base, and the subgrade.
Materials are assumed to be
homogeneous and isotropic.
The layers are horizontally
infinite with each layer
characterized by its resilient
modulus M R and Poissons
ratio, (Das and Pandey,
1999). The three layers of the
flexible pavement structure
have different strength and
deformation characteristics
which make the layered system
difficult to analyse. Asphalt
concrete in the surface layer is
a viscous material with its
behaviour depending on time
and temperature. On the other
hand, pavement foundation
geomaterials, i.e., coarsegrained unbound granular
materials in untreated base
course and fine-grained soils in
the subgrade, exhibit stress
dependent nonlinear behaviour.
The usual convention followed
Indian Highways, July 2016

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ABSTRACT
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avement design is an approach
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where detailed engineering
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and
economic considerations are
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given to alternative combinations
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of sub base, base, and surface
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materials which will provide
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adequate load carrying capacity.
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Most of the analytical models used
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for the design of flexible
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pavements are based on linear
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elastic layered theory. The
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granular base and subgrade layer
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are considered to be linearly elastic
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which simplifies the design
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procedure but completely ignores
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the impact of nonlinearity of these
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layers. This paper presents the
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results of the study on studying
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the effect of nonlinearity of
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granular pavement layers in the
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analysis and design of pavement
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sections. This is carried out by
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considering four different
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conditions, one linear and three
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nonlinear conditions of different
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pavement materials to predict
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flexible
pavement
critical
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responses.
The
results
of
layered
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systems of linearly and nonlinearly
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elastic solutions are compared and
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it is observed that, results
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obtained from these two model
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solutions differ considerably for
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critical stresses, strains and number
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of allowable passes before failure.
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It was observed that although the
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nonlinearity in subgrade layer
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affected the critical responses, it
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is the nonlinearity in base layer
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which had a significant influence
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on the critical responses of the
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pavement sections and hence this
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has to be considered in the
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design.
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Keywords:
non-linearity,
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mechanistic-empirical
method,
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stress-strain
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to model a pavement section

is to consider it as a multilayered linear elastic system,
since the assumption of
linearity
simplifies
the
computational
process.
However, the nonlinearity of
the materials and its
implications in pavement design
and analysis has not been well
understood. As the demand for
applied wheel loads and
number of load applications
increases, it becomes very
important
to
properly
characterize the behaviour of
unbound granular material and
subgrade soil layers which is the
foundations of the layered
pavement structure. To
properly characterize the
resilient behaviour of pavement
foundations, nonlinear stressdependent modulus models
have been used by Minkwan
et. al (2007) and the study
showed that, when the
predicted responses at
different
locations
are
compared with the field
measured responses under
different sections and load
levels, there were significant
differences in the pavement
response.
During its service life, a
pavement experiences a large
number of stress pulses each
consisting of vertical, horizontal
and shear stress components,
which can lead to nonlinearity
nature. Pavement materials
have non-linear, stress

13

Lekshmi Suku

Asha M Nair

Pratibha R

G.L. Sivakumar Babu

Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore-560012

dependent resilient behaviour

when responding to repeated
loading. And also the degree
of this non-linearity is a function
of the stress state, moisture
content, dry density, level of
load and particle size distribution
of the material. In the case of
low volume roads the
nonlinearity of the granular
layer is to be given due
importance since the thin
bituminous layer is usually
considered as a non-functional
layer. Umesh et al. (2010)
studied the effect of
nonlinearity in granular layers
of critical pavement responses
of a low volume road and
stated that the study of
nonlinearity in granular layers
is necessary for the accurate
modelling of a flexible
pavement structure.
The pavement sections are
conventionally designed by
considering the fatigue and
rutting conditions as the failure
criteria. These failures occur
due to the tensile and shear
strains induced due to the
repeated loading and these
stresses can be reduced by
using materials of good quality
and uniformity. Saravut et al.
(2007) studied the use of finite
element
method
in
understanding the sensitivity of
various variables in influencing
the vertical surface deflections,
the critical tensile strains at the
bottom of the asphalt layer
and the critical compressive
strains on the top of subgrade.

14

Unbound granular materials are

typically used in the base layer
of the flexible pavement
structure whereas fine grained
soils are used as subgrade
layer. Pavement materials in
base and subgrade layers do
not behave linearly elastic under
loads. Factors that have a
significant effect on the
nonlinear soil behaviour areloading condition, stress state,
soil type, compaction, and soil
physical states. With varying
traffic and environmental
conditions in a pavement
structure, the subgrade CBR
values significantly influences
the pavement design and
thickness determination and
the granular base layer plays
an important role in transferring
the load coming to the
pavement. Thus it is relevant
to study the effect of
nonlinearity of these layers on
the analysis and design of
pavements. Pw de Bruin,
(2011) demonstrated in his
work that, by using a linear
elastic approach and other
techniques (subdivision of the
subgrade layers), the nonlinearity of the subgrade may
be accurately simulated.
Scope and Objectives of the
study
The programs that analyse
pavement structures need to
employ the nonlinear resilient
characterization of the
materials to predict the
pavement responses more

realistically. Nonlinear behaviour

of the granular layers is
commonly characterized by
stress dependent resilient
modulus which is used as a
fundamental input parameter
in the application of layer theory
in flexible pavements design.
The study conducted here
focuses on employing nonlinear
resilient behaviour of pavement
materials in the KENPAVE
software for mechanistic
pavement analysis. A nonlinear
pavement
analysis
is
performed to predict flexible
pavement critical responses.
These responses are the
stresses,
strains,
and
deformations in the pavement
structure that can be directly
linked to the major mechanistic
pavement deterioration modes
such as fatigue cracking and
rutting. Mechanistic based
pavement analysis and design
primarily deals with these critical
responses and predicts
pavement performance during
its life time
The backbone of KENPAVE is
the solution for an elastic
multilayer system under a
circular loaded area (Huang,
2004). The solutions are
superimposed for multiple
wheels, applied iteratively for
non -linear layers, and
collocated at various times for
viscoelastic layers. As a result,
KENPAVE can be applied to
layered systems under single,
dual, dual-tandem, or dualtridem wheels with each layer
behaving differently, linear
elastic, nonlinear elastic, or
viscoelastic. The four cases
considered for the present
study along with their
abbreviations are listed below:
1. Linear Granular base and
Subgrade (Both Linear)
Indian Highways, July 2016

2. Non-linear Granular base and

linear Subgrade (GSB NL)
3. Linear Granular base and
non-linear Subgrade (SG NL)
4. Non-Linear Granular base
and non-linear Subgrade (Both
NL)

Design Procedure
The design procedure needs
the resilient modulus of the
various pavement component
layers. The resilient modulus
for the subgrade was calculated
using the following equation:

(1)
And the corresponding
composite modulus for the
GB+GSB layer is calculated
using:
(2)
where,
= Resilient Modulus of the
subgrade (MPa)
= Composite elastic modulus
of Granular Layers
h= height of granular layers
(sum of granular base and
sub-base layer)
In the linear analysis, the
resilient modulus is generally
assumed as a function of the
CBR value and a number of
empirical equations have been
proposed
by
different
researchers. The AASHTO
design guide suggests that the

resilient modulus of fine-grained

soils can be estimated as
(Heukelom and Klomp 1962):
Mr (psi) = 1,500 CBR
(3)
The empirical equation given by
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
(Green and Hall 1975) is
Mr (psi) = 5,409 CBR0.71
(4)
The South African Council on
Scientific and Industrial
Research (CSIR) has given the
following empirical equation for
the determination of Resilient
Modulus
Mr (psi) = 3,000 CBR0.65
(5)
The empirical equation given by
Transportation and Road
Research Laboratory (TRRL)
for determination of resilient
modulus is
Mr (psi) = 2,555 CBR0.64
(6)
All these equations were mainly
used for the determination of
resilient modulus of fine grained
soils. For granular materials
when the CBR value is greater
than 20 these equations may
not give a reasonable good
prediction of the resilient
modulus values. For granular
materials Huang (2004) has
given a constitutive relationship
where the resilient modulus is
related to the first stress
invariant as
(7)
where K 1 and K 2 are
experimentally
derived
constants. The stress invariant

is the sum of three principal

stresses given as
(8)
Typical values of the constants
K 1 and K 2 as reported by
Huang are given in Table1.
Table 1 Nonlinear constant K1
and K2 for granular materials
as reported by Huang, 2004
For fine grained soils, the
resilient modulus of fine-grained
soils decreases with the
increase in deviator stress d.
The general relationship
between resilient modulus and
deviator stress of fine-grained
soils obtained from laboratory
repeated-load tests is shown in
Fig.1a. The bilinear behavior
can be expressed as
E = K1 + K3 (K2 d)
when d < K2
E=K1 K4 (d K2)
(9)
when d > K2
in which K1 , K2, K3, and K4 are
material constants.
The resilient modulus-deviator
stress relationship for four
types of subgrade (1 psi=6.9
kPa) as reported by Huang,
(2004) is shown in Fig.1. The
fine-grained soils are classified
into four types, viz., very weak,
weak, medium, and strong,
depending upon the resilientmodulus -deviator-stress
relationship. The soil having
minimum resilient modulus is
considered as very weak soil

Table 1 Nonlinear constant K1 and K2 for granular materials as reported by Huang, 2004

Material type

Silty sand
Sand-gravel
Sand-aggregate blend
Crushed stone

No. of
data
points
8
37
78
115

K1(psi)
Mean
Standard
deviation
1620
78
4480
4300
4350
2630
7210
7490

K2
Mean
deviation
0.62
0.53
0.59
0.45

Standard
0.13
0.17
0.13
0.23

1 psi=6.9kPa

Indian Highways, July 2016

15

and the one having maximum

resilient modulus is considered
as strong soils. The resilient
modulus of the soils are
assumed to be 6.21 psi (42.8
kPa), 12 .90 psi (89 .0 kPa),
22 .85 psi (157 kPa), and 32
.8 psi (226 kPa) for the four
soils respectively.

Design criteria
A conventional flexible
pavement system consists of
three layers namely asphalt
concrete (AC), granular base
course (base), and subgrade
layer. AC is the top most layer
and the subgrade is the existing
compacted strata in the flexible
pavement system. The

selection of the type, properties

and thickness of the base and
AC layer is based on the
properties of subgrade and
traffic loading condition. The
main failure criteria for the
design of flexible pavement are
fatigue cracking in AC layer and
rutting in the subgrade layer as
well as surface settlement
mainly due to base and
subgrade layer. The critical
parameters responsible for
these modes of failure are
tensile strain below the AC layer
and compressive strain above
the subgrade layer just below
the center line of load.
Fatigue criterion is defined in

terms of number of cumulative

load repetitions and maximum
tensile strain generated below
AC layer to keep the fatigue
cracking within permissible limit.
Indian Roads Congress (IRC)
adopts mechanistic empirical
pavement design procedures
and are presented in IRC: 372001. The equation presented
for fatigue life is given by:
(10)
The term NF is the number of
cumulative standard axles to
produce 20% cracked surface
area;
maximum tensile
strain at the bottom of the AC
layer; and E is the elastic
modulus of the AC layer (in
MPa).
The term NR is the number of
cumulative standard axle to
produce rutting of 20mm; c
is the vertical subgrade strain.
(11)

Input data

Fig.1 Relationship between resilient modulus and repeated

deviator stress
for different such types of subgrade soil

16

A single axle single wheel load

is considered in the present
analysis. The standard axle
load considered here for
analysis is 80 kN. The contact
radius was assumed as 15 cm
with a tyre pressure of 560 kPa.
The design traffic is considered
in terms of standard axles (in
the lane carrying the maximum
traffic). The total number of
repetitions of the standard axle
is usually expressed in terms
of million standard axles or
msa. Estimation of the total
number of standard axle
repetitions over a given period
of time is done with the help of
IRC
guidelines.
Three
percentages of CBR have been
considered in the present
analysis viz., 2%, 5% and 10%
and for each percentage CBR,
cumulative traffic considered in
the design are 10 msa, 100
Indian Highways, July 2016

msa and 150 msa. The

analysis was done in three
layers i.e., Bituminous
surfacing, granular base and
sub-base and third being
subgrade. The binder course
(BC) and dense bitumen course
(DBM) are considered as one
layer and granular base and
sub-base are considered as one
layer. Temperature considered
was 350C and the composite
modulus of the 60/70 grade
bitumen layer was taken as
1695MPa as given in the IRC
code. The Poissons ratio was
taken as 0.5, 0.4 and .4 for
the bituminous, GB+GSB and
the
subgrade
layers
respectively (IRC-37-2001).
For linear analysis, the resilient

modulus is assumed as a
function of the CBR value and
the only input that is needed is
the modulus. The modulus of
the granular base and
subgrade layers are estimated
based on the subgrade CBR
values from equation 1 and 2.
For non-linear analysis, in
addition to the modulus, the
other inputs such as non-linear
constants, the slope of load
distribution and earth pressure
coefficient are required. Typical
values of K1 and K2 for granular
base were selected from Table
1 corresponding to sandaggregate blend. Similarly the
values of K1-K4 for subgrade
soil were selected from Fig. 1
corresponding to medium

type soil. The coefficient of

earth pressure at rest for
granular base and subgrade soil
was selected as 0.6 and 0.82
respectively (Huang, 2004).
The angle of load distribution
was taken as 0.5 for both
granular base layer and
subgrade layer and a single
wheel loading is assumed. The
material properties of the layers
considered for the analysis are
given in Table 2.

