Design of Bridges for the Westlink M7 Motorway

Geoff Bowmaker, Technical Director, Maunsell

Geoff has 35 years experience in Australia, Asia and the United Kingdom in the
design and construction of rail, road and bridge projects. He is a Technical Director
of Maunsell, currently based in Sydney.

Geoff was recently responsible for the tender and concept design for the 144 bridges
of the Westlink M7 Motorway in Sydney and subsequently was Technical Manager
for the design of the major precast segmental bridges.

Contacts Phone (02) 8295 3829

Fax (02) 9262 5060
Email [email protected]
 Design of Bridges for the Westlink M7 Motorway
Geoff Bowmaker, Technical Director, Maunsell

SYNOPSIS
The Westlink M7 project is a 40km dual carriageway motorway in western Sydney,
connecting the M5 Motorway at Prestons to the M2 Motorway at Baulkham Hills. The
project includes the construction of 144 small to medium sized bridge structures,
which comprised a significant proportion of the overall project costs and their
construction was a critical programming constraint on the completion of the project
and the early opening of the motorway.

Conventional pretensioned precast beam designs using planks and super-Tees were
chosen for bridges with spans up to 35m and precast segmental box girder bridges
for the longer span bridges and motorway overbridges. Span by span box girder
designs incorporating dry joints and external tendons were adopted for the motorway
viaducts and overbridges. Balanced cantilever segmental boxes incorporating epoxy
joints and internal tendons were designed for the longer span bridges at the major
motorway interchanges and major road crossings.

A shared path for pedestrians and cyclists runs the full length of the project, and
designs for the shared path structures over environmentally sensitive areas used
precast "boardwalks" with spans to 20m. Major shared path bridges were designed
with special emphasis on urban design.

This paper discusses the design of the various bridges on the project. Issues include
the selection of the design criteria and construction specifications for the segmental
bridges, the significant urban design goals, and the standardisation of the designs to
enable rapid precasting and erection.

1. INTRODUCTION
The Westlink M7 project is a 40km dual carriageway motorway in western Sydney,
connecting the M5 Motorway at Prestons to the M2 Motorway at Baulkham Hills.

The project includes 17 interchanges, 20 km of local road upgrades, 47 km of shared

pedestrian/cycle paths and a total of 144 bridges. The bridges comprised a
significant proportion of the overall project costs and their construction was a critical
programming constraint on the completion of the project and the early opening of the
motorway.

The two major interchanges with the M4 and M5 Motorways provided considerable
challenges. They involved the construction of more than 20 separate ramps at up to
five different levels over some of the busiest sections of motorway in Australia.
Minimising the impact on the existing motorways was a major factor in the selection
of the construction techniques for the bridges.

Conventional pretensioned precast beam designs using planks and super-Tees were
chosen for bridges with spans up to 35m and precast segmental box girder bridges
for the longer span bridges and motorway overbridges. Span by span box girder

Bridge Design WM7 Motorway – Bowmaker Page 1 of 13

designs incorporating dry joints and external tendons were adopted for the motorway
viaducts and overbridges. Balanced cantilever segmental boxes incorporating epoxy
joints and internal tendons were designed for the longer span bridges at the major
motorway interchanges and major road crossings.

A shared path for pedestrians and cyclists runs the full length of the project, and
designs for the shared path structures over environmentally sensitive areas used
precast "boardwalks" with spans to 20m. Major shared path bridges were designed
with special emphasis on urban design.

The project is a Build Own Operate and Transfer (BOOT) project between Roads and
Traffic Authority of NSW (RTA) and Westlink Motorway Limited (Westlink). Westlink
contracted Abigroup / Leighton Joint Venture as the Construction Joint Venture
(ALJV) for the design and construction of the M7. The Maunsell / SMEC Joint
Venture was lead consultant for the engineering design.

The contract for the works was signed in February 2003 with a contract construction
period of 42 months and a construction price of $1.5 billion. Construction
commenced in July 2003 and the motorway was opened in December 2005, over 8
months ahead of the original programme.

