Documenti di Didattica
Documenti di Professioni
Documenti di Cultura
Techniques
Vivek Abhyankar1*
1*
AFCONS Infrastructure Limited, Senior Manager (Design), India
(vivek.abhyankar@afcons.com)
Abstract In complex Bridge construction projects, the development of Civil / Structural engineering is
selection of correct method of construction / launching closely associated with the development of other
of superstructure plays a vital role, towards overall branches of science / engineering like Material
success of the project. The construction / launching Science, Mathematics, Communication, Electronics,
method has a direct impact on cost, time and safety of
Computing technology (computer science), IT etc.
the project. Inexperienced clients often deploy two
separate agencies for (a) design of bridge structure and
(b) for detailing a launching scheme. As a result the As all the branches of engineering started
coordination between actual structure and construction growing, it was observed that the growth was rapid,
is lost, resulting delays and cost overruns. Launching but not parallel! As far as bridge engineering is
scheme and actual design (supers/sub structure) has a concerned this fact resulted into a wide gap between
strong linkage with each other; in complex bridge imagination (i.e. conceptual planning and design) vs.
projects, the scope of design and construction method the ground-reality (i.e. actual bridge erected at sites).
cant be segregated. The end results of this gap (rather a knowledge gap)
and the solution to bridge this gap is discussed in
The recent advancements in bridge launching
the further sections.
technology demand changes in the main design itself. In
the present paper the author has described different 2. BRIDGE PROJECTS IN OLDEN DAYS
method of launching (old and new), along with various
Indian and International cases studies, and their In olden days computing technology / simulation
prerequisites. The methods covered in this paper are :- software etc. were not available. Engineers had to
In Situ Bridge Construction :- using Formwork- struggle hard to prove the adequacy of the concept,
Staging; Moving scaffolding system before starting the design and construction.
Precast, Pre Stressed Bridge Launching :- using
Cranes, Floating crafts, Push Launching,
Launching Trusses (Under slung / Over slung type),
Launching using Ground supported staging system,
Cable cranes.
Paper covers interrelation between permanent,
temporary structures with hints for engineers.
1. INTRODUCTION
Bridges are the backbones of any Transpiration /
Infrastructure Project like Railway, Metro or a Road. (a) Bridge at Conceptual Design Stage
Bridge Engineering has a history of thousands of
years, and finds its origin in Indian Mythology and
old spiritual scripts like Ramayana / Mahabharata
etc. In those days bridges were made from hip of
stones / soil bunds / timber logs etc. Olden bridges
were expected to merely act as a beam spanning
across a gaps along river or a road; but as the growth
of civilisation started taking place, the demand on all
the branches of engineering increased, rapidly. For
Civil Engineering, such increased demand called for (b) Bridge after completion
more and more research about structural Fig. 1: Firth of Forth Bridge, Scotland (A Cantilever Bridge)
configuration and materials to be used for Designed by Allen Stewart and Sir Baker.
construction. From study of grow of engineering
industry in past hundred years, we may observe that
Fig.1 shows, photograph of Firth of Forth Bridge, The various challenges that are faced are as
Scotland, which is a steel cantilever type bridge. It below :-
was built in the 1880s designed by Allan Stewart
and Sir Benjamin Baker. But both of them had to Complex Loading : temperature, wind,
struggle hard to demonstrate by a Conceptual Model erection, blast etc. and their combinations. Often
(as shown in Fig.1 (a) to the sceptical Victorians that the design codes and contract specifications are
a cantilever bridge would be safe. Fig. 1 (b) shows, silent about the construction stage loadings.
bridge after actual successful construction. Complex Structural Geometry : this includes a
difficult /sensitive load transfer mechanism,
Similar to above bridge, Fig.2 shows another Refined understanding about the Structural
interesting configuration of a Suspension cable behavior failure theories, overall performance
bridge done out of India. In this structure the main based design, reliability analysis as compared to
pylons looks like a posture of a standing person, Limit state vs. Working stresses
reclining backward, with both the arms folded, kept Changing Codes / Standards requirements
on waist. This bridge and many other similar bridges QAQC, Crack-width, exposure, non-linearity
explain how human is getting inspired by nature Advances in associated fields like :-
and natural behaviour. But definitely such bridges Material Science (Concrete-steel-etc.)
are the challenges for the Design and Construction. Electronic devices (strain gauges and other
monitoring devices
Surveying Instruments
Increasing Project demands :- Time, Cost,
Safety, Quality, Aesthetics
New research towards : Bridge execution /
Testing
HSE (health safety and environment)
Requirements
Construction Stage Analysis
Structural Health monitoring systems
Life expectancy . . . etc.
(a) Bridge Pier - Conceptual Racking human
5) Cost / Budget
6) Cooperation from Designers / Design capacity Fig.7 Bridge Erection Launcher, used at Bang-Na-Trade
Highway Project, Bangkok (LG placed inside piers)
8. BRIDGE ERECTION USING A
Apart from the regular bridge erection SUSPENDED CABLE CRANE
techniques like Formwork / Staging, Launching
(CABLEWAY) :
Girders and advanced technique of Floating Cranes,
A suspended erection crane / cableway is also used This is a unique and challenging technique of
now days as shown in Fig. 10, for a steel Arch bridge construction. Fig.10 shows a photograph of
Segmental Bridge in China. In such cases the steel segmental arch bridge construction, in China,
Permanent structure has to be designed keeping in using cable crane (or alternatively called as a cable
mind the construction / erection and dismantling way). In India, for erection of Chenab Railway
methodology. The construction scheme / bridge over Chenab river, M/s Afcons is planning
methodology imposes large loads on the permanent use similar technique. Cableway is also- being used
structure, which are often greater than the Design on the Concrete Arch Bridge at world famous
loads even (i.e. critical combination of self wt, Live Hoover dam. In this case the design and
load, wind / earthquake etc.). construction must go hand-in-hand to reach to
successful conclusion. Issues like maintaining
Push / incremental launching is another tension in the cable, limiting sag due to dead loads,
interesting method, in which the entire precast wind velocity for the stability of ropes under self wt
bridge structure is pushed from one abutment to and lifted weight condition (i.e. operating and idling
another abutment. No external LT is used, except a conditions), safety from falling objects at night,
nosing. In such method the super structure possibility of any object getting hit to the cable etc.
experiencing cycles of stress reversal, this has to are the critical issues in such method. All these
be catered for in advance. issues must be addressed prior to the start of design
(at conceptual stage itself). Without coordination
with the contactor, it simply cannot be done !