Analysis of Results
The analysis was performed
for three different percentages
of subgrade CBR viz., 2%, 5%
and 10% and also for three
different magnitudes of traffic
i.e., 10 msa, 100 msa and 150
msa. The results obtained

Table1- Sections considered for analysis

Subgrade
CBR (%)

Design
Traffic (msa)

Wearing
course (mm)

Binder
course (mm)

Granular
base (mm)

5
10
5
10
5
10

10
10
100
100
150
150

40
40
50
50
50
50

70
50
150
130
170
150

250
250
250
250
250
250

Granular
Sub-base
(mm)
300
200
300
200
300
200

Table 2: Layer properties of linear and nonlinear conditions for CBR 2%, 100msa traffic

Cases
Case 1

Case 2

Case 3

Case 4

Asphalt layer
Linear
E= 1.695E+06 MPa
= 0.5
Linear
E= 1.695E+06MPa
= 0.5
Linear
E= 1.695E+06MPa
= 0.5

Base layer
linear
E= 7.676E+04MPa
= 0.4
Nonlinear
K1 = 30015kPa
K2 = 0.59
linear
E= 7.676E+04
= 0.4

Linear
E= 1.695E+06MPa
= 0.5

Nonlinear
K1 = 30015kPa
K2 = 0.59

Indian Highways, July 2016

Subgrade layer
Linear
E= 2.000E+04 MPa
= 0.4
Linear
E= 2.000E+04MPa
= 0.4
Nonlinear
K1 = 52992kPa
K2 = 42.78kPa
K3 = 1110
K4 = 178
Nonlinear
K1 = 52992kPa
K2 = 42.78k
PaK3 = 1110
K4 = 178

17

were analyzed to compare the

critical passes and critical strains
with respect to both rutting and
fatigue criteria. In addition, the
other parameters that were
studied are variation of vertical
stresses with respect to depth
and radial distance and also the
variation of shear strains with
respect to radial distance. The
former is very important in
understanding the distribution
of load to lower pavement
layers and also to understand
the disparity in the results for
linear and non-linear analysis.
The latter is a useful input in
the design of geosynthetic
reinforcement when placed at
the interface. The effect of
non-linearity in the material
behavior on the stressrecoverable strain response as
obtained from constitutive
relationship and empirical
relationships were also studied.

Variation of
versus strain

stress

The variation of stress

(deviator stress) with respect
to recoverable strain for the
selected values of K1 and K2
and using different equations

as given in equation (3) to (6)

are plotted in Fig. 2. The CBR
value of the granular base was
taken as 25 %. It is observed
that the stress is a nonlinear
function of the recoverable
strain in the constitutive
relationship as given by Huang
(2004) in equation (7), whereas
it is linear in the empirical
equations as listed in (4)-(6).
Since the modulus is a function
of the stress invariant () in
the constitutive relationship it
is observed that the stress
versus recoverable strain is a
function of confining pressure,
3. Also it is observed that for
a given stress, all the empirical
equations give high recoverable
strains. The recoverable strain
as obtained in empirical
equation (6) is very high and
hence not plotted in Fig.2.
This infers that the predictions
made using the empirical
equations correspond to a
flexible material or less stiff
material.

Critical failure passes

The variation of critical passes
(both rutting and fatigue) with
respect to traffic is presented

in Fig. 3. In the figure, the

dashed lines represent the
critical rutting passes (NR) and
the straight line represents the
critical fatigue passes (N F).
From the figure it is observed
that at all CBR values, the
number of critical passes
corresponding to rutting criteria
is higher than the number of
passes for the fatigue criteria.
Also it is observed that the
number of passes sustained by
a completely non-linear section
is very high compared to a
completely linear section. This
infers that the linearity in the
material behavior underestimates the number of critical
failure passes. Unlike CBR
values of 2% and 5% there is
a slight variation in the trend
of critical passes for 10% CBR.
This could be due to the
difference in the assumption
made in the computation of E
values as seen in equation (1).
As seen in equation (10),
fatigue criterion is dependent
upon the tensile strain at the
bottom of the asphalt layer.
Therefore non-linearity in
subgrade behavior is not a
crucial parameter as far as
fatigue criteria is concerned.

Critical strains

Fig.2 Variation of stress versus recoverable strain as

estimated by linear and non-linear equations

18

The variation of critical strain

was almost similar to the
variation of critical failure
passes as explained in the
above section.
Typical
variation of critical strains at 2
percentage subgrade CBR and
at different traffic loading is
presented in Fig. 4. At low CBR
percentages, the critical strains
were found to be very high for
linear sections as seen in Fig.4.
Variation of critical strains (both
tensile strain in the bottom of
asphalt layer and compressive
strain in the subgrade) with
Indian Highways, July 2016

Fig.3a Variation of critical failure passes with traffic for 2

percentage CBR

respect to CBR for different

traffic loading is shown in Fig.5.
From the figure it is observed
that at low CBR percentages
more strains are developed in
the top of the subgrade
compared to asphalt layer. The
strains developed, reduced with
increase in CBR as expected.
However, at high CBR values,
the strains developed in the
subgrade and asphalt layer are
more or less the same as
observed in Fig. 5. When the
CBR value of the subgrade
increases, the pavement
section itself will be strong and
hence reduces the strains
developed in the asphalt and
subgrade layers.

Shear stresses and shear

strains

Fig.3a Variation of critical failure passes with traffic for 5

percentage CBR

Fig.3b Variation of critical failure passes with traffic for 10

percentage CBR
Indian Highways, July 2016

The results were analyzed to

study the shear strains
developed at the interfaces.
Application of geosynthetics has
increased rapidly in the recent
decades. The shear strains
developed at the interface
initiates the tensile force in the
geosynthetics reinforcement.
Therefore an understanding of
the shear stresses and shear
strains are very important as
far as pavement design is
concerned.
For any pavement section, as
expected the shear stress
decreased
with
depth.
Therefore shear stress was
found to be critical only at the
base of asphalt layer. On the
other hand the shear strains
were found to increase with
depth and this trend was the
same for all the traffic loading
and at all subgrade CBR
percentages as shown in Fig.6.
This is because the asphalt
surfacing being a strong binding
material develops less shear

19

strains. The granular base/

sub-base and subgrade are
very poor in shear strength and
hence higher shear strains are
developed in those pavement
materials.
Hence, a geosynthetic layer will
be highly beneficial at those
places because the high shear
strain mobilizes the tensile
strength of the reinforcing
material which in fact increases
the load carrying capacity of
the pavement section. For
asphalt layer maximum shear
strains were developed at a
radial distance of 15 cm from
the center of the wheel load
whereas for subgrade and
granular sub-base the shear
strains increased with radial
distance. This could be due to
the distribution of the applied
wheel load in the form of
truncated cone. Therefore,
when geosynthetic reinforcement is placed at the interface
it will advantageous if it extends
for the entire width of the
pavement under consideration.
At greater depths, shear strains
developed increased with radial
distance. For subgrade CBR
2% and 5% non-linear sections
were found to be critical for
shear strains developed at the
base of asphalt layer, whereas
completely linear case was
found to be critical for shear
strains developed in the
granular base and subgrade.
The same trend was vice-versa
for subgrade CBR 10%. Hence
it can be concluded that the
shear strains are to be
evaluated by considering a
completely linear section and
also by a non-linear section and
the higher of the shear strains
induced should be considered
in the design of reinforcing
material placed at the interface.

20

Fig.4a Variation of tensile strain in AC layer

Fig.4b Variation of compressive strain in subgrade layer with

respect to traffic

Fig.5. Variation of critical strains with respect to CBR for

different traffic loading
Indian Highways, July 2016

Vertical stresses and

vertical strains

Fig.6a. Variation of shear strains at the bottom of asphalt

layer for 5% CBR and at 100 msa traffic

Fig.6b. Variation of shear strains at the bottom of granular

base for 5% CBR and at 100 msa traffic

Fig.6c. Variation of shear strains at 20 cm below subgrade for

5% CBR and at 100 msa traffic
Indian Highways, July 2016

The vertical strains developed

were analyzed to understand
its spatial variation with respect
to depth and radial distance.
The
vertical
stresses
developed were high for
completely non-linear sections
and non-linear granular sections
at low subgrade CBR values.
The stresses were more or less
the same for linear and nonlinear subgrade sections. The
vertical stresses developed
decreased with radial distance
and also it increased with
increase in CBR percentage for
same traffic loading as seen in
Fig.7. This infers that when
the CBR percentage is
increased higher stresses are
induced. This could be due to
the increase in the stiffness of
the pavement cross section
with the increase in CBR
percentage.
In all the
pavement sections, asphalt
layers and granular bases are
stressed more compared to
subgrade layers. For the
same CBR percentage, it is
observed that the stresses
decreased with increase in
traffic loading. This could be
due to the increase in asphalt
layer thickness for higher
traffic.
The radial distribution of vertical
stresses developed at the base
of asphalt layer for 5
percentages CBR at 100 msa
traffic is shown in Fig. 8. On
examining the radial distribution
of vertical stresses it is
observed that the maximum
vertical stress is observed within
a 30 cm radius (i.e., double the
size of contact radius) from the
center of the plate for all the
cases. The effect of non-

21

linearity
of
pavement
component layers is also
evident within the 30 cm radius
from the center of the wheel.
The variation of vertical strains
is inversely proportional to the
vertical stresses since the
modulus value is constant.
The validation of the computed
stresses and strains are done
by comparing the results
obtained from the present
study with the study conducted
by Sahoo et al.(2010) where
the nonlinearity in the granular
layers is studied using a FE
model. The results obtained
from the present study
matched well with the referred
study.

Fig.7a. Variation of vertical stress at different depths for 2

percentage CBR at 10 msa traffic

Conclusions
This paper presents the results
of the analysis carried out on
pavement sections for four
different cases such as
completely linear section,
completely non-linear section,
and non-linear granular base
and non-linear subgrade. From
the analysis the following
conclusions were made.
1) The assumption of linearity
in the material behavior gives
a conservative design in terms
of critical failure passes and
critical strains.
2) For pavement design, the
critical cases that can be
considered are a linear section
and a completely non-linear
section. In many a case either
of these two is found to be
critical based on the CBR
percentage.
3) The pavement analysis
results were more or less
similar when subgrade was
considered as non-linear and
both subgrade and base were
considered linear. This is
because for the pavement

22

Fig.7b. Variation of vertical stress at different depths for 5

percentage CBR at 10 msa traffic

Fig.7c. Variation of vertical stress at different depths for 10

percentage CBR at 10 msa traffic
Indian Highways, July 2016

REFERENCES
1. Cem Karagz (2004), Analysis of
Flexible Pavements Incorporating
Nonlinear Resilient Behavior of
Unbound Granular Layers Thesis
submitted to: The Graduate School
of Natural And Applied Sciences of
Middle East Technical University.
2. Das, A. and Pandey, B. B.,(1999),
Mechanistic-empirical design of
bituminous roads : an Indian
perspective,
Journal
of
Transportation Engineering, ASCE,
Vol. 125(5), pp.463-471.

Fig.8. Variation of vertical stress with respect to radial

distance at bottom of asphalt layer for 5 percentage CBR at
100 msa traffic

sections under the application

of loads, very small strains are
developed in the subgrade. At
small strains the subgrade
behavior is more or less elastic
in nature which is as same as
assuming a completely linear
section.
4) Behavior of completely nonlinear section is highly influenced
by non-linearity of the granular
base layer and hence this has
to be considered in the design.
5) The shear strains are to be
evaluated by considering a
linear section and also by a
completely non-linear section
and the higher shear strains
induced should be considered
in the design of reinforcing

Indian Highways, July 2016

material to be placed at the

interface.
6) At low CBR percentages, the
shear strains were found to be
high for non-linear sections.
This emphasizes the fact that
benefit of geosynthetic
reinforcement will be prominent
in weak subgrades.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The work presented in this
paper is a part of the research
project on Guidelines for the
use of Geocells in Flexible
pavements supported by the
Department of Science and
Technology (DST). The
authors sincerely thank the
DST for financial support.