2. CONCEPT DESIGN OF M7 BRIDGES

2.1 Structural Form
The large number of bridges on the M7 project dictated that maximum use should be
made of precasting in order to meet the very tight construction programme and thus
Super-T girders and PSC planks were adopted for the majority of the road bridges.
Special structures were required for the longer span structures, especially those to
be constructed over existing motorways, and these were initially planned to be of
steel box girder construction to minimise traffic delays during erection.

During the concept design stage, assessments were made of the capabilities of the
precast concrete and steel fabrication industries to supply the required number of
components, and to minimise the risk to the construction programme, a new
precasting facility was considered to be required. By adopting segmental precast box
girders instead of Super-T’s for the long viaducts, it was possible to reduce the
number of Super-T girders required on the project to manageable proportions that
could be handled by the existing industries. In addition, the PSC box girders could
be used for the ramp bridges and thus eliminate the need for fabricated curved steel
girders. The use of precast concrete segmental girders also reduced the amount of
in-situ concrete work.

Various bridge configurations were then investigated to optimise the numbers of

segments produced in the ALJV precast facility, and precast segmental box girders
were subsequently adopted for: -
• bridges with spans greater than 35m (Old Windsor Road and Cowpasture
Road);
• all long multi-span viaducts (Hoxton Park viaducts, M4 viaducts and Old
Windsor Road approach viaducts);
• all curved ramp bridges at M4 and M5 interchanges; and
• all bridges over the motorway.

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2.2 Urban Design Considerations
The RTA places great importance on the urban design of major infrastructure works
and for the M7 this has been followed through with the selection of appropriate forms
for bridges and subsequent design details.

The column shapes and the abutment treatments have been selected to achieve a
consistent family of bridges that will be readily identifiable as belonging to the M7.
The designers have worked closely with Coneybeare Morrison Partnership to achieve
the required urban design outcomes.

The slender box girders with long cantilevers have been considered to enhance the
appearance of the bridges, particularly the highly visible overbridges and ramp
bridges at the major interchanges.

The overbridges were of spans that generally would not be constructed using precast
segmental girders. By using this form of construction for the overbridges, however,
the larger depth Super-T bridges were virtually eliminated from the project, and the
appearance of the overbridges was considerably enhanced, particularly with respect
to treatment at the central piers.

3. PEDESTRIAN / CYCLEWAY SHARED PATH BRIDGES

A shared pedestrian / cycleway shared path travels the length of the motorway
corridor. This shared path is fully grade separated from the motorway and all local
roads, and thus a number of bridges were required for the shared path alone. Three
distinct types of bridge were developed for the shared path bridges.

3.1 Boardwalk Bridges

The shared path was only required to be above the 1 in 2 year flood event, and thus
over the creek crossings and floodplains the bridges did not have to be elevated to a
great extent. Small precast girders, with a double Tee cross section were proposed
for these bridges. Spans were generally 10m, but were increased up to 20m over
some creek crossings. For the longer spans the depth of girder was increased and
the units were pretensioned.

In order to minimise the effects on vegetation in the riparian zone, the precast girders
were constructed with transverse slots to allow light and water to penetrate, while at
the same time satisfying the ride criteria for cyclists on the shared path.

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3.2 V-Girder Bridges
Prestressed concrete “V-girders” were used for shared path bridges over local roads.
The top flanges of these girders were the full width of the shared path (3m), and with
span lengths of up to 32m they could be rapidly erected over roadways.

The shape of the girders was selected to satisfy architectural requirements, in

particular to integrate with the angles of the throw screens. Close attention was paid
to the support details and pier head shape.

3.3 “Spikey” Truss Bridges

There are four shared path crossings over the M7, and triangular space trusses were
used for these highly visible “landmark” structures. The trusses had spans of up to
66m and used tubular members in the 5m deep trusses.

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The throw screens supports were angled to match the shape of the truss to give the
structure an interesting effect and to integrate the throw screen and roof structure
into the structure as a whole.

4. PLANK AND SUPER-T BRIDGES

For the shorter underbridges, prestressed concrete planks with an in-situ concrete
deck were used. The planks were generally 1200 wide, and were used for spans of
up to 15m. The composite connection to the deck was achieved by reinforcement
projecting from the top surface of the plank.

