U.S.
’s first stressed ribbon
bridge uses precast to span river
By Charles Redfield
The deck of the Sacramento bridge consists of 40 precast segments
and a cast-in-place closure at each abutment.
The Sacramento River Trail
Pedestrian Bridge in Redding,
CA, is the first stressed ribbon
bridge constructed in the United
States. This elegant structure
has a single clear span of 418
feet and 11⁄4 foot depth (span-to-
depth ratio is 335). The sag of
the deck varies with time, ambi-
ent temperature, and superim-
posed live load. It is estimated
to vary between 1012⁄ feet (young
age concrete, maximum temper-
ature, and full live load) and 8
feet (at end of service life and
under minimum temperature).
There are no bearings or expan-
sion joints.
The deck of the bridge con-
sists of 40 precast segments and
a cast-in-place closure at each
abutment. Precast segments are
13 feet wide and 10 feet long,
having a concrete compressive
strength of 6000 psi.
During erection, the segments
were suspended on bearing cables
by high-strength support bars
secured in slots located in troughs
near each segment edge. After all
segments were shifted into final
design position, the joints
between them were cast as well as
the troughs which contain the
bearing cables. When the concrete
reached the required strength, a
second set of cables, also located
in the troughs, was stressed to
assure adequate stiffness of the
superstructure.
Apart from a short distance
of 10 feet at each of the abut-
ments, the deck has a constant
depth (11⁄4 feet). This arrange-
ment corresponds to the static
behavior of the prestressed con-
crete band. The critical bending
moments in the stressed ribbon
structure occur only under point
loads and at the end supports.
Stresses corresponding to point
loads along the span are not sig-
nificant and do not affect the
structural arrangement of the
bridge. At the supports, positive
bending moments caused by
effects of prestress, temperature
drop, and shrinkage of the con-
crete produce tensile stresses in
the deck concrete. To mitigate
this effect, the deck was
strengthened with a simple short
haunch transition at each end.
Therefore, except for the haunch
soffits, which were partially pre-
stressed, the rest of the deck is
fully prestressed (no tension in
concrete).
Bearing and prestressing
cables are anchored at the back
of concrete abutments which are
founded on hard bedrock lying
between 10 and 20 feet below the
surface. The large horizontal pull
of the longitudinal cables is

The segments are suspended dur-
ing erection on bearing cables by
high-strength support bars
secured in slots located in
troughs near each segment edge.
transferred from the abutments
into the rock through permanent
rock anchors incorporating a
double corrosion protection sys-
tem.
The bridge has been designed
to carry a uniform live load of 85
psf, or an emergency or mainte-
nance vehicle of 35 kip gross
weight. Temperature variation
included a rise or drop of 40 F
from the mean temperature of 70
F. Creep and shrinkage properties
conformed to the CEF-FIP Model
Code.
Design of the bridge required
static and dynamic analyses. The
static analysis was carried out for
two different stages: erection and
service. During erection, the
structure was analyzed as a per-
fectly flexible cable, and during
service as a geometrically and
Project Profile
Owner: The city of Redding, CA
Engineers: Charles Redfield, Mill Valley, CA
Tomas Kompfer, Converse Consultants, San Francisco
Jiri Strasky, Brno, Czechoslovakia
Contractor/precaster: Shasta Constructors, Redding, CA
physically nonlinear structure
consisting of beam elements.
Since stressed ribbon struc-
tures are sensitive to dynamic
loads, special attention was
devoted to the dynamic analysis
of the bridge. Natural modes
and frequencies were deter-
mined, and forced vibration due
to movement of people was
studied. Because the structure
would be very shallow and of
long span over a channelized
valley, an aeroelastic study was
necessary to check stability
under dynamic wind loads.
Static lift and drag coefficients
and flutter susceptibility were
studied in a wind tunnel.
To reassure the public of the
safety of the structure and to
confirm the design assumptions,
detailed static tests were carried
out. The bridge was loaded in
three stages by cars situated on
the whole length, on half the
length, and in the middle of the
structure. Under the first load-
ing stage, the test load of 94 kips
deflected the structure 2 inches.
The test helped prove the quality
of workmanship and the design
assumptions. The bridge was well
accepted by the public and is
widely used.
The Sacramento River Trail
Pedestrian Bridge is one of the
recipients of the 1990 PCA
Bridge Awards of Excellence.
Acknowledgment
This article is reprinted with per -
mission from the Portland
Cement Association newsletter
Engineered Concrete Structures.
Charles Redfield is a consulting
engineer in Mill Valley, CA.
PUBLICATION #J911218
Copyright © 1991, The Aberdeen Group
All rights reserved