3. Herv Di Benedetto, Quang Tuan

Nguyen and Cdric Sauzat, (2011)
Nonlinearity, Heating, Fatigue and
Thixotropy during Cyclic Loading of
Asphalt Mixtures Road Materials and
Pavement Design, 12 No. 1/2011,
129 158
4. IRC (2001), Guidelines for the
Design of Flexible Pavements
(Second Revision), IRC: 37-2001.
5. Minkwan Kim (2007), ThreeDimensional Finite Element Analysis
of Flexible Pavements Considering
Nonlinear Pavement Foundation
Behaviour Thesis submitted to:
University of Illinois at UrbanaChampaign, Illinois.
6. Minkwan Kim and Joo Hyoung
Lee. (2011), Study On Nonlinear
Pavement Responses Of Low Volume
Roadways Subject To Multiple Wheel
Loads Journal of Civil Engineering
And Management, 17(1): 4554.
7. Pw de Bruin (2011), Modelling
the Non-Linear Behaviour of
Pavement Layers (Subgrade) Using
a Linear Elastic Approach, in: 10th
Conference on Asphalt Pavements
for Southern Africa.

***

23

24

Indian Highways, July 2016

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Morphology and Training of

Rivers Near Bridges
by S.K. Mazumder (LM28218)

1. INTRODUCTION
Water flowing through rivers is
one of the most important
natural resources for survival
of mankind and other living
beings.
Historically, all
civilizations in the past have
developed in areas around
water bodies like rivers which
occupy a prominent place at
every stage of all human
development. Some of the
most important usage of river
and river water are:
a) Municipal and domestic use
b) Agricultural and Industrial use
c) Power generation Hydro,
thermal, nuclear etc.
d) Drainage Storm water run
off, municipal wastes etc.
e) Life support for fish, animal,
forests other flora and fauna
f) Transportation, recreation,
health resorts etc.
g) Recharging ground water at
high stage and maintaining dry
weather flow at low stage .
Except some rivers in the
Himalayan region, most of the
rivers in India are rain fed.
Unlike Europe, snow fed rivers
are only a few flowing from high
altitude in the Himalayas e.g.
Ganga, Brahmaputra, Satluj etc
where 10-15% of runoff are
from snowmelt.
Run off
distribution in most of the rivers
are, therefore, directly related
to distribution of rain fall. High
intensity of rainfall for a
prolonged period causes
Indian Highways, July 2016

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ABSTRACT
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ll civilizations in the past have
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developed in areas around
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water bodies like rivers which
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occupy a prominent place at
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every
stage of all human
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development. Rivers flowing in
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their natural state behave in
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different forms depending on
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slope,
discharge of water and
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transport of sediments and may
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cause serious problems to the
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people living in the vicinity of
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S.K.Mazumder
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(Former AICTE Em. Professor. of
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Civil Engg., DCE (Now DTU)
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E-Mail: somendrak64@gmail.com
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rivers. River training is necessary
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for making better control and
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greater use of river and river
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An untrained and
water.
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uncontrolled river may bring
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devastation due to flooding,
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change in course, braiding,
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meandering, scouring of bed
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and banks, breaching of
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embankments, damages of
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hydraulic structures like bridges,
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embankments, roads and
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railways etc. In this paper, author
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has made an attempt to
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summarize the river behavior in
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its different stages and the
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problems
encountered.
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Different
types
of
river training
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measures
and
their
selection
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have been narrated.
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flooding and drought occurs

due to scanty and insufficient
rainfall. Both flooding and
droughts bring about damages
to crops and other properties
besides loss of life, disruption
in communications etc. Losses
are more as the people
encroach on flood plains for
proximity of water body, fertility
of land, cheap land etc. When
the river is in high stage, people
leave their properties and
undergo sufferings which
cannot be measured in terms
of money.
Both the central and state
governments have to spend
huge sum of money for relief
and rehabilitation of people
affected by floods and droughts
almost every year. Flood
embankments are constructed
for providing security of life and
properties. Costly maintenance
of roads, railways, hydraulic
structures such as bridges,
barrages, intake works, river
training works etc. are to be
carried out regularly. One of
the most common causes of
flooding is breaching of flood
embankments. Repair of
breaches and protection of
flood embankments are very
costly affair. Training of a river
near bridges and barrages by
construction/repair of spurs,
guide bunds, mattressing of
approach embankments,
construction of marginal /afflux
embankments is extremely
costly .Without proper training,

25

rivers scour foundation and

tend to outflank the structures,
due to backwater effect
resulting in aggradations,
degradation, river widening,
meandering etc.
All rivers originate in high
altitudes and flow downwards
with outfall in sea with almost
zero elevation (or in a lake or
in another major river). The
valley setting of rivers can be
broadly subdivided into:
a) Mountainous or hilly region
with very steep slope (1 in 10
to 1 in 100 aproximately)
b) Sub-hilly or trough stage
where
slope
reduces
considerably (about 1 in 100 to
1 in 1000)
c) Flood plains with mild slope
(about 1 in 1000 to 1in 10000)
d) Delta stage near its outfall
into the sea (less than 1 in
10000 approximately)
Types of river training to be
adopted are dependent on its
valley setting. In the
mountainous stage, the river

has so high stream power

(product of discharge Q and
bed slope S 0 i.e. QS 0 gives
stream power per unit width of
stream and unit weight of
water). that the flow carries
boulders and gravels along the
bed. In this stage, river flows
in a narrow gorge and a
number of small and medium
streams join on the way. They
are highly degrading (due to
very high velocity) and carry
sediments brought down from
their catchments through
formation of reels / nullies /
gullies etc and also due to land
slides. Training measures in this
stage, therefore, should be
aimed at control of erosion /hill
slides through check dams, soil
conservation in catchment
areas, prevention of toe
erosion etc. (by short stone
spurs or by gabion walls etc).
In the sub-hilly or trough stage,
stream power is considerably
reduced (due to reduction in
bed slope, S 0 ) resulting in
deposition of boulders and

Fig.1 Lateral Migration of Meander and Stream cross Sections

in a bend

26

gravels. In this aggrading

stage, the channel, through
which streams flow, gets filled
up with sediments and the
stream starts flowing in a new
channel. In this process,
multiple channels are formed
and the river goes on shifting
its course resulting in delta like
formation. Training a river in
such an unstable braided stage
is extremely difficult and the
river often outflanks the
hydraulic structures like
bridges, barrages, training
works such as spurs, Guide
bunds etc. Often it breaches
embankments, roads, railways
etc. Dredging of sediments
and lining of channels etc to
improve conveyance of the
river is a better proposition. As
the river descends into flood
plains, the bed slope and
stream power reduces further
and even the finer fraction of
sediments i.e. fine sand, silt etc
get deposited on alternate
banks resulting in meandering
flow and formation of wide flood
plain (also known as khadir or
meandering belt) as shown in
Fig.1.
Because of the settlement of
people in the fertile flood plain
of a meandering river, flood
embankments (also called
levees, dykes, marginal bunds,
flood embankments etc) are
popular measures of river
training for protection of people
and their properties near river
banks. Although constructed
sufficiently away from river
banks, these embankments
are often subjected to river
attack due to migration of
meanders both laterally and
longitudinally. In all such
vulnerable
reaches,
embankments are to be
protected with revetment/
Indian Highways, July 2016

pitching / mattressing etc. to

arrest erosion of bed and bank
and prevent breaching of
embankments. Long / short
spurs (both permeable and
impermeable) are constructed
to dampen / deflect the high
velocity flow against direct
attack by the meandering river.
When hydraulic structures e.g.
such as bridges / weirs /
barrages are constructed in a
wide khadir, its water way is
often restricted with approach
embankments (Fig.2) in order
to reduce cost. Flow field which
used to prevail before
construction of such structures
get altered
after the
construction of the structures.
Regime of river is changed and

new pattern of meanders

develop both upstream and
down stream of such
structures. The river is in
aggrading stage due to
deposition of sediments
upstream (due to afflux and
back
water),
causing
substantial loss of stream
power. Degradation occurs
immediately down stream of
the structures due to high
velocity and residual kinetic
energy of flow, higher
turbulence and comparatively
clear water flow downstream.
One of the major evil effects
of embankments and jacketing
of a river is due to the fact
that the country side looses the
fine and fertile sediments which

Fig.2 Restriction of Waterway under a bridge by Use of

Guide Bunds

Fig.3(a) Disastrous Flood in Malda District in

West Bengal after Breach of Left Marginal
Embankment Upstream of Farakka Barrage,
in the year 1998

Indian Highways, July 2016

are deposited within the

embankments thereby raising
river bed level and lowering
country level causing drainage
congestion in the country side.
In case of sudden breaches,
there is wide spread and
unprecedented flood damage
(Fig.3a,b). Sometimes river
changes its course rendering
all hydraulic structures down
stream useless and requiring
new structures.
As already mentioned,
meanders move both laterally
(at
faster
rate)
and
longitudinally (at slower rate)
causing formation of wide flood
plain (khadir) with shallow flow
depth during lean season.
Spurs are helpful in narrowing
khadir width and increasing flow
depth for navigability of river.
Strong flow curvature in wildly
meandering river can be
controlled by cut-off which
helps in straightening of the
river and improving its
navigability. In the final stage
of its journey (before joining
sea), the bed slope reduces to
such an extent (1 in 10000 to
1 in 20000), that even the fine
silts and clays transported by
the river (as suspended load)
get deposited forming deltaic

Fig. 3(b) Devastation brought about by river

Kosi due to change of its course on August
18 th, 2008 due to Breach in its left
Embankment about 12 km upstream of Kosi
Barrage

27

islands e.g.Sunderban and

Mahanadi deltas. Because of
large volume of flood water
and siltations, river starts
flowing in multiple channels.
Distribution of flow in these
channels alters periodically
resulting in spill flow and
damages to crops and habitats.
Some of the rivers are also
subjected to tidal effect. During
high tides, rivers carry
sea water and transport silt
upstream. Training of rivers in
the deltaic reaches consisting
primarily of levees is a very
difficult task. If it is a navigable
river, maintaining minimum
depth of flow for navigation is
one of the objectives of river
training in these reaches where
the river widens and silts up.

2.0 RIVER MORPHOLOGY

Proper understanding of river
behavior in the vicinity of
bridges is extremely important
for planning, design and layout
of river training works for their
safety. Flow field, which used
to prevail prior to their
construction is changed. There
is afflux subjecting the channel
to backwater effect upstream.
Hydraulic and energy gradients
are decreased resulting in loss
of stream power
and
deposition of sediments
upstream of the structure. On
the downstream side, there is
generally degradation near the
sructures due to low sediment
content, residual kinetic energy
of flow and higher turbulence
level.
Uncontrolled
aggradations/degradation
causes a lot of problem. The
river tries to widen and outflank
the bridges. Costly protection
measures are to be adopted
to make the river flow axially

28

through the brides. Depending

upon the amount of restriction,
the approaching flow may often
become unsymmetrical and
unstable. Such river may shift
their location and may wander
anywhere within the wide flood
plain (khadir) resulting in erosion
of both bed and banks of the
river. It may also breach/
washout the protection works.

2.1
Aggradations/
Degradation
Understanding of river behavior
is complicated due to integrated
geo-morphologic, hydrologic,
hydraulic and sediment
parameters. Inter relation
between river plan form,
hydrologic, hydraulic and
sediment parameters and
relative stability of the river is
illustrated in Fig.4. It may be
observed that the different
plan forms i.e. straight,
meandering, braided etc.
depend on the river geometry,
sediment load, slope and flow
in the river.
Quantitative prediction of river
response due to climatological
and watershed change is
based on the fundamental
relation given by Lane(1957).
QSe QS d50
Where Q is the flow rate, Se is
the energy gradient, Q s is
sediment transport rate and
d 50 is the mean size of
sediments being transported.
Fig 5 illustrates the regime
diagram given by Lane for
quantitative prediction of river
regime.

