M. Tech. (CASAD) Sem.

I
3CL1103 - Structural Design - I

R. C. C. Bridge Design

INTRODUCTION

A bridge is a structure, built to span a valley,

road, railroad track, river, body of water, or
any other physical obstacle.
The first RCC bridge was built in 1871 in
england with 15m span.
Designs of bridges will vary depending on the
function of the bridge and the nature of the
terrain where the bridge is to be constructed.

USUAL TYPES OF R.C.C

BRIDGES

Slab Bridge
Girder and Slab(T-Beam)Bridge
Hollow Girder Bridge
Balanced Cantilever Bridge
Rigid Frame Bridge
Arch Bridge
Bow string girder Bridges
NEXT

(a) Solid slab main

span with cantilever

(b) Hollow box girder anchor span with cantilever

COMPONENTS OF BRIDGES
I.
II.
III.

Superstructure
Substructure and
Foundations

Superstructure consisting of Parapet, Deck slab,

supporting girders and trusses etc.
Substructure consisting of Bearing, piers, abutments,
River training works etc.
Foundation consisting of supporting pier and abutment

COMPONENT OF BRIDGES

No.

According to

Types

Function of the bridge

Aqueduct, viaduct,
pedestrian, highway,
railway, Road cum rail,
Pipeline

Material of construction

Timber, Masonry, Steel, RC,

Prestressed Concrete,
composite

Type of superstructure

Slab, Truss, Beam, Arch,

Cable stayed or Suspension

Inter - span Relation

Simple, cantilever,
continuous

Position of Bridge Floor

Through, Deck, Half through

Connection

Pin connected, Riveted or

welded

Clearance for navigation

High level, Movable Bascule or

swing

Length of bridge

Culvert (Total length <6m)

Minor Bridge (6 to 60 m)
Major Bridge (> 60 m)

Degree of Redundancy

Determinate or Indeterminate

10

Duration of Service

Permanent, Temporary, Military

Bridge

IRC 5 1998 : Standard Specifications and

Code of Practice For Road Bridges
Section 1 : General Features of Design
1. Definitions : bridge, culvert, foot bridge, HFL, Submersible
bridge, channel, clearance, freeboard, length of bridge,
waterway, LWL, Load bearing and non load bearing waterway.
2. Collections of data:
a) General data including maps, plans and topographical
features
b) Selection of bridge site from alternative sites
c) Hydraulic data of selected site
d) Geological and seismological data
e) Subsurface data including soil investigation
f) Environmental data including temperature, wind, rain,
chemicals etc.

3. Determination of design discharge

the design discharge for which the waterway of the bridge
is to be designed,shall be based on max flood
discharge 50years return cycle.
4. Determination of linear waterway and effective waterway.
effective waterway is the total width of waterway
of the bridge at the HFL minus the total width of obstruction.
it should be adequate to pass the full discharge at
design velocity.
5. Spacing and location of pier and abutment
it shall be so located as to make the best use of
the foundation condition available and to satisfy special

6. Vertical clearances
it is the height from the design HFL with afflux of
the channel to the lowest point of the bridge super
structure.
7. Restricted waterway
it should be determind , giving careful consideration to
the resulting effects like erosion of channel etc..
8. Obstruction and River training
obstruction in the channel bed likely to divert the current
and cause disturbed flow thereby endanger the safety of
the bridge shall be removed.
9. Determination of depth of scour
max depth of scour to be taken for the designing
foundation

for pier and abutments.

10. Kerb
11. Width of carriageway, footpath and median
width of carriageway depends on single or multiple lane
bridge,footpath shall not be less than 1.5m,median,or
central verge is constructed in wide bridge to provide two
separate carriageways.
12. Super elevation
It shall be provided on the deck of bridge on a horizontal
curve,due allowance shall be made for the effect of
superelevation on the stresses in the various members of
the bridges.

13. Utilities
14. Railing parapet or guide post
15. Drainage of carriage way and surface finishes
the high level bridges may preferably be built in longitudinal
gradient with suitably designed cross drains at abutment
location to facilitate proper drainage
16. Access for inspection and maintenance
17. Road signs and signals
18. Clearances
The min horizontal shall be the clear width and the min
vertical clearance is the height available for the passage
of traffic , it is given for the single and multilane bridge.

