Thermal response of integral abutment bridges with mechanically stabilized earth walls.

Details

• Creators:
  Arenas, Alfredo E. ; Filz, George M. ; Cousins, Thomas E.
• Corporate Creators:
  Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
• Corporate Contributors:
  United States. Federal Highway Administration
• Subject/TRT Terms:
  • Jointless bridges
  • Earth walls
  • Bridge piers
  • Thermal expansion
  • Contraction (Thermodynamics)
  • Thermal stresses
• Publication/ Report Number:
  VCTIR 13-R7
• Resource Type:
  Tech Report
• Geographical Coverage:
  Virginia
• Corporate Publisher:
  Virginia. Dept. of Transportation
• NTL Classification:
  NTL-HIGHWAY/ROAD TRANSPORTATION-Bridges and Structures
• Abstract:
  The advantages of integral abutment bridges (IABs) include reduced maintenance costs and increased useful life spans. ; However, improved procedures are necessary to account for the impacts of cyclic thermal displacements on IAB components, ; including the foundation piling and the components of mechanically stabilized earth (MSE) walls that are often used around ; IABs. ; As requested by the Virginia Center for Transportation Innovation and Research and the Virginia Department of ; Transportation (VDOT), this research focused on IABs with foundation piling in the backfill of MSE walls that have a “Uback” ; configuration, which indicates that the MSE wall has three faces, one parallel to the abutment and two parallel to the ; bridge alignment. During this research, more than 65 three-dimensional numerical analyses were performed to investigate and ; quantify how different structural and geotechnical bridge components behave during thermal expansion and contraction of the ; bridge. In addition, a separate series of three-dimensional numerical models were developed to evaluate the usefulness of ; corrugated steel pipes in-filled with loose sand around the abutment piles. ; The results of this research quantify the influence of design parameter variations on the effects of thermal displacement ; on system components, and thus provide information necessary for IAB design. One of the findings is that corrugated steel ; pipes around abutment piles are not necessary. An estimate of the cost savings from eliminating these pipes is presented. ; One of the most important outputs of this research is an easy-to-use Excel spreadsheet, named IAB v3, that quantifies ; the impact of thermal displacement in the longitudinal direction, but also in the transverse direction when the abutment wall is at ; a skew angle to the bridge alignment. The spreadsheet accommodates seven different pile sizes, which can be oriented for weak ; or strong axis bending, with variable offset of the abutment from the MSE wall and for variable skew angles. Both steel and ; concrete girders are considered. The spreadsheet calculates the increments of displacements, forces, moments, and pressures on ; systems components due to thermal displacement of IABs. ; In addition, this report provides recommendations for implementing the research results in VDOT practice by ; proposing modifications to Chapter 17 of VDOT’s Manual of the Structure and Bridge Division, Volume V—Part 2, Design ; Aids and Particular Details, and to Chapter 10 of Volume V—Part 11, Geotechnical Manual for Structures. The background ; for each recommended modification is discussed, and specific details for changes to wording and calculations in the manuals are ; presented.
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• Format:
  PDF
• Funding:
  RC00010
• Download URL:
  https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/26065/dot_26065_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 2.58 MB]
• Collection(s):
  US Transportation Collection
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:9538feb7a33e912d16884c9df93409d68b9959335acd462c7030125b3e01e4644d86b00fe054faadedcc0b64cb87d7c2bef200c4e6c0f6e8ad3e84850a729cab