2.2 Change in River

Regime due to Human
Interference
Aggradations / degradation
near bridges / hydraulic
structures is mainly due to the

loss in balance between

sediment supply and transport
rates. Rivers attain a stable
regime over hundreds of years
through adjustments of its
slope and section according to
volume of water and sediments
carried by it. Many gifted river
engineers like Lacey(1930),
Blench (1957), Lane (1957),
Diplus (1990) et al from abroad
and Garde(2006), Rangaraju
(1970), Chitale(1970)et al from
India have done considerable
work to predict the regime
state and corresponding river
geometry based on sediment
size in river bed and bank and
the dominant discharge carried
by the river over time.
The major cause of change in
river regime can be attributed
to human activities and
interference. Regardless of
degree of stability, human
activities can produce dramatic
change in river regime locally
and throughout the entire river.
River improvement works by
man made river structures can
often result in departure from
the equilibrium stage that
existed prior to construction of
these works. The challenge to
the river engineer is to
understand the hydroogic,
hydraulic and geomorphologic
balances within a given
waterway and the catchments
and to design the project within
the framework of these
balances. Such an approach
will generally prove to be more
efficient than continually trying
to maintain the system against
the natural tendencies of a
river. River regime is affected
by high afflux, deposition of
sediments, scouring, flow
instability, meandering, bank
erosion, outflanking, flooding
etc.
Indian Highways, July 2016

2.3 River Stability and

Meandering
Inter relation between stream
form and bed slope is shown
in Fig 5. Accordig to Lane, a
river with non- cohesive bed
and bank material is predicted
to meander if
S0 Q0.25 > 0.00070
and braided if
S0 Q0.25 > 0.0041
A typical straight river is rarely
stable. As shown in Fig.4,
rivers with very small flow of
water and sediments, low

gradient and velocity, low

aspect ratio (Bed width to depth
ratio) may be more stable for
some distance. Development
of lateral instability associated
with erosion and deposition on
alternate banks give rise to
thalweg pattern. Uncontrolled
erosion and deposition
ultimately give rise to typical
meandering pattern. Hickin and
Nanson (1984) described the
lateral migration rate (M) of a
meander by the functional
relation
M = f (, b, gs, h, b)

Where is stream power, b is

a geometric parameter of the
river such as width of the river,
h is height of outer bank, gs is
sediment transport rate, b is
the erosion resistance offered
by the outer bank against
erosion. Plotting measured
migration rate M (in meter per
year) against relative curvature
(r/w) (where r is the radius of
curvature of flow lines and w
is width of stream), Hickins
concluded that migration rate
is maximum when r/w = 2.5.
He derived the relation for
maximum migration rate M2.5
(in m/year).as:
M2.5 = gQSo / b h
Where is density of water in
kg/m3, g is acceleration due to
gravity in m/s2, Q is the mean
flow rate (in m3/s), So is river
bed slope, b is shear stress
inkg/m2, h is height of outer
bank in m. Fig.1 illustrates the
typical development of a
meander and migration of
meander.

2.4 River Behavior in

The Vicinity of Bridges
Fig. 4 Interrelation between Channel type, Hydraulic and
Sediment Parameters and Relative Stability of Streams

Fig. 5 Prediction of River Rgime from Bed Slope and Mean

Discharge
Indian Highways, July 2016

Depending on afflux and

normal flow depth , the flow
both
upstream
and
downstream of a bridge or a
barrage
has high nonuniformity (Fig.6) and often
found to swing periodically
either to the left or right bank
(usually main channel flow
adheres to either left or right
bank) due to their instability. It
behaves like a highly turbulent
wall jet type flow. Deposition
of sediments occur leading to
aggradations due to back water
effect and loss of stream power
upstream.
Cross
slope
develops
(because
of
deposition of sediments on
inner bank and scouring on

29

outer bank as shown in Fig.1)

resulting in meandering of the
river. Immediately downstream
of the structure, there is
degradation (due to oblique
jumps and roller formation,
often observed with choking
flow condition. Turbulent flow
with comparatively clear water
(due to sediment deposition
upstream) often with choking
flow
condition
flowing
downstream with higher
turbulence level is also
responsible for general
degradation immediately
downstream of hydraulic
structures like bridges.
In a wide Khadir (as observed
in most of the rivers in north
and north-east India), when
there is high amount of
constriction of normal flow width
(Fig 2), there is aggradations.
upstream
of
hydraulic
structures. Such aggradations
often result in formation of
multiple channels and the main
channel flowing along the bank
causes scouring. Sometimes,
the flow becomes unstable due
to long spurs constructed
across main channel as a
protective measure. Long spurs
(designed on the basis of total
flood plain / khadir width) may
constrict the main channel flow
to such an extent, that the flow
in the main channel may

become unstable and it may

swing and directly attack the
bank in between consecutive
spurs resulting in breaches in
embankments and wasting out
of the spurs, guide bunds and
may outflank the structure.
Flow non-uniformity is
responsible for meandering,
cross-slope and deep scour
near banks where the main flow
is adhered to. Fig.7-9 illustrate
few
typical
cases
of
outflanking, meandering and
anabranching of flow near
some bridges on major and
minor rivers.
The figures show only the main
channel in the wide khadir.
Costly river training measures
had to be adopted to save the
bridges. Deep erosion occurred
near left bank of Ganga river
(with its main channel flowing
along left bank) upstream of
Farrakka barrage. When all the
spurs were washed out
(Fig.10), porcupines (Fig.11)
were constructed to save left
bank subjected to colossal
erosion and shifting of river 7
km inside the fertile land of
Malda district in West Bengal.
Figs. 3(a) shows the disastrous
flood in Malda district In West
Bengal after breach of marginal
embankment about 20 km
upstream of Farakka Barrage,
Fig.3(b) illustrates the

Fig.6 Plan View of a Bridge with non-uniform approach flow

(Arrows indicate Velocity)

30

devastation brought about by

river Kosi due to change of its
course on August 18 th, 2008
due to breach of its left
embankment about 12 km
upstream of Kosi Barrage.

3.0 NECESSITY AND

OBJECTIVES OF RIVER
TRAINING
River training is necessary for
making better use of river and
river water. An untrained and
uncontrolled river may bring
devastation due to flooding,
change in course, braiding,
meandering, scouring of bed
and banks, breaching of
embankments, damages of
hydraulic structures, roads and
railways
etc.
Different
objectives of river training /
river improvement are:
a) Control of floods due to
overtopping (spilling) of natural
banks.
b) Control of erosion / scouring
and breaching of levees /
natural banks.
c) Control of meandering and
shifting of course, scouring,
depositing etc. river geometry
for increasing conveying
capacity of both water and
sediment flow
d) Improving navigability by
reducing flow width and
increasing flow depth.
e) Arrest local scour around
hydraulic structures e.g.
bridges, barrages, intakes,
approach embankments to
bridges etc. Improving
f) Controlling aggradations and
degradation of the river
g) Improving flow geometry to
avoid oblique flow near
hydraulic structures often
causing outflanking of the
structures.
Indian Highways, July 2016

Fig.7 Outflanking of a vented causeway on

the stream Danab Khola Bridge in Nepal

Actually, every river has its

individual
and
unique
characteristics. The objective
of river training and measures
to control it will , therefore, vary
from river to river. It is
essential to make an in depth
study of the river behavior
before deciding the necessity
and type of river training
measures to be adopted.

4.0 DIFFERENT TYPES

OF RIVER TRAINING
MEASURES
As already discussed under
section -1, types of river

Fig. 8 Erosion on Right Bank of Mahananda

River Showing Embayment U/S of the Bridge
on NH-31

training measures depend on

its valley setting. Broadly, all
river training works are
engineering measures adopted
to guide and stabilize the river
in its own course without
causing harm / damage to life
and properties by controlling
flow of water and sediments
with a view to make best use
of the river and river water.
Different types of river training
works in common use are
briefly discussed in the following
subsections:

4.1
Embankments/
Levees/ Dykes

An embankment (also called

levees and dykes) is
constructed almost parallel to
river bank and sometimes
normal to the bank, (as in case
of approach embankments in
wide khadir, connecting
hydraulic structures e.g.
bridges and barrages) for the
purpose of protecting adjacent
lands and habitats from
flooding due to overtopping and
spilling of banks by flood water.
They help in channelising the
river in a given course with
adequate flow depth for
navigation and reclamation of
land. Further details about
embankments / levees and
their planning, layout and
design criteria are given in IRC89 (1989) & IS- 12094(2000)

4.2
Revetments /
Pitching / Rip-Rap /
Mattressing

Anabranching of River Mahananda Upstream of Bridge on

NH-31
Indian Highways, July 2016

The most popular measure to

prevent river bank erosion
against high velocity of flow is
to pave the river side banks /
embankments with artificial
revetments/ mattresses made
of either loose and crated stone
pitching laid over graded filters
(or geosynthetic textiles) to
prevent erosion of bed and

31

32

Indian Highways, July 2016

bank materials. Articulated

concrete blocks / brick blocks /
asphalt concrete blocks,
geosynthetic bags (filled with
sand / debris) geo-tubes etc.
are also used for lining. Further
details about revetments, their
sizes, thickness etc. are given
in IRC-89 &IS 14262(1995).

4.3 Spurs/ Groynes

Spurs / groynes - both
permeable and impermeable
types - are constructed
transverse to the river bank
and extend from bank /
embankment into the river
either at right angle to the bank
(fending spurs) or inclined
downstream (attracting spurs)
or inclined upstream (deflecting
spurs) with the objective of
diverting high velocity flow away
from the river bank. They also
help in dampening of flow and
encourage silting of the bank.
They help in channelising the
river into a defined course in
wide flood plains thereby
reducing wild meandering,
narrowing channel width and
increasing flow depth for
navigation purpose.
Impermeable spurs made of
earth, fly-ash, debris, geobags, geo-tubes etc do not
allow water to pass through the
body of the spur and they

deflect flow lines resulting in high

concentration of flow near spur
heads. It becomes very
difficult to maintain the head
of such spurs due to formation
of deep scour holes near their
heads, specially when the spurs
are of long length. Very often,
they are found to settle, crack
and get washed out due to
flow through the cracks.
Permeable spurs made of
wooden or bamboo piles,
porcupines, tetra hadrons,
trees etc. permit water to flow
through their bodies and are
helpful in bank protection due
to flow dampening and energy
dissipation due to production of
micro turbulence behind the
spurs. Stone spurs made of
either loose or crated stones
allow some water to pass
through their bodies initially.
But eventually they behave like
impervious type spurs due to
trapping of sediments and
debris. Low height stone spurs
also called bed bars are
submersible type, built at
interval above mattresses.
They help in trapping of
sediment and siltation near the
bank. Further details about
planning, layout, design and
maintenance of permeable and
impermeable type spurs are
covered in IRC-89(1997) & IS

Fig.10 Washed Out Head of An Impervious

1upstream of Farraka barrage
Indian Highways, July 2016

8408(1994).

4.4 Guide Bunds

When bridges and barrages
are constructed in the wide
flood plain of a river, it is
economical to constrict/restrict
the flood plain width by
providing a single or a pair of
guide bunds and approach
roads. Guide bunds (Fig.2)
ensure that river flows parallel
to piers and abutments and
avoid any obliquity of flow near
the bridge. They also protect
the approach embankments on
either side and prevent
outflanking of the structure.
Guide bunds are constructed
of earthen dykes heavily
protected with stone pitching /
crated stone-gabions on the
sloping face on river side and
both faces near the head and
tail ends. Launching aprons are
also provided to protect the toe
against scouring. Further
details regarding planning,
layout and design of guide
bunds are given inIRC-89
(1997) & IS 10751(1994).

4.5 Studs/Hard paints

These are wide and short earth
spur like structures to hold the
bank lines. They are to be
protected with stone pitching or
crated stones against scouring
of toe. They also help in

Fig.11 Porcupines used for Protection Left

Embankment Spur in Farakka Barrage

33

controlling river alignment

between two or more fixed
points to avoid wild meandering
of river near hydraulic
structures.

4.6 Cut-offs
Meandering river has a
tendency to shift laterally
(Fig.1) on the outer bank side
(concave side) with time due
to secondary current which
scour away material on the
outer side of meandering bend
and deposits the same on the
inner (convex side) side of the
bend.
In this process,
curvature of flow goes on
increasing with time and the
bend
becomes sharper
resulting in stronger secondary
current in the bend. As a result
there is more scour and
greater lateral shifting, The
process continues till there is a
formation of natural cut-off and
formation ox-boe type lake.
There is a lot of head losses in
the consecutive sharp bends
of a typical meandering river
resulting in afflux and rise in
high flood level (HFL). Sharp
bends
deteriorate
the
navigability of the river. Cutoffs natural or artificial - help
in straightening a river, fall in
HFL and improvement in
navigability of the river. Further
details about cut-offs are
available in CBIP (1989)
publication River Behavior,
Management and Training
Vol..I.

4.7 Meander Control

One of the primary causes of
river erosion is due to
meandering flow. As already
stated, the outer side of a
typical meandering bend goes
on eroding whereas bar
formation takes place due to
silting on the inner bank. With

34

increase in growth of the sand

/ silt bars, they advance
towards the outer bank
subjecting
it to flow
concentration and erosion. In
this process river bends migrate
laterally towards the outer
bank side and sometimes take
a new course or may join
another nearby stream i.e. flow
avulsion.
Pitching / Mattressing / Spurs
/ Hard points / cut -offs etc.
are constructed to arrest
erosion of outer bank. Cementsoil grouting, gabion walls,
vegetation growth are very
effective means of controlling
lateral erosion due to
improvement of shear strength
of the soil. IOWA -vanes
developed by Odgaard (1984)
is also found to be effective
means of meander control.
Further details of these vanes
can be obtained from literature
(Oddgaard,1986).
Limited dredging of the
sediment bars near their
advancing / growing heads will
also be highly effective for
meander control by reducing
flow curvature and controlling
erosion of outer banks.