19. Approaches to bridges

the approaches on either side of a straight bridges
shall have a minimum straight length of 15 m and
min surface width of these approaches shall be
equal to the carriageway width on the bridges.
20. Bearings and expansion joints
bearing for the bridges shall be designed for all
movement and rotation and conform to the
IRC : 83 Parts 1 and 2.

provision of

21. Bridge foundations

it should be at such depth that they are safe
against scour and large impacts and to secure firm
foundation from consideration of bearing capacity,
It should be design as per provision of IRC : 78.
22. Illumination of bridge deck
23. Bridge aesthetics

IRC 6 : 2000 Standard specification and

code of practice for road bridges
Section 2 : Loads and stresses

Dead load
Live load
Impact load
Wind load
Miscellaneous loads due to braking of vehicle,
temprature change, earthquake and other causes.

CARRIAGEWAY WIDTH

37.5

37.5
62.5

0.300

0.300

0.300

kN

62.5
0.700

0.300

0.300

0.300

Minimum
value of C

Single lane
bridges

1.000

Direction
of motion

1.050

1.200

CARRIAGEWAY
WIDTH

PLAN

IRC Class AA wheeled vehicles

3.8 m and above

0.3 m

Multi lane Bridges

Less than 5.5 m

0.6 m

5.5 m or above

1.2 m

IRC CLASS A AND CLASS B LOADING

4.570 m

350 kN

0.840 m

2.900 m

350 kN

IRC CLASS 70 R TRACKED VEHICLE

0.840 m

IRC CLASS 70 R WHEELED VEHICLE LOADING

Live load combination

Carriage way width

Less than 5.3 m

5.3m and above but
less than 9.6m

9.6m above but less

than 13.1m

Number of Lanes for

Load combination
design purposes
1

One lane of class A

considered to
occupy 2.3m

One lane of class

70R or two lanes of
class A

One lane of class

70R with one lane of
class A OR
3 lanes of class A

Live load combination..

13.1 m above
but less than
16.6m
16.6 m and
above but less
than 20.1m

20.1 m and
above but less
than 23.6 m

One lane of class

70R for every
two lanes with
one lane of class
A for the
remaining lanes ,
if any, or one
lane of class A
for each lane

REDUCTION IN THE LONGITUDINAL

EFFECT ON BRIDGES ACCOMODATING
MORE THAN TWO TRAFFIC LANES
Number of lanes

Reduction in longitudinal
effect

For two lanes

No reduction

For three lanes

10 % reduction

For four lanes

20 % reduction

For five or more lanes

20 % reduction

IRC 6 ALSO RECOMMEND ..

Loadings for footway, Railing, Parapet and Crash

barriers.
Tramway loading
Impact loading which depending upon the span
and class of loading

IMPACT LOADING
The impact factor considered for different classes
of IRC loadings are as follows :
(1) For IRC Class A and B loading: The impact
allowance is expressed as fraction of the applied
live load and is computed by expression
(for span between 3 to 45m)
I = A / (B+L)
Where
I = Impact factor fraction
A= Constant having value of 4.5 for RCC bridges
and 9.0 for steel bridges
B= Constant having a value 6 for RCC bridges
and 13.5 for steel bridges
L= Span in meters

For spans less than 3 meters the impact factor is

0.5 for RCC bridges and 0.545 for steel bridges.
When the span exceeds 45 meters, the impact
factor is taken as 0.154 for steel bridges and
0.888 for RCC bridges.

Impact factor for class A and class B loading can

be obtained from graph as shown.

(2) For IRC class AA or 70 R loading:

1.For spans less than 9 meters
a) For tracked vehicle 25% for spans up to 5m
linearly reduced to 10% for span of 9m
b) For wheeled vehicle 25%
2.For spans of 9m and more
c) For tracked vehicle For RC bridges, 10% up to
span of 40m and in accordance with fig. for spans
exceeding 40 m. For steel bridges, 10% for all
spans
d) For wheeled vehicle- For RC bridges, 25% for
spans up to 12m and in accordance with fig. for
spans exceeding 12m. For steel bridges, 25% for
spans up to 23m and as per fig. for spans
exceeding 23m.

IRC 21:2000 Standard specifications and

code of practice for Road bridges
section 3 Cement concrete (Plain and RC)
This code deals with the structural use of plain
cement concrete and reinforced concrete in road
bridges
Contents :
1. Terminology
2. Materials
cement,aggregate,admixture,reinforcement,
concretegrade,requirement for design mixes,
batching etc..
3. Basic permissible stresses in concrete and steel

4. General design requirements

-basis of design,
-Reinforcement detailing
-mini clear cover to any bar=40mm,
-min stirrups and ,
secondary reinforcement dia=8mm,
-max bar size=40mm,
-mini dia of longitudinal bars in
column=12mm
-bond,Anchorage, Splice, Shear,
-Moment of Inertia of cross section.

