Simulation analysis and assessment of 40m spans pre-stressed box-girder bridges

الملخص EN

Most of the Bridges constructed in Egypt over the river Nile possessed 40 m spans for the approaches bridges (east and west of the main navigable spans), this is attributed to the available resources needed for the superstructure construction in the Egyptian market and the associated cost optimization as well.

This paper presents a summary of the major methods utilized in the design of box-girder bridges and proposes a numerical finite element approach for a precise structural analysis taking into account crucial structural actions as warping, distortional warping, shear lag effects, transversal cracking of the top slab and concrete long term loading effect using reep functions.

The monitoring results of the superstructure via in-situ loading tests on the 40 m span box girder bridges having a top slab width of 10.50 m are summarized for three prodigious bridges crossing the Nile and Mubarak El-Salam bridge crossing the Suez canal.

Deflections and strains are recorded at the critical sections of the superstructure under symmetrical and unsymmetrical loading.

Finally yet importantly, the comparison between the analytical and different recorded results are presented as well as the general assessment of the whole process to assure the reliability of the proposed structural analysis together with discussions regarding recommendations for future enhancement of the proposed analytical model