4.8 Grade Control

In the hilly /sub-hilly terrain
where the river flows in steep
slope, erosion of river bed and
banks causes serious problem
of stability of the adjoining hills,
resulting in slips and landslides.
Grade control structures e.g.
check dams, barrages, toe
protection by stone gabions,
etc are effective means of
erosion control. The energy
slope and the stream power
reduce due to afflux created
by these structures. However,
flushing mechanisms /or
manual removal of deposited

sediments are necessary to

make them effective. Such
structures are also used for
generation of hydropower by
converting terrain head for
generation of electricity through
water turbines and generators.
Sediment flow in the river can
be reduced considerably
through aforestation and
mining of stream bed materials
in the catchment areas.

4.9 Bandalling
In the delta stage of a river, it
starts flowing through a number
of channels. Sometimes, the
flow through main channel
reduces due to shift of flow
through adjoining tributaries
resulting in reduction in flow
depth in the main channel. As
the stream power reduces
further (due to reduced flow in
main channel), the main
channel tends to silt up. To
improve the navigation facility
in the main channel, Bandalling
is an effective device. Inclined
vanes are installed at inclination
to divert the flow from the
subsidiary stream to main
stream and a favorable
streamline curvature is
developed artificially for
diverting silts away from the
main channel towards its
offshoot.(CBIP,1989)

4.10 Pitched Island

As already mentioned earlier,
many rivers are found to form
a number of silty / sandy island
(also called chars) upstream of
hydraulic structures like bridges
and barrages. When such
chars form centrally, the river
divides into two or more
channels (anabranching). In
the lean off flood season, the
river flow occurs through these
branches.
Usually, the
branches near the banks are
Indian Highways, July 2016

found to carry more flow

subjecting it to erosion, due to
formation of secondary
currents in these curved
channels with their outer bend
towards the bank. River tends
to outflank the structure by
breaching the approach road./
flood embankment. Central
islands can be so curved and
pitched (or provided with
artificial cut-off) that the flow
will tend to move away from
the outer bank and forced to
flow centrally normal to the
hydraulic structure, thereby
improving stability and reducing
the risk of outflanking (CBIP,
1989)

5.0 SELECTION OF
RIVER
TRAINING
WORKS
Unlike a structural or a
foundation engineer who knows
the various modes of failure
and is equipped with thorough
knowledge of materials for the
evaluation of stress, strain,
deformation, settlement etc.,
a river engineer in charge of
river training hardly posses any
information with scanty or
sketchy data available from the
site. Time available is also very
limited for thorough analysis
and he has to take quick
decision regarding the
measures to be adopted to
avoid failure due to erosion or
other reasons. Any wrong
decision may be totally
ineffective and being very
costly the money spent will
virtually be wasted due to
washing out of the wrong
protective measures. In such
a circumstances, experience of
the river engineer is of
paramount importance. In the
past, a number eminent river
engineers like Khosla, Gole,
Indian Highways, July 2016

Gulhati et al from India and

Lacey(1930), Lane(1957),
Blench(1957), Gales, R.(1938)
Spring(1903),Inglis(1949) et al
from abroad have successfully
planned and implemented river
training measures which have
been successful over time.
Using floats and observing
movement of debris and other
floating materials, they had
been trying to understand the
river behavior. In important
structures, model study was
carried out to find the areas
likely to be eroded or silted up
by observing flow lines, velocity
distribution, flow concentration
etc and decided about the type
of river training measure to be
adopted in a given situation.
The subject River mechanics
and engineering has developed
over the years due to immense
contribution
made
by
Lacey(1930), Lane(1957),
Blench(1957), Kennedy(1969),
Hickins (1984), et al from
abroad and Rangaraju(1970),
Chitale (1970), (Kothyari
(1992), Mittal et al (2003),
Garde (2006) et al from India.
River behavior is intimately
related to both flow of water
and sediments. Over the
decades, there is a lot of
development in both hydrology
and hydraulics of sediment
transport, which are discussed
at length in the CBIP(1989)
publication River Behavior,
Management and Training..
Besides experience, river
engineers must have sufficient
knowledge of the subjects
e.g.hydrology, hydraulics, river
morphology, river mechanics,
sediment transport and fluvial
stream processes, etc. to
understand the river behavior.
Every river has its history and
possessing historical data of the

river behavior in the past, apart

from present data, e.g. river
section, bed profile, plan view,
flow of water and sediments in
the river and their variation with
time, valley setting, nature of
river bed and bank materials
etc are essentially needed for
selection of type of river
training measure. Valuable
information to be collected both
from near field and far field of
a river in the vicinity of hydraulic
structures like bridges,
barrages, intake works etc will
be of great help in the
evaluation and decision making
regarding types of training
measures to be adopted /
selected in a given situation. It
should be remembered that no
general solution can be
prescribed since the problems
are varied and river specific,
since all rivers have their unique
behavior, especially near
hydraulic structures.

REFERENCES
Blench,T.(1957) Regime Behavior of
Canals and Rivers Butterworth
Scientific Publications, London.
CBIP (1989),River Behaviour,
Management and Training Vol.I,Ed.
By C.V.J.Verma, K.R.Saxena and
M.K.Rao, Central Board of Irrigation
ad
Power,
Malcha
Marg,
Chanakyapuri, New Delhi.
Chitale,S.V.(1970)River Channel
Patterns, JHD, Proc. ASCE, Vol.96,
HY1, PP201-222)
Diplas, P. (1990), Characteristics of
Self Formed Straight Channels J. of
Hyd. Engg., ASCE, Vol. 116, No. 5.
Gales,R The Principles of River
Training for Railway Bridges and their
Application in the Case of
Hardinge Bridge over the Lower
Ganges at Sara J. of The Institution
of Civil Engineers, UK,, Paper
no.5167
Garde,
R.J.
(2006)
River
Morphology, New Age International
(P) Ltd. Ansari Road, Daryaganj, New
Delhi.

***
35

36

Indian Highways, July 2016

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Syzygy between Design and

Construction of Bridges
by Dhananjay A Bhide (LM 24163)

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SYNOPSIS
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ne of the dictionary meanings of the word syzygy is any two related things, either alike or opposite. For
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any structure, design and construction,if complement each other, more so for bridges then a smooth,
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hassle
free execution follows.If not, then it leads to avoidable delays, changes in proposal&method of
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but not the least, contractual
construction, extra costs and last
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problems, that add further to
complications in substantial manner.
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The
paper
is
an
attempt
to
highlight these aspects with some
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actual
works.
The
study
is
with
some executed structures and one
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contemplated. It covers likely
scenarios; ensuring syzygy during
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concept stage, required due to
unfortunate situations beyond
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well as concepts developed
control
faced
during
execution
as
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without
any
syzygy
but
realized
at
nick
of the time salvaging the
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Dhananjay A Bhide
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situation leading to a successful
completion of project in time.
(Chartered Engineer)
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E-Mail: bhideda@yahoo.co.in
Study also includes a project that
was a really a complex proposal but
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bhideda@yahoo.co.in
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had
to
be
abandoned
due
to
various reasons. However, the
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details
were
reviewed
from
these
considerations
and
some
of
the
observed
lacunae along with the remedial
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measures are presented. Itamply highlights the fact that for complex proposals the requirement of the syzygy
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assumes an utmost importance. From the details, readers may realize the severity of the consequences, if left
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unattended
and the implications on project.
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1. INTRODUCTION:
Any bridge structure generally
follows a sequence; concept,
design & detailing, construction
viz foundation, substructure
and superstructure; from base
to top. The design of various
components follow a reverse
sequence
to
that
of
construction or with assumed
parameters to follow the
sequence
same
as
construction. The bridges
invariably follow this convention
though tweaked sequence is
followed for an odd one. The
concept & design of a bridge
are basic activities and
construction follows the same
as a natural sequence. In early
stages these were generally
considered as independent
activities. Then the loads
imparted to this structure were
essentially on the basic
construction elements without
Indian Highways, July 2016

any change in their form or

structural behaviourduring
construction. Bridges with
simply supported spans;
beams and slab cast together
etc. did not vitiate this.
However, with advent of more
complex solutions this has not
remained so. The design
solution and construction
sequence & method have
significant implications on each
other. With present complex
solutions, both aspects have to
be considered in tandem, right
from concept stage till
completion of the construction.
Syzygy in like manner will lead
to efficient project completion,
while, if opposite, will eventually
lead to avoidable difficulties,
catastrophic in worst of the
situations.
The paper highlights how this
interdependency affects the
proposal,
concept
and

construction with help of few

examples of simple situations
followed by one example of
complex proposal. The
presentation sequence is, first
the structure and situation is
illustrated, then the emerging
problem is explained followed
by the mitigation measure,
presented in italics.
For the said complex proposal
the issues came to light while
checking, in form of an
overview that included design
& detailing, feasibility of
construction, time requirement,
contractual issues etc. When
reviewed from aspect of
synergy between design and
construction, numerous issued
emerged. Some important
issues
are
presented.
Unfortunately,said project was
abandoned due to some
unforeseen contractual issues.
However, the author hopes

37

that its retrospection will provide

some insight on importance of
syzygy.
2. A FREQUENT REQUEST
- PRE-CASTING WEBS OF
RCC GIRDERS:
Pre casting of girders followed
by casting of deck slab is routine
sequence in construction of
PSC superstructure. For RCC
superstructure, girders and slab
are
normally
designed
assuming that these will be cast
together in-situ. Designer is
quite often requested to check
and allow pre-casting of RCC
girders, webs of T girders in
line with those of pre-cast PSC
girders, midway during the
construction
i.e.
when
foundations and substructure
are complete. The expected
permission is for pre-casting
girder, till bottom of top flange
followed by deck slab cast insitu with shuttering supported
from pre-cast girders.
The
design
of
RCC
superstructure will seldom fit for
this. In PSC situation, on
account of pre-stress the
stresses in top flange are tensile
or very low compressive. Top
flange is provided to cater for
compression stresses that will
eventually develop. In case of
RCC girder, in absence of any
prestress or top flange, the top

portion of web will develop

significant
compressive
stresses due to self-weight and
weight of in- situ deck slab,
neglecting effects of shuttering.
At this juncture, the width of
the beam is small and effective
depth is also reduced while
almost full dead load will be
acting on this reduced section.
The resulting tensile stress in
reinforcement
will
be
substantially higher than that
would develop with full section.
This generally renders the precasting unfeasible. It may be
observed that effects of
applied load during casting are
irreversible and future load
effects
have
to
be
superimposed.
For all practical purposes, it is
almost impossible to change
the system (full in-situ
construction to pre-casting
webs
only)
without
overstressing the structure. If
pre-casting is contemplated it
will necessitate full overhaul of
the design. In some cases if
this is found feasible, then it
necessarily means structure
was overdesigned in initial stage
itself.
It is certainly possible to design
RCC girders on lines of pre-cast
PSC girders if the construction
sequence is allowed for, at

Fig 1: Showing the on-going construction on

one side of pier in longitudinal direction

38

design
stage
itself.
Reinforcement will always be on
higher side and a flange, akin
to PSC construction may have
to be introduced. In this
situation effects of differential
creep and shrinkage, not
required for fully cast in-situ
RCC structure have to be
accounted for. The small web
thickness generally would be
inadequate for resulting
compressive stresses as well
as on account of interface
shear stresses.
3. VARACHHA FLYOVER SPECIFIC CONSTRUCTION
SEQUENCE CONSIDERED
AT CONCEPT STAGE FOR
STABILTY AND SAFETY
DURING CONSTRUCTION:
Varachha flyover in Surat city
is 2.5 km long, 4 lane flyover
with
two
separate
carriageways.
The
superstructure is with around
20m spans, simply supported
RCC box girder. Substructure
and foundation; RCC pier &
open foundation, is common
for both carriageways.
Complete construction was insitu.
Surat
Municipal
Corporation desired a very
economic structure.
Hence, optimization was
explored for each and every
aspect of the structure. One

Fig 2: Showing construction in random

sequence but following design requirement
Indian Highways, July 2016

of the features was predetermined

construction
sequence of casting of spans
i.e. imparting load to piers
foundations.
Since the foundation for all 4
spans over pier was common;
in order to economize the
foundation&pier, completion of
both spans in longitudinal
direction on one side, followed
by completion of balance spans
was specified. (Refer Figs. 1 &
2.)
This enabled to reduce the
unbalanced moment in
transverse direction a lot and
optimize the foundation size
quite substantially. This did not
vitiate the flexibility of random
construction and did not affect
the construction schedule
(Refer Fig.2).
Thus, for optimizing cost, it
was necessary to predetermine the sequence and
follow
the
same
for
construction, ensuring safety
and stability of the structure.
Though it implied a small
constraint for construction, it did
allow
almost
random
construction at very fast pace.
Incidentally 248 spans, out of
256 spans were completed in
18 months. The completed
cost for structure (in year

2003) was astoundingly low,

Rs. 6240/- per square meter.
Predetermined construction
sequence and designing
accordingly helped a lot towards
achieving this.