5. Beams and slabs Dimensions, Effective span, Effective

depthNo portion of haunch
Below a plane which
makes a slope of 1:3
shall be considered in adding
to effective depth.
Compression reinforcement,
curtailment of bars,
live load distribution,
T beam and L beam-used
for additional compression area
Effect of live load on slab,
Placement of load ,and
Minimum reinforcement.

6. Column and compression members

Classification- pedestal column l/r min <12
short column
l/r min =12-50
long column
l/r min >50
Effective length- depend on restrained condition.
Longitudinal and transverse reinforcement,
Permissible axial load and Design of section under
action of combined axial and bending.
7. Footing
allowable bearing pressure cc = co (A1/A2) 0.5
co = per compressive stress in concrete at base
A1 = dispersed concentric area
A2 = loaded area
(A1/A2) >2
mini projection of footing beyond the face of
bearing or column = 150mm.

8. Balanced cantilever and continuous construction

9. Box girder
the mini thickness of bottom flange is greater of
200mm or one twentieth of clear span between
main girder.
mini reinforcement of 0.5% of flange section S 240
0.35% of flange section - S415
10. workmanship

DESIGN APPROACH

The working stress method is currently use for

the design of bridges, because of its simplicity
and satisfactory serviceability performance.
In WSD, the factor of safety is related to stress
and does not give a realistic assessment of load
carrying capacity of structure.
The ULM enables to computations of load carrying
capacity and the method is generally leads to
slender sections. Also ULM does not guarantee
satisfactory serviceability performance in relation
to deflection and crack width.

Design of section

As per working stress method.

mcb

jd

nd
A

Ast
T

n x d = mcb

xd

mcb x st

jxd=

d (n x d /3) = (1 n ) x d
3

n x d = depth of Neutral Axis

j x d = Lever arm
Modular ratio = Es =10 (for all grades)
Ec

Moment of resstance
M.R. = cb x b x nd x jd
2
= cb x n x j x bd2
2

cb = permissible bending stress in concrete.

n = constant for neutral axis
j = constant for lever arm

Slab bridge

i.
ii.
iii.

It is the simplest type of construction

Used for small bridges and culverts
for span < 8m
Three methods are available for analysis of slab
subjected to concentrated load
Effective width method
Pigeauds coefficient method
Westergaards method

Effective width method

i.
ii.

it is applicable to one way slab supported on two

opposite edges.
This method is based on observation that ,it is
not only the strip of slab immediately below the
load that participates in taking the load but also a
certain width of slab, known as effective width of
dispersion.
IRC 21 recommends formula for calculating
effective width of two type of slab.
Simply supported slab
Cantilever slab

DESIGN OF RC SLAB
CULVERT

RC solid deck slab is economical up to 8 m span

and it can be used up to 10 m span
Advantages : Easy formwork, Easy reinforcement
placement and concreting
Loading : Class AA / Class 70 R Tracked and
wheeled vehicle, class A wheeled vehicle.

CRITICAL LOAD CASES

For bending moment : Class AA wheeled vehicle
up to span of 4m and Class AA Tracked vehicle
span exceeding 4m.
2. For shear force : Class AA wheeled vehicle spans
up to 6m and Class AA Tracked vehicle beyond
6m for single lane bridges.
1.

Wearing Coat : 56mm asphaltic concrete

75mm cement concrete
Dead load due to wearing coat 2kN/m2

ANALYSIS OF SLAB SPANNING

IN ONE DIRECTION

For slab spanning in one direction, dead load

bending moment computed assuming the slab to
be simply supported between the supports.
Bridge deck have to be designed for IRC loads,
specified as class AA or A depending on the
importance of the bridge.
For slabs supported on two opposite sides, the
maximum bending moment caused by a wheel
load may be assumed to be resisted by effective
width of slab measured parallel to the supporting
edges

IRC 21:1987 gives equation for solid slab spanning in one

direction , as below

a
1

b1
b eff=
lo

Where,
b eff = width of the slab over which the load is effective
lo= effective span of the simply supported slab
(clear span in case of continuous slabs)
a = distance of the centre of gravity of the concentrated
load from the nearest support
= a constant having values depending on B/l values
b1 = width of the dispersion =
= breadth of contact area + 2 x thickness of contact area