The open topped super-T (or Tee-Roff) bridges were used for spans of up to 35m.

5. SEGMENTAL BRIDGES
Segmental box girders were designed for 34 of the bridges, having a total deck area
of over 88,000m2. The maximum span length was 94 m, and the minimum radius of
curvature was 250m. Two different construction methods were adopted; externally
prestressed spans constructed using either erection beams or falsework, and
internally prestressed spans erected using the method of balanced cantilevering.

5.1 Cross Section

The selection of the box cross-section shape was critical for optimising the formwork
to permit the wide variety of bridges to be constructed from the one set of moulds.

As the longer span bridges required a variable depth of section, the cross section
selected has vertical webs.

The depth of the boxes was selected to suit the various span lengths. The minimum
depth of box used was 2.0m, as this depth is considered the minimum practical depth
for access to the boxes for construction and future inspection. For balanced

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cantilever boxes, the minimum depth was taken as 2.4m, which suited the generally
longer span lengths and also provides greater working height for stressing of the
continuity tendons within the box.

The width of segments varies from a minimum of 8.15m for one of the ramp bridges
to a maximum of approximately 15m for Hoxton Park Viaduct. For the wide multi-box
overbridges, the maximum width of segment was maintained at 15m. To suit the
majority of the bridges, a width of box of 5.4m was adopted, which was reduced to
4.0m for the narrow ramp bridges.

The top flange dimensions were governed by the requirement to locate the top flange
prestressing anchorages for balanced cantilever bridges within the flange depth
adjacent to the webs. The top flange thus varies in depth from 225 mm to a
maximum of 450 mm adjacent to the webs. The bottom flange thickness is typically
200 mm for the span-by-span bridges and varies from 250 to 450 mm for the
balanced cantilever bridges.

Three web widths were used; 350, 450 and 550 mm.
SEGMENT
VARIES 11645 TO 15000

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5.2 Span by Span Construction
The bridges erected using the span-by-span method are prestressed using tendons
external to the concrete section (but inside the box void). The segments, that are
match cast in the factory, are reassembled in the correct order and prestressed
together. The joints between segments in the completed structure remain “dry”.

For the long viaducts, the spans are simply supported and erection is performed
using underslung erection beams. This form of construction allows rapid erection
and the box shapes are generally simple and quick to fabricate in the precasting
yard.

Span lengths are up to 35m and prestressing is applied using tendons of sizes up to
31/15.2 mm strands. The design can cater for up to 12 tendons per box though for
the simply supported spans there are generally no more than 8 tendons per box.

The tendons are anchored at each end diaphragm and deviators are located at
approximately third points of the span.

The architectural treatment of the piers for these bridges is very important. Typically
this type of deck has large pier heads to simplify construction. For the long viaducts
on M7 the piers consist of separate columns under each box web, elongated to allow
two bearings to be located in the longitudinal direction at each pier head.

The overbridges have spans up to a maximum of 38m, and are typically two span
structures with spill through abutments. The RTA requirements of the project deed
restricted the allowable width of the pier in the central median, and it was not possible
to use piers wide enough for two bearings longitudinally as used for the viaducts.
These structures were therefore built as continuous structures with single bearings at
the intermediate piers. The multiple span arrangement requires more prestressing,
some of which was placed axially, i.e. some tendons were not deviated at the
intermediate span deviator segments.

The overbridges range in width up to 60m, and the decks have been constructed
using multiple box cross sections, joined together using in-situ stitches connecting
the tips of adjacent cantilevers.

Where the overbridge is significantly skewed to the motorway alignment, a single

central bearing has been used for the support at the central pier.

5.3 Balanced Cantilever Construction

The bridges erected using the balanced cantilevering method are prestressed using
tendons internal to the concrete section. The joints between match cast segments in
the completed structure are coated with epoxy.

The balanced cantilever bridges are used for the longer spans over Old Windsor
Road and Cowpasture Road, and for the curved ramps at the major motorway
interchanges.

