22-May-18

Establishing
Cost-Effective Design Parameters
for Bridge Infrastructure

Vivek Abhyankar
Dy. GM (Structures), TIIC – EDRC / RREC – Mumbai

22-May-18

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Purpose and expectations from Bridges

• Bridges span across rivers, bays, roads and railway lines, valleys,
gas/water lines etc.

• Provide critical connections and catalyst for commerce.

• Affordable transportation is essential to building and sustaining a

prosperous economy. Bridges are prime factors in determining what our
transportation cost will be.

• Bridge as a structure are subject to large cyclic loading, fatigue, extreme

temperature fluctuation, rain, snow and ice, deicing chemicals, scour,
accidental impacts and so on.

• These dictate an emphasis on the functionality of a bridge design.

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Design Parameters

Driving factors for bridge design

• other factors such as sensitivity factor, aesthetics . . .

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Design Parameters
• Creating successful design for major bridges is an evolving
process. With scientific and technical advances, engineers will
explore the use of new materials and new methods of structural
analysis.

• At the same time for iconic bridges, the architects will explore new
shapes and forms.

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Design Parameters
Bridge designs are cumulative of selection process that considers

all of these criteria and balances the trade-off and compromises

between competing criteria.

i.e. work of art bridges can be costly as compared to a multispan or short span

bridges at a given site, but it may do irreparable harm to the local environment.

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Bridge Structure Type

Structural types will be selected primarily on the basis of :-

• Speed of construction to minimize traffic delay

• Low maintenance

• Ability to widen structure easily and quickly

• Safety

• Aesthetics

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Involved parties

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Bridge Type

Long span bridges are spans more than 60m - such cable stay bridges,

suspension bridges, balance cantilever bridges, steel truss, arch bridges.

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Long Span Bridges

CABLE STAY BRIDGE ARCH BRIDGE

STEEL BRIDGE BALANCE CANTILEVER BRIDGE

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Bridge Type
• Medium span bridges i.e. spans between 15m and 60m such
as PSC girder bridges, steel girders, RCC girders

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Medium Span Bridges

PSC GIRDER BRIDGE

STEEL GIRDER BRIDGE

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Bridge Type

• Small span bridges i.e. spans less than 15m such as RCC T
beam bridges, slab bridges

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SMALL SPAN BRIDGES

RCC SLAB AQUADUCT

STONE ARCH BRIDGE

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Bridge System

• Fully integral bridges

• Quasi integral bridges

• Semi integral bridges

• Floating bridge deck ( bridge deck

on bearings)

A figure from upcoming IRC

Draft code on Integral Bridges
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Quasi integral bridges

Floating bridge deck ( bridge deck with bearings)

Semi integral bridges

Fully integral bridges

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Construction Materials
• Materials play key role in the evaluation of bridge structure

• Enhancement to the traditional material such as concrete, steel and

timber will continue.

• Revolutionary changes will occur in the areas of

• Fiber reinforced Polymer (FRP)

• High strength and high performance steel

• High performance concrete (HPC)

• Blending of FRP and timber

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Construction Materials . . . contd/-

Fiber Reinforced Polymer (FRP) :-
• FRP has some excellent properties as a structural material.
• Its application to bridges offers a possibility to solve problems that
bridges made of conventional materials are facing today such as
corrosion and damages incurred early in the life-cycle of a structure.
• FRP bridges has a competitive edge over other types of construction

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Construction Materials . . . contd/-

High strength and high performance steel :-
• Wider acceptance of high strength steel for their enhanced material
properties
• Improved material toughness and weldability of high strength steel
should be extend to all grades of steel
• Composite bars with steel core and a cladding of stainless steel or non
corroding material for use in concrete structures.

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Construction Materials . . . contd/-

High performance concrete (HPC)
HPC has good durability and strength characteristics
The use of HPC in bridge deck
• extend service life (durability of HPC is 3 to 10 times than NPC)
• Reduced LCC when compared to NPC bridge deck by 40-45%
• Better environmental profile with reduced CO2 emission incorporating
supplementary cementing material (SCM)

The World’s First UHPC Cable Stayed Bridge (Jobal Grand Bridge, Turnkey Bidding for Hwayang-Jeoggeum Road Construction)

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Construction Materials . . . contd/-

Other potential advanced bridge materials include

• Ultra-High-Performance Concrete 175MPa to 200MPa with

correspondingly high tensile strength

• Self consolidating concrete

• Light weight concrete

• Sacrificial deck system which allow rapid rehab (asphalt)

• Improved reinforcing steel (high strength, corrosion resistant)

• Carbon absorbing materials

• Use of recycled materials and recyclability of materials

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Loads on Bridges
• IRC loading has been in use since 1966 and need to be revised for

Vehicle relevant to traffic needs of 21st century

• Whether a different vehicle would better match the weight in motion

• Whether another vehicle would simplify computations

• A new “millennium truck” live load configuration need to be proposed

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Life-Cycle Cost
In 1983, David Billington, a Professor of Civil Engineering at Princeton University in

his book, The Tower and the Bridge wrote . . .

“but it is in principle, it is impossible to

determine the least expensive design because

cost is a social measure and not a scientific

one. Cost depends not upon some laws of

nature but rather upon patterns in society; it

depends upon time and place.”