ANALYSIS OF TWO WAY SLAB

SUBJECTED TO CONCENTRATED
LOAD

Pigeauds coefficient method

it is used for two way slab which are supported on

all four edges.
Slab panel is subjected to symmetrically placed
concentrated load over some well defined area.
Short span and long span moment coefficients are
read from curves developed by M. Pigeaud.
These theory is based on elastic flexural theory
Poissons ratio is taken for concrete is 0.15

Along long span

V = l + 2t
Along short span
U = b + 2t

The Bending moments are computed as,

M1 = (m1 + m2) W
M2 = (m2 + m1) W
m1 & m2 = Coefficient for moments along the short and long
spans ,m1 and m2 depend upon the parameters
U/B, V/L and K
L= Long span length.
B=Short span length
U, V = Dimensions of the load spread after allowing for,
dispersion through the deck slab
K = Ratio of short to long span= (B/L)
M1 = Moment in the short span direction
M2 = Moment in the long span direction
= Poisson's ratio for concrete generally assumed as 0.15
W = Load from the wheel under consideration

Pigeauds curve for k = 0.5

Limitation of Pigeauds curve

Load is placed centre but in actual practice load

may be eccentrically and more than 1 number of
wheel load in one panel.
For the smaller value of V/L , m1 and m2 from
the graph will be less accurate.
Method is most useful when K is more than 0.55.

Beam and slab Bridge

A beam or "girder" bridge is the simplest and

most inexpensive kind of bridge constructed for
10-20m span.
Slab and girder bridges are used when the
economical span limit of solid slab bridges is
exceeded.
The bridge deck essentially consist of a concrete
slab monolithically cast over longitudinal girder so
that the T beam effect prevails.
To impart transverse stiffness to the deck ,cross
girder or diaphragms are provided at intervals.

For T beam slab bridge three types of

superstructure is possible.
1. Girder and slab type
2. Girder, slab and diaphragm type
3. Girder, slab and cross beam type

2 . GIRDER SLAB AND DIAPHRAGM

TYPE

In this structure slab is supported on and cast

monolithically with the longitudinal girders
Diaphragms connecting the longitudinal girders
are provided at the support locations and at one
or more intermediate locations within the span
Diaphragms do not extend up to the slab and
hence the deck slab behave as one way slab
spanning between the two longitudinal girders.
This type of superstructure possess good
torsional rigidity than the other slab and girder
type.

3 . GIRDER SLAB AND CROSS BEAM TYPE

In this type of structure, system has at least three

cross beams and cast monolithically with the deck
slab.
The panels of slab are supported along the four edges
of longitudinal girders and cross beams
Floor slab is designed as two way slab
The provisions of cross beams stiffens the structure to
a considerable extent which results in better
distribution of concentrated loads among the
longitudinal girders.
With two way slab and cross beams, spacing of
longitudinal girder can be increased, resulting in less
number of girders and reduced cost.

Component of T beam Bridge

Deck Slab
Cantilever Portion
Footpaths, if provided,kerbs & handrails
Longitudinal girders,considered in design to be of T section
Cross beams or diaprhagms
Wearing coat
Width of kerb- 475 to 600 mm
Wearing coat- 56mm asphaltic concrete
75mm cement concrete
Footpath- Width @ 1.5m on one side or on both the sides

Component of T beam bridge

Deck slab : Slab is supported on four side and

subjected to concentrated load. For analysis purpose
pigeauds theory is used.
The curves are intended for slab simply supported on
four sides.
In order to allow continuity , the values of maximum
positive bending moments are multiplied by a factor
0.8.
In design computations, the effective span is taken as
the clear span
Cantilever portion: Carries kurb, handrail, footpath
and path of carriageway.
The critical section for bending moment is the vertical
section at the junction of cantilever portion and the
end longitudinal girder.

 Longitudinal girder :

Rib for small span can be uniform when multiple

cross beam are used, the rib is made thinner and
bottom of t beam is widened to accommodate
tension reinforcement.
Live load is placed appropriately in longitudinal
and transverse direction
With three or more longitudinal girders, the load
distribution is estimated using theses methods,
Courbons method
Hendry Jeager method
Morrice and lattice theory

Cross beams :
Stiffening the girders and reduce torsion in
external girder
Equalizes deflection of girder by distributing load
from heavy to light girder
If spacing is less than 1.8 m, deck slab is designed
as two way slab
Thickness of cross beam should be less than web
of main girder or it should equal to main girder
For Designing of cross beams :
Loads : self weight, load from deck and wearing
coat and live load is considered.
For analysis it should be considered as continuous.
Depth of cross beams is same as main beam or
0.75 times the main beam.

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