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At one time, bridges on curved alignments were rare; however, modern highway bridges and
traf¿c separation structures are commonly built on a horizontal curve. This change has come
about because of higher traf ¿c volumes and speeds, the geometric constraints of the urban
environment, and improved structural forms that lend themselves to curved construction.

The concrete box-girder, particularly post -tensioned prestressed concrete that can span
large distances, is one such structural f orm. The cross section of these structures is
inherently strong in torsion. This is important because curvature induces high torsion forces.
Also, because concrete can be easily molded into the required shape, it is ideal for curved
construction. For these reasons, prestressed concrete box -girders have become the
structure type of choice in many jurisdictions. A common application of curved structures is
in freeway interchanges where connector ramps or ³ Ày-overs´ carry traf¿c from one freeway
to another at relatively high speed. Cross sections of curved box -girders may consist of
single-cell, multi-cell or spread box beams as shown in Figure 1 -1. Because only a very few
spread box beam bridges use curved beams, only the ¿rst two types were considered in this
study.

It has become common practice to analyze and design these structures as if they were
straight. Live load distribution is often addressed using the whole -width design approach.
Local problems, such as the lateral forces induced by curved prestressin g ducts, are often
handled using speci ¿c design rules and details that have been developed over the years.
For the most part, this design approach has been used successfully, but some recent cases
of poor bridge performance have made it clear that this app roach has its limitations.

Because it is likely that (1) the use of curved structures is going to increase and (2) the
geometries of some of these structures will continue to push the limits with respect to the
degree of curvature, span lengths and depths, the amount of required prestressing force,
and so forth, better guidelines are required for their design. Such guidelines are the purpose
of this project.

A signi¿cant body of research and development exists relative to the design and analysis of
curved prestressed concrete box-girder bridges. Some of this information has found its way
into design speci¿cations, but much of it has not. There is a need to collect and analyze this
information in order to evaluate its merit for nationwide design rules. Althou gh much of this
work has been conducted domestically, a significant body of work has been conducted by
other countries and this work also needs to be considered.

Although most issues relative to design of curved concrete box -girders have been studied to
some degree, gaps in our understanding need to be ¿lled. With modern computer programs
and analytical models calibrated to existing physical and experimental results, most of this
can be done through analytical studies. Additional physical testing of existin g structures or
laboratory experimentation, although important in and of themselves, are beyond the scope
of this project and are not necessary to accomplish this project¶s intended goals.

This report presents the results of a review of the literature and the state of practice with
respect to curved concrete box -girder bridges. In addition, detailed results from both global
and local response analysis studies are presented. Final recommendations are presented in
the ¿nal chapter and are implemented in the f orm of recommended changes to the AASHTO
LRFD Bridge Design Speci¿cations and Commentary and in analysis guidelines for these
types of bridges. Example problems are also presented that illustrate the application of these
recommendations.