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Life-Cycle Cost

Currently only functional performance and conventional

financial costing guide the design of new infrastructure

materials.

EXPECTATIONS REALITY

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Life-Cycle Cost

The optimum design for LCC will depend on the following

• Initial cost

• Expected rehabilitation cost

• Road user cost

• Socio economic losses

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Life-Cycle Cost

• Initial cost

The initial costs involved in design and construction of structural

and non-structural components of the bridge such as planning

and design, construction of foundation, superstructure,

accessories etc can be included in the initial cost.

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Life-Cycle Cost

• Expected rehabilitation cost

May arise as a result of exceedance of various critical failure

limit states that may occur over the life span of bridge.

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Life-Cycle Cost
• Road user cost

Road user cost consists of five major cost items namely

1. Vehicle operation cost
2. Time delay cost
3. Safety and accident cost
4. Comfort and convenience cost
5. Environmental cost

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Life-Cycle Cost
• Socio economic losses

Indirect socio economic losses are the result of multiplier or ripple

effect in the economy caused by functional failure of structure

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Life-Cycle Cost

Importance of Knowledge based Database to evaluate LCC

• Initial construction cost information

• Information on rehabilitation of structure

• Site specific information on site characteristics and traffic network

• Information associated with indirect cost

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Life-Cycle Cost Characterize bridge and

it elements

Define planning horizon, analysis

scenario(s), and base case

Define alternative bridge management strategies

Specify/select appropriate deterioration models and parameters

Estimate costs
Modify
LCCA -Agency, routine maintenance
management
-user, work related, other
Process -Vulnerability, agency and users
strategy

Calculate net pressure values

Review results
UNACCEPTABLE

OK

Select preferred strategy

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Sensitivity of life cycle cost analysis to key parameters

Factors that are more sensitive:

• The analysis period and performance period

• The predicted traffic over the design and analysis periods

• The initial investment

• The discount rate

• The timing of follow-up maintenance and rehabilitation activities

• The quantities associated with initial and follow-up maintenance and

rehabilitation.

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Life-Cycle Cost

Bridge LCC - Life cycle costing software for preliminary bridge design

• Developed by National Institute of Standard and Technology (NIST)

• User friendly

• Based on ASTM Standard E917 and cost classification

• Tailored for comparing new and conventional bridge material

(HPC Vs NPC)

• Can perform sensitivity analysis i.e. changes in individual

parameters

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Life-Cycle Cost
Bridge LCC - Life cycle costing software for preliminary bridge design

• Performs decision on

• What bridge design are LCC effective

• Whether to repair an existing bridge or replace it

• Whether to use a new construction material or process in bridge

design

• What are acceptable levels of cost risks associated with

earthquakes, river flooding and other disasters

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Observations from earlier studies

• LCC can be achieved by initial cost optimization at allowable stress
ration of 75%

• The expected cost of LCC optimization is much more economical

than that of both initial cost optimization by about 87%.

• The total expected LCC of the initial cost optimization design with
allowable stress ration of 75%

• A comparison of ordinary and integral bridges concerning the initial

cost and cost in maintenance and repair demonstrate quantitatively
by calculating the accumulated cost dependent

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Observations from earlier studies

• The use of HPC in bridge deck

• extends service life (durability of HPC is 3 to 10 times than NPC),

• Reduces LCC when compared to NPC bridge deck by 40-45%.

• Gives Better environmental profile with reduced CO2 emission

incorporating supplementary cementing material

• FRP deck is LCC effective for a particular class of bridge and traffic

levels

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Observations from earlier studies

• Currently the average lifespan of our bridges is about 40 to 45 years.

• Doubling the life spans of our bridges would go a long way towards

improving the overall sustainability of our transportation infrastructure and

bridges.

• Extending the service live of our bridges will start by adopting improved

design details.

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Observations from earlier studies

The following is the list of ideas to get the ball rolling

• Simplification of details

• Adaptable substructure design

• Consideration for bridge inspection, monitoring, and maintenance

• Allowance for future modifications and retrofitting such as for mass

transit

• Consideration of utility corridors along bridge alignment

• Appropriate focus on context-sensitive solutions.

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Design Life of Concrete Bridges

• Design Life – 120 Yrs. . . . Basis of 120Yrs. ?
• How to Design / calculate life at design stage ?
• Depends largely on quality of construction and degree of maintenance !!
• Measurability of design life – no structure (designed with modern codes)
has yet completed 120yrs of service life. . . Hence results will come late.
• Other influencing factors – viz. change of occupancy (purpose / loading),
change of exposure environment.
• Software programs – LIFE-365
• Based on carbonation depth.

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Reference Literature
1. Life-cycle design of concrete bridges – by T. Kovács & L.E. Laczák, Budapest.

2. Design Guide for Service Life of Bridges – SHRP 2 Report S2 R19A – RW-2,

Azizinamini.

3. NCHRP report 483 – (http://onlinepubs.trb.org/onlinepubs/nchrp/nchrp_rpt_483.pdf)

4. FHWA – Life cycle cost Analysis

5. ASTM Standard E917

6. Life 365 software

7. British – EURO code

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THANK YOU

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