4. VIKRAMSHILA SETU
ACROSS RIVER GANGA
AT
BHAGALPUR
SELECTION OF FORM OF
STRUCTURE
AT
CONCEPT
STAGE
RESULTING
FROM
CONSTRUCTION
CONSIDERATIONS:
This illustrates a case where
structural form was dictated by
construction method. This 4.7
Km long bridge has 10 spans
of 120m in main waterway,
each comprising of 48m long
cantilevers with24m long
suspended span inbetween.
During construction, two wells,
P3 & P4 toppled and span
arrangement had to be
changed. The resulting span
arrangement between piers P2
to P5 was 142+ 109 + 109m,
instead of 3*120m. P3 pier
supported a T arm with 60m
cantilevers and 34m long
suspended span on one side
and 12m on other.
For aesthetics, the depth of
the mid span had to be

Fig 3: Dimensions at articulation

Indian Highways, July 2016

maintained i.e. 1.975m, that of

24m suspended span. The
number of longitudinal
members has to be 2 only as
these need to rest on two
articulations from cantilevers.
(Refer Fig.3). Other spans were
in
various
stages
of
construction and continuity of
deck was not available. Any
launching from adjacent deck
was ruled out. Pre-casting,
transportation and erection
through river was ruled out due
to prohibitive cost for single odd
requirement.
In-situ
construction, like all other
suspended spans was fait
accompoli.
Obvious option would be PSC
deck, almost mandatory
structural form for 34m span
but impractical at the location.
The space for stressing of any
cables was simply not available
at articulated ends. Casting of
girder at a height of 3m above
FRL, to get space for stressing
and then lowering in position
was too risky due to height of
the structure, highly restricted
space over cantilevers.
Lowering, if contemplated,
would have to be with very
heavy equipment, while
suspending pre-cast box girder
was ruled out as neither space
nor accessibility existed at

Fig 4: The cross-section of the RCC box girder

as suspended span

39

articulations.
The construction restrictions
and limitations, almost dictated
form of RCC box girder, a very
unusual form for both,
suspended span and large span
of 34m. (Refer Fig. 4).
The available temporary
structures for typical suspended
spans could be strengthened
and adopted for suspended
span with box girder. (Refer
Fig. 5). The clear vertical webs,
akin and flush with surface of
entire structure in main spans
could be maintained. Soffit of
the girder allowed placing the
heavy main longitudinal
reinforcement without any
congestion.

5.
SION FLYOVER,
MUMBAI SELECTION OF
FORM OF STRUCTURE
AT CONCEPT STAGE
FROM CONSTRUCTION
CONSIDERATIONS,
CASE (2):
This flyover is on one of the
busiest arterial roads of
Mumbai. The length of
structure as well as termination

points was defined along with

mandatory spans at various
locations.
This span
configuration for flyover was
5*21+29.4+21+37+42+2*21
+29+26++2*32+34+4*21
+45+16+42+45+4*21.
The number of mandatory
spans 12 nos. (in bold), was
abnormally high for any flyover.
The variation in span length
was very wide, 26m to 45m.
The road below the spans
(underlined in configuration),
was to be kept open for traffic
during construction. Only limited
barricading was allowed at
foundation
locations.
Foundations had to be on either
side of the road, practically
without any foot print on road.
Portal piers were essential at
almost all locations. Total height
of the structure was limited on
account of fixed length of the
structure. Construction time for
onsite works was limited to 12
calendar months.
Unless a complete syzygy,
synergy in this case, was
established in design and
construction project would not
succeed.

Fig 5: Staging arrangement for 34m suspended span with

RCC box girder

40

The construction method was

of prime importance and
deciding factor for this work.
The identified constraints were:
Girders up to 21m length only
could be transported from precasting yard over existing
roads. Longer pre-cast girders
were ruled out.
Sequential construction was
not
possible
due
to
underground utilities and very
limited construction duration.
35 to 45m long precast
girders could not be cast at the
site and erected by available
cranes due to their weight as
well space restrictions.
Seating of girders on beams
of portal piers was not possible
due to height restrictions.
Connection between them had
to be through webs only, akin
to
conventional
steel
structures.
Span of beams of portal piers
varied between 16 to 22m,
almost same as normal
longitudinal spans.
Superstructure with
prestressed girders, either pretensionedor post-tensioned was
mandatory.
Erection of any staging,
blocking at grade road was
ruled out.
With these construction
constraints neither full precast
form nor full in-situ form was
possible for spans larger than
21m i.e. between 26 to 45m.
The concept based on
segmental, precast, post
tensioned I girders was
developed. The girders were
planned with three segments,
central segment 15m long. An
in-situ joint, 2m wide was
proposed
between
the
segments. (Refer Fig. 7).
Indian Highways, July 2016

These girders were precast

within beds prepared for pretensioned girders eliminating
need for anynew beds for
these.
To get full advantage of pretensioning set up readily
available, the pre-stress
beyond the joint was planned
as post tensioned and
additional requirement for
central segment was fulfilled by
pre-tensioning the central

segment. (Refer Fig. 6). Cables

1 to 10 are post tensioned while
11 to 16 are pre-tensioned
strands.
The erection of the segments
was on the beam spanning
across the road and supported
on trestles at end of road.
Traffic was allowed ply
smoothly underneath. At
supports the beams of portal
piers were also planned to be
cast in similar manner. (Refer

Fig 6: Cross-section of longitudinal beam

showing pre-tensioned and post- tensioned
cable arrangement
Indian Highways, July 2016

Fig. 9)
The connection between
longitudinal beams and beam
of portal, through webs were
specially detailed. The
connection had to resist very
high shear resulting from large
longitudinal spans up to
45m.For effective shear
transfer
very
high
reinforcement would be
required. Further for portal
beams with spans up to 22m,

Fig 7: Layout showing the segments of the

main girders and in-situ joint locations

41

supporting such heavy loads

the pre-stressed girder is
obviously a preferred form. In
light of this the prestressed
girder was planned for portal
beam.
The limited depth necessitated
that cables of portal beam had
to pass through precast
segments of longitudinal
girders. (Refer Fig. 8).
This detailing also facilitated to
get sufficient prestress across
the junction of segments of
main girders and portal beam
to ensure effective shear
transfer in combination with
reinforcement from precast
segments projecting in the insitu beam of the portal pier.
(Refer fig. 9)
The deck slab was planned to
be cast over pre-cast RCC
planks in between the main
girders to simplify construction
activities over the busy road.
The shuttering for the cantilever
portion had to be done from
webs of the girder. The
shuttering for in-situ joints,
intermediate diaphragms and
beams of portalpiers were
supported
over
beams

Fig 8: Cable profile of portal

beam and ducts left in precast end segments of main
girders

42

spanning across the road.

A complete syzygy (synergy
in this case) between design
and construction at conceptual
stage itself enabled to
complete this complex flyover
in 12 calendarmonths.

6.
4.6
KM
LONG
RAILWAY BRIDGE AT
EDAPALLI, KOCHI
CHANGE OF NON-VIABLE
FORM
OF
SUPER
STRUCTURE AT START
OF EXECUTION:
RVNL was entrusted to
construct a 4.6 Km long railway
bridge to provide rail
connectivity to Kochi Container
Port terminal. The bridge was
across backwaters and islands
in between. The contracted
proposal was with spans, 16
20m spans; 97 40m spans
and 20 20m. The design was
furnished by the owner. All
spans were simply supported.
Trough girders were proposed
for 20m spans and single cell
box girders for 40m spans,to
carry single rail track. (Refer Fig
11.) All girders were in prestressed concrete, to be pre-

Fig 9: Showing staging for erection of pre-cast segments of

the girders and casting in-situ joints, end portal beams and
deck slab
Indian Highways, July 2016

cast in casting yard and

launched in position. The
construction had to be
sequential due to launching of
precast spans.
Alignment was with many
curves, sharp curves on either
ends. The curve at pre-casting
yard end was with radius of
346.25m. Contractor was
issued the detailed drawings of
all components for construction.
The required construction
sequence was to erect 20 nos.
20m span followed by 97 nos.

40m spans and lastly 16 nos.

of 20m spans at end. The precast 40m box girders had to
be transported over 20m
trough spans for erection.
The box girders as well as
trough girders were designed
for railway loading only. The
contractor then started with
checking safety of these for
transportation of precast,
prestressed concrete girders.
The following constraints
emerged:
Weight of box girder was

Fig 10: Showing arrangement of trestles and beam across

road enabling unrestricted traffic on at grade road

Fig 11: Showing erection of end segment of main girder. Ducts

for cables in beam of portal pier are also seen in the segment
Indian Highways, July 2016

600t. That of trough girder was

200t.
Precast, prestressed girders
had to be supported at
permanent supports only as no
prestressed girder can have
any intermediate support.
Maximum load on the trolley
at support would be 300t. Multi
axle, self-balancing trolley, to
distribute load evenly on each
of the axle was necessary. This
implied very long trolley.
The loading on girders during
transportation has to be limited
within the total design load,from
superimposed loads and IRS BG
load
with
dynamic
augmentation as allowed in
design. Same worked out as
15 t/m on deck slab i.e. 7.5 t
on each wheel.
The rails for trolley had to be
at positioned at permanent rail
location to ensure safety of the
slab.
With limited wheel load of
7.5t,the number of wheels
required for each trolley would
be 40. This would result in very
long trolley.
The arrangement of trolley
with such a high number of
wheels cannot negotiate the
sharp
curves
in
the
alignment.The 40m long box
girder was too wide to negotiate
the said curves in the
alignment, especially within
trough girders.
The inevitable final conclusion
was construction with 40m long
pre-cast, prestressed box
girder was not practical at this
site.
Any change in alignment as well
as pier locations was simply
ruled out at that stage. So was
any change in span as few
foundations were completed by

43

this time. Increasing number

of span by reducing span length
was highly uneconomical due
to very deep pile foundation on
account of stratum at the site.
Only option was to find a
workable structural form of
superstructure, without any
increase in overall depth of the
superstructure. The form also
required that the length of
trolley shall be less than 8.0 m,

so as to allow it to negotiate
the curves thereby restricting
the number of wheels and
weight to be carried on trolley.
This in turn dictated the weight
of pre-cast element. A slender
pre-cast element would
negotiate the curves within
trough girders. In light of the
foregoing the structural form
of pre-cast I girder with cast
in-situ deck slab emerged. One

girder below each of the rail

was obviously most suitable as
well as economic. (Refer Fig
13.) Accordingly the revised
superstructure design was
redesigned and was got
approved from the authorities.

Girder as per Modified

Proposal
The reaction on each of the
trolley was 100 t (maximum

Fig 11: Cross Section of Box Girder as per Tender Proposal

Fig 12: Showing the curved alignment and launching of trough girders

44

Indian Highways, July 2016

with trough girders) and trolley

had 16 wheels i.e. 8 on each
side. This trolley could negotiate
the curves very easily. (Refer
Fig. 14.)
The
planning
of
the
construction activities started
with pre-cast I girder solution.
The bridge is very long and was
to be completed in 30 calendar
months. It became obvious
that casting of deck slab and
launching of girders had to be
simultaneous activities. The
deck slab was in-situ and it was
not advisable to transport
girders on freshly cast
concrete. More acute problem
was finished level of track for
movement of trolley. For
casting of deck slab the track,
generally laid over top of precast girder has to be removed
and laid again after casting of
deck slab. This would have
resultedin a level difference
between track over deck slab
and track over girders.
Adjusting the track after
casting of each of the deck slab
would mean several and
frequent interruptions in
construction and long delays,
especially so if 97 spans are to
be completed in relatively short
time. The natural requirement
was to keep the track at one
level
throughout
the
construction. Since any recess
in deck was not possible the
track level over girders had to
be raised. A special supporting
arrangement with sleeve nuts
and threaded in supports for
rails was developed. Thus the
rails were maintained at one
level
throughout
the
construction. After removal of
rails the threaded supports
were removed and holes were
closed with expansive grout.
Indian Highways, July 2016

The construction started with

revised details. Suitable
launching girder was ordered
and erected. Few girders were
cast in the yard. First girder was
transported to rear end of the
launching girder and front end
was suspended from it. The
pre-cast girder was pushed and
rear trolley reached the front
trolley.
An
uncharted

construction problem emerged.

