CEX 432
Bridge Engineering
B. Tech, 8th Semester
Course Teacher
Dr. K. Senthil
Assistant Professor
Department of Civil Engineering
NIT Jalandhar
Syllabus
Introduction: Definition, components of a bridge, classifications, importance of bridge
Investigation of Bridges: Need for investigations, selection of bridge site, preliminary data to be
collected, design discharge and its determination, linear waterway, economical span, vertical
clearance above HFL, scour depth, choice of bridge type.
Standard Specifications: For road bridges, I.R.C. loadings, code provisions on width of carriage
way, clearances, loads considered etc. Standard specifications for railway bridges, Railway bridge
code.
Reinforced Concrete Bridges: Slab culverts, T-beam bridge, Courbon’s theory for load
distribution, Balanced cantilever bridges, illustrative examples, pre-stressed concrete bridges,
(General discussions).
Sub Structure: Types of piers and abutments, design forces, design of piers and abutments.
Bearing and Joints: Various types of expansion bearing and fixed bearings, elastomeric bearings,
joints and their types. Introduction to construction, inspection and maintenance of bridges.
Reference Books
1. Victor D J, “Essentials of Bridge Engineering” Oxford and IBH Publishers, New Delhi,
2003.
2. Ratwani V and Aswani M G, “Design of Concrete Bridges, Khanna Publishers, New
Delhi, 1986.
3. Bindra S P, “Principles and Practice of Bridge Engineering” Dhanpat Rai & Sons, New
Delhi, 1999.
4. Ponnuswamy S,” Bridge Engineering” Tata McGraw Hill, New Delhi, 2003.
5. Punmia B C , Jain A K ,”RCC Designs” Laxmi Pub.(P) Ltd.,2003.
Bridge is the KEY ELEMENT
in a Transportation System
What is Bridge?
• Bridge is a structure which covers a gap
• Generally bridges carry a road or railway across a natural or artificial
obstacle such as, a river, canal or another railway or another road
• Bridge is a structure corresponding to the heaviest responsibility in carrying
a free flow of transport and is the most significant component of a
transportation system in case of communication over gaps for whatever
reason such as aquatic obstacles, valleys and gorges etc.
Structures for Transportation
Beauty can be expressed
in the structural
efficiency, simplicity, and
repetition of a bridge.
World Record Breaking Bridges
1 Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau bridge
Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau bridge is a 55-kilometre bridge opened in October 2018 and is a world record
breaking bridge for being the world’s longest sea-crossing bridge.
It is a bridge-tunnel system consisting of a series of three cable-stayed bridges, viaducts, undersea tunnels
and four artificial islands. It spans the Lingding and Jiuzhou channels and connects three major cities on the
Pearl River Delta – Hong Kong, Macau and Zhuhai. The bridge is designed to last for 120 years.
2. Akashi Bridge, Japan
The Akashi Kaikyō Bridge or Pearl Bridge as it is also called crosses the busy Akashi Strait of Japan and is located
between Osaka Bay and Seto Inland Sea.
It holds the world record for the longest central span suspension bridge at 1,991 metres.
The bridge has six lanes of roadway and four emergency lanes.
The Bridge stands in a seismically unstable region of Japan that also experiences some of the Earth’s most severe
storms.
The bridge’s design system allows the structure to withstand winds of 286 kilometres per hour, earthquakes measuring
up to magnitude 8.5, and harsh sea currents.
This world record breaking bridge can expand and contract up to 2
meters over the course of a day due to heat. But the Kōbe
earthquake of January 17, 1995, moved them so much that the span
had to be increased by 1 metre.
Sets of three high-intensity lamps are mounted on the main cables.
The Red-Green-Blue colour model and computer technology used
allows for a variety of combinations to be displayed.
On occasions such as national/regional holidays, memorial days or
festivities, twenty-eight patterns are used. The Akashi Kaikyō bridge
was opened for traffic on April 5, 1998, after a 10-year construction
period.
3 Arkadiko Bridge, Turkey
The Arkadiko Bridge built between 1300 and 1190 BC is the oldest bridge in the world. Also known as Kazarma
Bridge, this world record breaking bridge is a slab-stone single-arch bridge over the river Meles in Izmir-Turkey.
It was built specifically for chariots as part of a larger military road system. The structure still has the curbs intended
to guide the horse-drawn vehicles. This relic of ancient Greece, however, is still a stable and sturdy structure and is
still safe for pedestrian use. The Arkadiko Bridge is just 22 meters long, 5.5 meters wide, and 4 meters feet tall.
Mycenaean style of Cyclopean masonry consisting of limestone boulders, smaller stones, and little pieces of tile
assembled tightly together without mortar was used to build the bridge.
Masonry Arch Bridges
Probably first category of bridge to be involved.
Aesthetically superior to slab bridges.
Danhe Bridge year 2001
The Danhe arch bridge is special not so much for its 90 meter height but for its main span length of 146
meters which is a world record for any stone or masonry bridge. China has the world's 20 longest stone arch
bridges
Slab Bridge
When something pushes down on the beam, the beam bends. Its top edge is pushed together, and its
bottom edge is pulled apart.
Beam bridges are horizontal beams supported at each end by substructure units and can be either
simply supported when the beams only connect across a single span, or continuous when the beams
are connected across two or more spans.
Pipe Culvert
Consist of a pipe barrel under the embankment with protection works at the entry
and exit.
It is suitable for cross drainage flow on relatively flat terrain & in this discharge is
limited & it has negligible maintenance
Slab Bridge
• Simplest type of construction.
• Adopted for small bridges and culverts.
• Span is between 10-20m.
• Concrete slab cast monolithically over longitudinal girder.
• No. of longitudinal girders depends upon the width of road
Plate Girder Bridge
Span ranges 10 to 60m.
Can be extending up to 250m in continuous construction
Truss Bridge
• Span 30 to 375m in simply supported case
• Span 30 to 550m in cantilever combination case
Suspension Bridge
Made up of high tensile steel cables strung in form of a centenary to which the
deck is attached by steel suspenders which are made up of steel
rods/members/cables.
Deck can be of timber, concrete or steel spanning across the stiffening girders
transmitting loads to
Cable Stayed Bridges
• Cable-stayed bridges like suspension bridges, are held up by cables.
• However, in a cable-stayed bridge, less cable is required and the towers holding the cables are proportionately
higher.
• Similar to suspension bridge except that there will be no suspenders in the cable stayed bridges.
• A number of cables are stretched from support tower directly connected the decking.
• The cable stayed bridge is newer than the other types of bridge. Large upright steel supports are used to transmit
the load into the ground.
Cantilever Bridges
A cantilever bridge is a bridge built using cantilevers: structures that project
horizontally into space, supported on only one end.
The Bandra–Worli Sea Link (officially known as Rajiv Gandhi Sea Link) is a cable-stayed bridge with pre-stressed
concrete-steel viaducts on either side that links Bandra in the Western Suburbs of Mumbai with Worli in South Mumbai.
The bridge is a part of the proposed Western Freeway that will link the Western Suburbs to Nariman Point in Mumbai's
main business district.
Bandra Worli Sealink During Early Monsoon The ₹19.75 billion (US$280 million) bridge was commissioned by
the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC), and built by the Hindustan Construction Company.