Segments are erected by crane and temporarily connected using VSL stressbar.
When corresponding segments have been erected on each end of the cantilever,

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permanent prestressing tendons are installed within the box top flange and tensioned
from one end. Once the cantilevers are completed, a short in situ section connects
the cantilevers, followed by installation of continuity tendons stressed from blisters
attached to the bottom flange. All prestress is internal to the section and fully grouted.
Epoxy is used on the segments joints to ensure protection of the tendons.

All stressing blisters for the continuity stressing and for the temporary erection bars
are cast as part of the concrete box section.

For the balanced cantilever bridges, the bottom flange thickness and web thickness
both vary, which increased the complexity of the temporary blister arrangements.

The shape of the piers varies depending on the site constraints. Typically the piers
are single columns supported on a pilecap and bored piles. For all bridges other than
the M4 ramps, temporary props supported on the pile caps resist the overturning of
the cantilever during erection. For the M4 ramp bridges, which are much higher (up
to 25m above the existing), the stability is achieved by two sets of ties that are
anchored in the pilecap.

5.4 Segmental Bridge Design Criteria

The AUSTROADS (1992) Code was the nominated Bridge Design Code, but as there
was considered to be a number of deficiencies and omissions in the AUSTROADS
Code with respect to the design of precast segmental bridges, additional provisions
generally based upon the AASHTO LRFD Bridge Design Specifications (2002) were
incorporated into the design criteria used for the project.

(i) Stress in Unbonded Tendons at Strength Ultimate Limit State

The provisions of AASHTO (2002) were adopted. The provisions in AS5100 (2004)
are now similar to these provisions.

(ii) Shear at Segment Joints

There is no provision in AUSTROADS or AS5100 for shear on segmental girder
joints. For structures utilising dry joints (referred to as Type B joints), the provisions
of AASHTO (2002) were adopted.

(iii) Design for Torsion

The AUSTROADS code does not apply for torsion of segmental box girders and so
the provisions of AASHTO (2002) were used. Since the treatment of shear in
AASHTO differs from that in AUSTROADS and AS5100, the AASHTO provisions for
shear in combination with torsion were used.

(iv) Construction Tolerances

The AUSTROADS and AS5100 codes require the designer to consider construction
forces and effects.

For the precast segmental bridges, the following tolerances were adopted on the M7
project. These values obviously depend on the methods adopted in the casting yard
for controlling the match casting.

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For span-by-span girders made continuous, an allowance for a construction tolerance
on alignment of +/- 15 mm in relative position of supports when the bridge is lowered
onto the bearings;

For balanced cantilever construction an allowance for vertical misalignment at the

mid-span stitch joint was considered by allowing for an imposed deflection of the tip
of the cantilevers of +/- 20 mm

These tolerances were achieved in construction.

(v) Construction Loadings

AASHTO defines a number of load combinations for consideration during
construction, whereas AUSTROADS and AS5100 are not as prescriptive. One
loading condition that AASHTO specifies is the case for the “dropping” of a segment.
This was included as a loading for WM7 as it was considered prudent to prevent the
collapse of a partially completed span should there be a problem while handling an
individual segment. It should be noted that the seriousness of this load case
depends also on the method of resisting the overturning loads during cantilevering.

(vi) Limiting Stresses at Serviceability Limit State

The stresses in the concrete and across the joints were limited at service loads to
values given by AASHTO (2002), viz 0.7 MPa compression maintained across dry
joints and no tension across epoxy joints.

During construction load cases, the limits were set as zero tension at dry joints and
0.5 √(f’c ) tension for epoxy joints.

A minimum compressive stress of 0.15 MPa was applied across the joints on initial
erection of the segments.

There does not appear to be good reason for limiting stresses for transient
serviceability loads for structures with Type A epoxy joints.

5.5 Specifications
With the balanced cantilever method the prestressing is internal to the concrete
section and the ducting is therefore not continuous as opposed to the span by span
and continuous overbridges whereby the tendon ducts are continuous and external to
the concrete section. To provide an extra layer of protection to the prestressing
tendons within the balanced cantilever structures the joints are applied with an epoxy
to ‘seal” the joints and effectively provide continuous ducting for the prestressing
tendons.