The lifting point of launching
girder was way short from rear
support of the girder. The detail
did not envisage the locked in
position trolley at front end.
The rear lifting point was about
8m away from lifting point of
launching girder. If lifted in this
condition pre-cast girder would
cantilever out for 8m. The pre-

Fig 13: Cross Section of Deck with I

Fig 14: Showing the trolley with assembly of eight wheels on

each rail. 20m precast trough girder is ready for
transportation

45

stress at top was inadequate

to cater for resulting tension in
girder.
A solution in form of applying
temporary prestress at top of
girder was found. The
arrangement was with a cross
member across top flange
housing an temporary steel
anchorage, suspended from
bracket resting on top of girder
at each end. Suspenders were
provided all along the length of
the girder to hold the
prestressing strands in position,
like a harness. Strands were
stressed from one end. Now
the girder could be lifted from
8m away from rear end and
pushed further over launching
girder. After it reached to
centre of the first trolley, girder
end was lowered on it. The
lifting trolley was brought at rear
end of the girder and it was
lifted from there for completing
the
launching.
Special
arrangement was made to hold
the temporary prestressing
arrangement on launching
girder as the process was
repetitive.

grade specified was M35. On

analysing it was realised that
the compressive stresses
governed the design. To control
the compressive stresses a
substantial
amount
of
reinforcement was added.
Contractor redesigned the piers
with concrete grade of M50,
without any change in
dimensions or location of the
pier. This resulted in substantial
reduction in reinforcement, to
almost half of the proposed.
Since the bridge was very long
with more than 100 piers, the

saving was quite significant.

8. A COMPLEX CONTEMPLATED
BRIDGE
ALONG SEA COAST
SOME OF THE OBSERVED
LACUNE IN PROPOSAL,
ARISING OUT OF CONSTRUCTION
METHOD
AND SEQUENCE:
8.1 PROPOSED STRUCTURE:
The bridge was few kilometres
long with many six span
continuous modules. It had two

7.
4.6
KM
LONG
RAILWAY BRIDGE AT
EDAPALLI, KOCHI
OPTIMIZATION
OF
PIERS:
RVNL had a very interesting
provision in the contract. The
contractor was allowed to
optimize any component with
revised design and detailing.
The resulting saving was to be
shared equally between RVNL
and the contractor.
This certainly was an good
incentive
to
optimize.
Contractor found the piers were
designed with very high
reinforcement. The concrete

46

Fig 15: Typical Details of Continuous Module; Span and Box

Section
Indian Highways, July 2016

independent carriageways,
each providing for four lanes
of traffic. A separate & identical
structure was proposed for
each of the carriageways.
(Refer Figs. 15&16.) Typical
continuous module had 6 50
m spans. Superstructure
consisted of single cell box
structure for all four lanes,
proposed with segmental
construction. Between pier top
and bottom of superstructure
a pier cap was provided in form
of two inclined plate members,
inclined in longitudinal direction
to control the span. (Refer Fig.
17.)This facilitated to create
gap for stressing the main
cables of box deck. Tie
members were provided in

longitudinal direction between

the inclined pier cap members.
Concrete blocks were proposed
as bearings over these
members
to
support
superstructure at intermediate
locations.Intermediate supports
were connected with super
structure by providing a single
7T13 prestressed cable,
anchored in diaphragm of
superstructure and looped in
pier cap. This connection was
expected to make the whole
module as frame with restraint
to piers in longitudinal direction.
Elastomeric / POT-PTFE sliding
bearings were contemplated at
one end and rigid connection
identical
to
those
at
intermediate supports at other

Fig. 16: Typical Section of the Bridge

Indian Highways, July 2016

end of continuous module with

expansion joints at the
locations.
A bracing with precast delta
frame was proposed between
super structures of parallel
carriageways to provide
transverse rigidity. (Refer Figs.
15 and 16) Foundation &
substructure comprised of a
1.85 m dia single pile and 2m
diameter pier, extended from
said pile at each of the
foundation and substructure
locations. (Refer Fig. 17).

8.2 CONSTRUCTION
METHOD AND SEQUENCE:
Construction of each of the
carriageways was considered
as an independent activity.
Piles, piers and pier caps were
proposed as cast in-situ. The
superstructure was with precast
segmental construction.
Segments were to be cast in
precasting yard and would be
brought on the trailers over
completed deck till end of
launched girder. An under slung
launching girder was proposed
to assemble the segments.
The launching girder was
proposed to be fixed to piers
with brackets. The launching
girder was to have longitudinal
on either sides of the pier.
A crawler crane, stationed on
already constructed span, was
proposed to lift the segment
and place it on launching girder.
After
assembling
the
segments,
longitudinal
prestress was applied to make
the box girder self-supporting.
Launching girder was then
moved to next span. U
shaped prestressing cables
through pier caps and
superstructure diaphragms

47

were to be threaded and

stressed
to
connect
superstructure to pier cap.
Sequence was repeated for
next span. When decking of
alongside carriageway was
ready, the precast delta frames
were to be erected and gap
between two spans cast.
Continuity cables were to be
stressed to complete the
modules progressively.

8.3 OVERVIEWOF THE

DETAILS BY CONCESSIONAIRE AND CHANGES
REQUIRED IN THE
PROPOSAL:

An overview of the proposal and

activities of appointing an
agency for construction were
started in parallel. The overview
revealed several omissions in
the detailed design. The
structure would have been
unsafe during construction as
well as in service. Many
aspects resulting from
requirements of construction
equipment,
construction
procedures and their effects on
detailing and design appeared
to be missed. This necessitated
many changes in the design,
detailing and sequencing of

construction activities. Many

issues emerged regarding
design
requirements,
compliance
with
code
provisions,
construction
specifications, construction
sequence, duration for
construction, bill of quantities
etc. The exercise was
incomplete as the project got
cancelled due to various
reasons during the overview.
Many major and minor issues
were identified. Only a few, out
of the various major problems,
mainly related to design and the
measures that had to be
introduced to mitigate the
same, are presented in the
paper.

8.4 SUPERSTRUCTURE:
8.4.1 Transportation of
Segments over Structure
and Erection from Deck:
a)
Transportation
over erected deck from
load considerations:

Fig. 17: Typical Details of Connection between Deck; Pier Cap

and Pier

48

The precast segments were

planned to cast in yard as
normal. Segments weighed
between 100t to 120t. These
were to be transported by
specially fabricated heavy
trailers. The overall weight was
significantly higher than
heaviest vehicle considered in
loading standard, 100t,
corresponding to 70-R loading.
The trailers were to supply the
segments to a crawler crane
stationed near forward edge of
the completed span. The span
enabled accommodating two
such trailers in parallel, at a
time. The resulting loads on
deck were from the crane for
erection, an empty trailer and
loaded trailer, The structural
system at that stagewas simply
supported girder, a totally
Indian Highways, July 2016

different from thefinal

systemas deck continuity was
not available at this juncture.
The specific checks for the
constructionloads with actual
support condition of deck were
missing. Necessary checks had
to be made with anticipated
loads and specific requirements
were identified. Restrictions
were added for movement of
loaded & unloaded trailers,
when both were on the same
span, namely loaded trailer to
be within webs at all the times
and empty trailer to move only
on cantilevers, when alongside.
On the span where crane was
to be stationed only one trailer
was to be allowed, either loaded
or empty.

b)
Transportation
over erected deck vis-avis sequence and time
considerations:
The construction sequence of
deck envisaged assembling &
stressing of segments over
launching girder. Casting of the
gap between span erected on
girder and prior completed span
was to follow, after erecting
delta frames in position and
stressing of continuity cables.
The erection of next span was
to continue after the gap was
bridged. The following
constraints / problems were
identified due to this.
The sequence required that
construction
of
both
carriageways had to be a
concurrent activity, though
method statement indicated
same as independent activity.
(This requirement emerged
from other considerations as
well as explained later.)
To complete the activity of gap
casting and stressing of
continuity cables, at least 6 to
Indian Highways, July 2016

7 days time was necessary.

Erection of segments of
forward span had to stop until
continuity cables were stressed.
This meant stoppage of 6 to 7
days per gap between erection
of successive spans of the
continuous module, 35 to 40
days for a typical module. This
added several months in total
completion time of 36 months,
making entire schedule go
haywire.
Concurrent construction with
equal pace for each of the
carriageways was made
mandatory to mitigate the first
problem. For second problem,
construction sequence had to
be changed. Temporary
arrangements to bridge the
gaps between successive
spans were proposed for
transporting the segments
across the gaps. After
completion of all the spans in
typical module, the erection of
delta frames and casting of
gap concreting was to be
simultaneously contemplated at
all gap locations.Planning of
construction activities had to be
modified
accordingly.
Simultaneous stressing of
continuity cables was also
proposed. Thus the activity of
establishing continuity for
module was planned in 15 days
time as against 35 to 40 days
otherwise. This saved 3 to 3.5
weeks time in construction of
typical module.

c) Crane over deck for

erection of segments:
A crawler crane over deck for
handling of segments, from
trailer to launching girder was
envisaged. The same was
included in the methodology to
be adopted by the prospective
contractor.

The weight of each of the

segment was between 100t to
120t. Since the width of the
segment was 15.5m (Refer
Figs. 15) it had to be carried
on trailers along the length of
the trailer. This necessitated the
pickup point to be about 10m
away, even after considering
tractor unit of the trailer
removed from front end.
Rotation of the segment in lifted
position, to place it in correct
orientation over launching girder
was necessary. This required
significant boom length and
height.
It was obvious that movement
of crawler crane over
completed deck was ruled out,
irrespective of its capacity. Only
wheeled crane could be allowed
on deck. For the resulting
parameters the crane of
required capacity was identified
and not surprisingly it turned
out to be 450t! The lifted
segment was to be turned
through a semi-circle to place
it over launching girder, causing
very high reactions on the
outrigger supports. Deck slab
was not designed for this. It
was foregone conclusion that
use of any crane over the deck
was impossible.
Forsegment erection a suitable
goliath arrangement had to be
devised. A suitable attachment
for rotating the segment for
orientation had to be part of
the goliath. For travel of goliath
rails
were
necessary.
Positioning of rails had to
restricted within &very near to
webs due to heavy loads
involved. The rotation of
segment for placing it in
required position on launching
girder was possible only when
the segment was held over the
launching girder itself,

49

cantilevering from goliath. The

cantilever projection was
significant due to large deck
width. Tentative support
locations for various activities
were determined to strengthen
the deck at those locations.
Required load and location
specifications (for compressive
and tensile reactions) were
added
in
construction
specifications for information of
the contractors. An activity of
laying and removing rails over
each of the completed span
and cost thereof had to be
added in planning and overall
schedule.

8.4.2 Supporting Segments over Launching

Girder:
a) Segment spanning
across supports on
launching girder:
The box girder segments were
with large cantilevers on either
side. (Refer Fig. 15.) The
segments were proposed to be
placed on under slung launching
girder with supports below the
cantilevers. These supports
obviously made the segment
span across as simply
supported element. The
bottom side of cantilever was
then the tension side of the
element. The detailing of the
reinforcement was done
conventionally, for dead loads
and roadway loads as for final
service condition only i.e. loads
from top of cantilever only. The
resulting tension at bottom,
especially from large weight of
box, was not at all catered for.
The bottom reinforcement of
the cantilevers, when checked
for resulting effects was totally
unsafe. It had to be increased
to make the same safe.

50

b)
Loss of support for individual carriageway had to be
segments placed over adjusted as well as those of
various connectors. Small
launching girder:
The support of a segment on
launching girder was envisaged
with four jacks near outer
edges of the segment, below
cantilevers. It is quite well
known fact that in this condition
one support becoming free is
an unavoidable situation, due
to construction inaccuracies,
deformation of launching girder
due to load etc. The segment
was liable to be supported only
on three supports, resulting in
warping stresses in the
cantilever
slab.
The
reinforcement in deck slab was
checked and found to be
inadequate for three support
condition. Possible measures
were to provide only three
supports or design for resulting
warping effects.
The details were modified for
the optionof the loss of one
support,
out
of
four
contemplated with increased
transverse as well as
longitudinal reinforcements.

8.4.3 Construction of
adjacent carriageways:
Initially the carriageways were
proposed with edges of the precast segment practically
touching
each
other.
Contractors expressed serious
apprehensions
about
construction without any
tolerance i.e. gap between
decks. As apprehended, even
with match casting and
sufficient care some clear gap
was considered absolutely
essential. Agreed value was
200mm.
A gap between box segments
of the adjacent carriageways
was introduced. Alignment of

changes in details of delta

frame also were necessary. Lot
of rework on alignment details
was necessary.

8.4.4 Applying Prestress

for Continuity:
Normally while applying
prestress, at least one end of
the span is with free support.
In this particular case the spans
were supported on concrete
blocks. After the dead load of
the girder is transferred to the
said blocks, any movement of
deck would have generated
friction at each support, to the
tune of 25% of the load as it
is due to concrete over
concrete. In this scenario the
applied prestress had to
overcome this resistance and
only the residual stress will be
imparted to the structure
beyond. At any joint the effect
of prestress was likely to get
reduced by the amount equal
to friction.
This aspect was identified but
was not deliberated further as
project got cancelled by that
time. The severity of the
apprehension would be
significant, if found to be true.

