Behavior of Integral Abutment Bridges in Varying Climate

Details

• Creators:
  Hassanikhah, Arash ; Miller, Gerald A. ; Muraleetharan, Kanthasamy K.
• Corporate Creators:
  University of Oklahoma. School of Civil Engineering and Environmental Science
• Corporate Contributors:
  Southern Plains Transportation Center ; United States. Department of Transportation. University Transportation Centers (UTC) Program ; United States. Department of Transportation. Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology
• Subject/TRT Terms:
  Bending Moments Climate Dislocation (Geology) Integral Abutment Bridge Jointless Bridges Matric Suction Parametric Analysis Piles (Supports) Seepage Soil-pile Interaction Soil Moisture Soil Structure Interaction Soil Suction Soil Water Stiffness Unsaturated Soils

  More +
• Publication/ Report Number:
  SPTC 14.1-52
• Resource Type:
  Tech Report
• Geographical Coverage:
  Oklahoma ; Texas ; New Mexico ; Arkansas ; Louisiana ; United States
• Edition:
  Final Report August 2014 – November 2019
• Corporate Publisher:
  Southern Plains Transportation Center
• Abstract:
  Integral Abutment Bridges (IABs) are jointless bridges without expansion joints in the bridge deck or between the superstructure and the abutments. An IAB provides many advantages during construction and maintenance of a bridge, but the soil-structure interactions occurring at the abutment in an IAB are complex. The impact of long term variations in soil moisture on the lateral load behavior of integral abutment piles is investigated. First, unsaturated seepage modeling is used to predict the variations in soil moisture content and associated matric suction profiles surrounding abutment piles through the end of this century in the U.S. Department of Transportation's (U.S. DOT) Region 6 states (Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arkansas, and Louisiana). Next, techniques were used to incorporate matric suction into the lateral load analysis of abutment piles. Finally, a sensitivity analysis of parameters such as soil profile, pile type and length, and pile orientation affecting the lateral load behavior of integral abutment piles was conducted. The parametric study showed that the pile orientation and foundation soil stiffness due to suction changes have a significant effect on the bending moment and lateral displacement behavior of abutment piles. The results also show that changing climate over the long term may result in net drying of soil profiles and increased matric suction around the top of the piles. Increases in matric suction in soil around the piles increases the strength and stiffness around the piles, which results in increased resistance to pile bending and greater curvature near the top of the pile where it enters the abutment. This in turn, increases the maximum bending moments near the top of the pile. Techniques such as orienting the piles in weak axis bending and reducing the stiffness of the soils surrounding the top of the piles should be considered to improve the performance of abutment-pile-soil systems in IABs.
• Format:
  PDF
• Funding:
  DTRT13-G-UTC36
• Collection(s):
  University Transportation Centers
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha256:62198c6e05a0fade1f27d4080a078df5ecf093fcc2bb44c39023a941a7bf4433
• Download URL:
  https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/62278/dot_62278_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 7.49 MB ]