The specification for the epoxy sealant was developed specifically for the M7 project.
The epoxy basically was required to have a minimum 30 minute pot life, 45 minute
open time, and achieve 8 MPa at 12 hours and 50 MPa at 28 days.

Once the prestressing tendons are installed they are protected with a cementitious
grout. Given the critical nature of the protection of the tendons the grout used on the
WM7 segmental bridges was developed under joint research with the RTA and VSL
to provided the highest possible performance grout and hence protection.

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5.6 Segmental Bridge Design Details

(i) Segment Length

The length of segments was limited to between 2.65m and 3.0m. The maximum
length was governed by transporting the segments, and the minimum length by the
design of the formwork system. Weight of segments was generally limited to less the
80 t, but an absolute upper weight was 100 t.

(ii) Deviators for Externally Prestressed Spans

Generally there are two deviators per span for the externally prestressed spans. The
deviators consist of a beam across the segment bottom flange together with web
stiffening.

The holes in the deviator to deflect the tendons are formed in the concrete in a
“diabolo” shape. No additional linings of the formed holes are required. The
minimum radius of curvature is 3.8m.

(iii) End Diaphragms for Externally Prestressed Spans

The end diaphragms (E segments) transfer the loads to the bearings and anchor the
external tendons. The end diaphragms do not act like normal prestressing end
blocks, but act as a deep beam spanning between the box flanges, transferring the
prestressing force to the flanges and webs of the box. The diaphragm thickness is
minimised to limit segment weight, but this increases the strut/tie forces within the
diaphragm and requires heavy reinforcement.

The E segments also attach the link slabs / expansion joints as appropriate, and
downstands for the support bearings. The downstands are of sufficient width to allow
placement of the erection jacks adjacent to the bearings.

(iv) Anchorage Blisters for Balanced Cantilever Spans

The balanced cantilever spans require bottom flange blisters for the continuity
prestressing tendons. These blisters are placed adjacent to the webs and the
anchorages are always located in the same relative position to simplify the
positioning in the internal forms.

Additional anchorage blisters are also provided for the temporary prestressing bars
that are used to support each segment during erection. There are two blisters at the
top flange of the box adjacent to the webs, and one temporary blister located at the
centre of the bottom flange. These blisters have a number of holes to ensure exact
alignment of the bars when there are changes to the web or flange thicknesses.

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(v) Segment Reinforcement Arrangement
In order to achieve high production rates in the precasting factory, the reinforcement
has been simplified, having a minimum number of different shapes and sizes. The
bars are arranged in sets of transverse bars, which are then fabricated into cages
with a small number of longitudinal bars.

The reinforcement slices are spaced at 200 mm centres for all segments. This was
found to be an optimum spacing, and it allowed inserts for lifting, and temporary
attachments during construction to be placed between the slices. This spacing also
allowed considerable flexibility is selection of bars sizes to minimise reinforcement
quantities.

(vi) Handling of Segments

All segments are handled on site using “Swiftlifts” cast into the segments within the
line of the webs.

In the precasting yard, the segments are lifted from beneath the cantilevers using
purpose made straddle carriers. The design of the segments allowed for the
handling of the segments at an early age.

(vii) Transverse Prestressing

Transverse prestressing in the form of slab anchors was used for wide boxes with
cantilevers over 3.6m.

The transverse prestressing allowed early stripping on the cantilever forms (a small
amount of prestress was applied after 12 hours). The transverse prestressing also
controls deflections under service loads.

(viii) Balanced Cantilever Erection Design

Vertical loads are always taken through the permanent bearings and the out-of-
balance moments are taken through external props and ties.

This erection philosophy minimises the construction load effects on the columns,
although it does require care with setting and aligning the initial segments for each
cantilever to ensure accurate alignment.

For all balanced cantilever bridges except for the M4 ramps, concrete props are used
at each of the piers to take the out-of-balance moments.