8.5
SUBSTRUCTURE
AND FOUNDATION:
8.5.1 Site conditions and
details:
The foundation was in form of
single pile, 1.85m dia with a
2.0m diameter pier extending
from it almost from rock level.
(Refer Fig.16) The pile portion
was really the socket in the
rock. The pier height in the
bed varied from 0.30m to
2.5m. The pier extended in
permanent water depth of
Indian Highways, July 2016

about 4.0m to 5.3m; in tidal

variation zone of height of
5.8m and above the tidal zone
for heights of 12.7m to 23.2m.

8.5.2
Construction
procedure:
The envisaged construction
was to drive 15mm thick, 2.0m
ID casing from a level of 0.5m
above HTL, till rock and then
drill within it for installing 1.85m
pile for required socket length.
In most of the stretch the bed
was almost exposed rock.
Casting of 2.0 m diameter pier
above HTL wasthen
to
continue till bottom level of pier
cap.

8.5.3 Problems identified

and mitigation:
a) Casing specifications:
15mm thick M S casing was
specified as pile liner. The
specification was found to be
impractical in Indian scenario,
as the required thickness is not
locally manufactured. Though
the same could be imported, it
was not warranted as
alternative was available
indigenously.
The thickness of liner had to
be changed to 16mm, locally
available size and add for the
coal tar epoxy paint with zinc
rich primer coat, both from
durability
and
cost
considerations.

c)
Tolerances
Construction:

for

The casing was to be seated

in bed with no overburden for
practical purposes. The rock
bed will never be flat to get a
uniform seating. In light of this
it was absolutely necessary to
specify the tolerances for
construction. This required
specifications were missing.
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Available specifications in IRC

78, foundation code, 75mm
shift and 1 in 150 tilt were
adopted and specified in
absence of any other
reference.

d)
Implications
of
Imperfect Positioning:
The single pile / pier
necessitated to allow for
effects
resulting
from
construction tolerances in
design and detailing. Another
aspect was up to what level
the imperfections shall be
carried out beyond HFL.
The pile and pier had to be
redesignedfor the effects of
the specified tolerances and
details
were
modified
accordingly. Since use of casing
was unavoidable, correcting the
alignment was contemplated
from top of casing. It was
assumed that at top the effect
will be due to shift only and tilt
will be for lower portion only.
Specifications were modified for
any inaccuracies beyond
specifications by making it
responsibility of the contractor
to provide solution for the same
without any extra cost. By
adjusting the verticality of the
pier above the casing, a kink
near HTL and some visual
imperfection in verticality was
apprehended. Opinions about
the visual impact differed
between concerned entities.
The matter was not taken to
its logical conclusion as project
was abandoned at that
juncture.
The situation should be
unacceptable as visual impact
cannot be avoided. Verticality
above LTL is a necessity and
would complicate construction.
Further for such a project, with
very large number of elements

it is quite likely that for few

locations the specified
tolerances
exceeding
significantly cannot be ruled
out. It would be really difficult
to mitigate the situation. Since
the construction was on design
provided by owner (through
appointed consultant) it
waslogical that consultant
wouldbe right entity to provide
the solution. It would be
prudent to consider it and keep
some solution handy at
concept stage itself. As for the
cost implications, including those
of additional efforts by the
consultant, same couldbe
recovered from contractor.
Suitable specification in contract
document should be added.

e) Likely Effects on
Superstructure Construction:
Even after adjusting the pier
at HTL level some problems
were
likely
to
affect
superstructure construction.
The pier from HTL till pier cap
was varying from 12000mm to
22000mm. This large height will
induce imperfections in location
of top, even with the allowable
tolerances for construction.
These can lead to either
increase or decrease of span
length, increase or decrease
the distance between two
carriageways;
further
complicating the situation by
numerous combinations with
four piers of adjacent spans of
two carriage ways.
Major problems apprehended
were; inadequate space over
pier cap for adjusting the
concrete bearing blocks for
bearings, reduction in clear gap
over pier that may lead to
inadequate space for stressing
in one go, mismatch of ducts

51

52

Indian Highways, July 2016

of the continuity cables and

most
important
was
misalignment of adjacent decks
of two carriageways in
longitudinal direction. The last
one would not enable fixing the
delta frames and aligning
prestressing cables in delta
frames, which were essential
for stability and safety of
structure to provide transverse
rigidity due to very tight
dimensional fit proposed.
These apprehensions were
realized but not deliberated in
detail as project got
abandoned but would have
been vital for hassle free
construction.
Mitigation
measure was to relook the
arrangement over piers and
revise to account for
necessary
tolerances.
Specifying the same, explicitly
in construction specification also
would be necessary.
Apart from the foregoing
effects, problems were likely
for connection of the under
slung launching girder with pier,
both in longitudinal and
transverse directions. It would
be essential to ensure flexibility,
at least to account for the
allowable tolerances.

8.5.5
Stability and
Safety during Construction and Service:
a)
Stability of the
pier / pile in transverse
direction during construction:
Initially the construction of each
of the carriageways was an
independent activity. Thus
during construction the pile /
pier would be a free standing
element until delta frame was
installed
between
two
superstructures. Even after
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some agreed changes, the pier

/ pile remained free standing
till typical continuous modules
for both the carriageways were
connected by delta frames.
The design was rechecked and
the pier was found to be
slender, hencewas not safe
during construction till delta
frames were installed.
This was an additional reason
to modify the construction
sequence as a concurrent
activity for both carriageways.
The temporary bracings
between pairs of piers were
proposed to hold them
together till delta frames were
installed. (Refer Fig. 18.)
Since the installation of delta
frames providing transverse
rigidity to piers was possible
only after all spans of a typical
continuous module were
erected, as explained earlier,
providing bracing for each of
seven pairs of the piers in
typical module was necessary.
Bracing location had to be
decided so as not to obstruct
the under slung launching
girder.
This created an additional time
consuming activity. In order to
enable
uninterrupted
construction in time bound
manner, the number of
bracings was determined as 19.
This enabled rotation of
bracings from completed
module to the subsequent
module. A dedicated crane to
remove and install the bracings
had to be added.

b) Stability of the pier /

pile in longitudinal
direction during construction:
In longitudinal direction the pile
/ pier at forward end of typical

span was a free standing

structure but connected by
launching girder. Question was
if this connection would provide
sufficient restraint. In absence
of any details of the connection
it was difficult to estimate.
The solution proposed was to
specify
the
stiffness
requirement of pile / pier and
make the execution agency to
ensure connection to provide
the required stiffness in their
detailing, to be verified by the
designer.This was expected to
result
in
complicated
connections for launching
girder. An additional day had to
be allowed in cycle time for
movement and positioning of
the launching girder.

c) For pier / pile in both

directions during service
at intermediate locations:
A logical extension of the
requirements of the stability
measures during construction
phase; was to check if sufficient
stiffness / restraint would be
available during the service as
well.
The pier / pile were considered
as fully fixed at both ends in
both
longitudinal
and
transverse directions for design
purpose. Some serious
apprehensions wereexpressed
about this assumption,
especially so in longitudinal
direction due to contemplated
connections between deck and
pier cap and between pier and
pier cap as well. The proposed
connection between deck and
pier cap was with one U shaped
7 T 13 prestressing cable only.
The connection between pier
cap and pier was through a key
from pier and between the key
and inclined plates of the pier

53

cap. All the connections were

through very thin members
and appeared towards a hinged
connection, rather than a fixed
connection.
It was decided to wait for
observation of the proof
checking agency. If proof
checking agency would not
comment on the matter, thenit
was decided to raise this aspect
specifically and get their
confirmation. The issue
remained unanswered as
project was abandoned.

d)
For pier / pile in
both directions during
service at expansion
joint locations:
At expansion joint locations
delta frame exists as in case
of intermediate locations for
providing rigidity in transverse
direction. However the deck
was supported on movable
bearings that are free in
longitudinal direction on one side
of pier. On other side

connection was identical to one

at intermediate location. The
longitudinal restraint as claimed
to be available at intermediate
locations is simply not available
or was available only partially.
This also remained unresolved
as project was abounded.

8.5.6 Allowable stresses

in pile / pier:
a)
Basic permissible
stresses:
The applicable code for the
design was IRC 21, i.e. design
was to be based on working
stress method. For design the
pile / pier was assumed as fully
fixed at both ends and
directions. Accordingly the
effective length of 0.7 times
the actual length was
considered. With this effective
length the pile / pier was found
to be short column. Further the
design considered enhanced
permissible stresses in column
by multiplying the permissible
stresses by the factor b as per

clause 306.4.3 of IRC:21, even

though the code is explicit about
the same to be applicable for
long columns only. For short
column the formula would
render negative result and
therefore increased permissible
stresses.
The code explicitly does not
allow any increase in
permissible stresses in case of
short or pedestal column
beyond the specified limiting
value of 0.33 fck. The clause
contemplating
modified
permissible stress explicitly
pertains to long columns
provides for a reduction factor
only, and not a factor to
enhance permissible stresses in
short columns.
This was a gross and rampant
violation of code provision.The
design had to be modified with
enhanced concrete grade and
reinforcement quantity.

b)
Progressive
development of stresses:

Fig. 18: Temporary Bracing between Piers

54

Indian Highways, July 2016

Pier caps were proposed with

two inclined plates, one below
each of the supports of the box
deck, connected through tie
beams in longitudinal direction.
In final completed stage each
of the plates were subjected
to equal reactions from dead
loads. The live load and
external horizontal loads only
imparted unequal loads through
continuous structure. The
resulting configuration was sum
of significantly symmetrical load
plus a comparatively small
unbalanced load, therefore a
reasonably small bending
moment only on plate member.
The plate of pier cap was
designed as if all these loads
existed at all times. So was the
case for pile / pier.
Unfortunately this was not the
actual situation. After assembly
of segment of each of the span
and rendering it self-supporting,
reaction was only on the plate
on span side of pier. Plate on
other side had no load at all. It
was in free cantilever condition
and therefore contributed to a
very small extent; to the
extent the deformation of
loaded plate induced the force
through the tie. The
deformation of the loaded plate
was irreversible. Therefore the
resulted stresses were
permanent and had to be
allowed in design accordingly.
This was applicable to all plates
of the caps on span side. The
eccentricity of the loads with
respect to pier centre as well
inclination of the element
induced significantly large
bending moments in each of
the loaded plates as well as pier
/ pile. The situation would be
more critical with concomitant
wind and seismic forces. The

Indian Highways, July 2016

pier / pile were not checked for

the same.
Check for various loads
resulting during construction
process was insisted upon. The
plate on span side was found
to be under designed. Design
with progressive addition of
load as per construction
sequence was done. The
reinforcement in plate on span
side had to be increased to
cater for progressive addition
of load. A small increase in
reinforcement of pier / plate
was also required.

9. CONCLUSIONS:

To anticipate probable
construction methods at
conceptual
stage,
commensurate with available
resources and deciding on one
of the feasible options is an
essential requirement for any
proposal.
Construction sequence has
specific implications on forces
induced in structure, even for
simple structures.
The changes in support
conditions as construction
progresses have significant
effect on the build-up of the
stresses in structure.
The progressive stress build
up is an important aspect.
Stresses are irreversible many
a times and therefore would be
additive.The induced effects
have to be properly allowed for
in the design and detailing.
Even for ultimate condition or
design with limit state approach
this has to be properly
accounted for.
Study of detailed step by step
activities involved is an essential
requirement. This may result
in significant cost and time

optimization at concept stage

itself.
Missed step or incomplete
visualization may lead to
avoidable complications.
Sometimes itmay not be easily
possible to mitigate and would
lead to serious issues in terms
of changes in detailing,
construction sequence /
equipment deployed, time &
cost overrun and contractual
implications.
A properly analysed and
detailed construction method,
befitting within available
resourcesat concept / design
stage itself will necessarily lead
to an efficient and time bound
execution within budgeted
costs and without any
unwanted surprises during
execution.
For simple structural
configurations effects are
normally
of
lesser
consequences
but
as
configuration tends to be
complex the severity of the
effects would normally increase
in geometric proportion.

10.ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:
Author acknowledges with
sincere thanks the help of Mr.
S N Todankar of M/S STUP
Consultants Pvt Ltd. for
providing back up data for
Varachha & Sion flyovers and
Vikramshila Setu and Mr. V G
Abhyankar of M/S AFCONS
Infrastructure Ltd., for RVNL
Bridge at Kochi. Author also
acknowledges the help of Mr.
KishorKuwade for preparing the
figures for last example.

***

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