For the M4 ramps, where piers are up to 25m in height and where there was often
very limited room at the pilecap level due to existing traffic, tension ties on each side
of the columns take the out-of-balance moments. The loads in the tension ties are
increased in stages only as the longitudinal cantilevering prestress increases so as
not to overload the webs adjacent to the piers.

5.7 Casting Yard for Box Girder Segments

The ALJV established a casting yard for the manufacture of the 2729 short line
match cast segments required for the construction of the M7 segmental bridges.

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The precast yard had an overall area of 100,000m² with a covered shed housing the
8 span by span moulds and 6 balanced cantilever moulds

A dedicated reinforcement shed was set up to provide a production facility whereby

cut and bent reinforcement would enter the shed and completed cages would exit
and be transported via forklift to the casting shed. The reinforcement within one
transverse section was welded together to form a “slice” and the completed “slices’
were placed into three dimensional jigs and the longitudinal reinforcement installed
and welded to the transverse “slices” to form a completed cage. The reinforcement
cages were prefabricated to extremely tight tolerances to enable a “perfect” fit when it
was placed in the precasting moulds. The reinforcement was delivered cut and bent
to a tolerance of +0 / -5 mm to enable the final cages to be of a similar tolerance.

The daily cycle relied on a concrete strength gain of 12 MPa in 12 hrs to enable the
forms to be demoulded 12 hrs after casting and providing a 12 hr window to
demould, clean, place reinforcement, seal, inspect the mould and place concrete.
Utilising the short line matching casting method, 50 to 55 segments per week were
produced from the 14 moulds in a 5 day casting week.

Once the segments were cast they were transported to the storage yard by
customised straddle carriers with hydraulic operated lifting frames.

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6. SEAMLESS PAVEMENT CONNECTION TO BRIDGES
The pavement for the motorway carriageways consists of an open grade AC wearing
course surfacing on a continuously reinforced concrete pavement (CRCP). A design
development, used for the first time in the world on this project, was to tie the CRCP
road pavements into the decks for many of the bridges. This eliminated the anchor
beams normally used at interfaces between bridges and pavements, leading to
construction cost and time savings. Most importantly, from the perspective of the
travelling public and the operator, this also eliminates the joints at the ends of
bridges, a “seamless” pavement, giving a smooth ride and drastically reducing
maintenance costs.

By connecting the CRCP into the bridge deck, axial loads are carried through the
deck and all components (link slabs, approach slabs) are designed for a combination
of axial loads and bending.

Details of the design method are given in Griffiths et al (2006).

7. CONCLUSION
The M7 is one of the largest single road infrastructure projects to be built in NSW.
The 144 bridges comprised a significant proportion of the overall project costs and
their successful completion was a major factor in the early opening of the motorway.

The project was significant for:

• The importance placed on the urban design of the works, and the
development of a consistent family of bridges that will be readily identifiable as
belonging to the M7;
• The development of unique shared path bridges;
• The design of match cast segmental box girder bridges for the major bridges
and viaducts; and
• The development of the “seamless” pavement, tying the CRCP pavement into
bridge decks to eliminate the pavement anchors and the bridge deck joints.

REFERENCES
AASHTO (2002), AASHTO LRFD Bridge Design Specifications
AUSTROADS (1992). Bridge Design Code, AUSTROADS, Sydney
Bowmaker, G.J. and Van der Wal, G (2005), Design and Construction of Segmental
Box Girder Bridges for the Westlink M7 Motorway, Concrete Institute of Australia,
22nd Conference, Melbourne, 2005
Griffiths, S., Bowmaker, G.J., Bridge, R.Q. (2006), Design of Seamless Pavement on
Westlink M7, Sydney, Australia. AUSTROADS 6th Bridge Conf, Perth
Standards Australia. (2004). Australian Standard. Bridge Design. Standards Australia
International, Sydney, AS 5100.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The author wishes to thank Westlink Motorway Limited, Abigroup Leighton Joint
Venture, Maunsell-SMEC Joint Venture and the Roads and Traffic Authority of NSW
for permission to publish this paper. The views expressed in this paper are those of
the author.

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