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SUMMARY
Over the last few decades, there has been a rapid increase in the volume and weight of heavy
vehicles using national road networks. At the same time, more than fifty percent of the bridge
structures are over forty years old all around the world. Consequently deterioration of the
existing bridges due to increasing traffic loads, exposure to adverse environmental conditions
and structural aging has become a major problem today. These bridges are not able to cope
up with the current traffic requirements and require either weight restriction, strengthening or
even total replacement. Several methods developed to strengthen such bridges. Due to
economical reasons, design engineers are looking for costeffective strengthening methods
for bridges. External post-tensioning is one of the widely used strengthening techniques due
to its advantages. The external post-tensioning has been applied mainly in bridges and the
technique is growing in popularity because of the speed of construction and minimal
disruption to traffic flow. This paper briefly discusses the use of external post-tensioning in
new bridges and strengthening of existing bridges. Some of the recent research and
development on the applications of external post-tensioning for bridge rehabilitation are also
discussed.
1. INTRODUCTION
The rapid growth in the weight and volume of heavy vehicles has resulted in continuous
increase in the design loads for the bridge structures in recent years. Because of this, many of
existing bridges are considered inadequate to meet the current design load requirement.
Consequently, the deterioration of the existing bridges due to exposure to adverse
environmental conditions and structural aging has become a major problem today.
Combination of these factors has resulted in either imposing weight restriction on these
bridges or upgrading the existing bridges to satisfy the increased loads.
Various methods for bridge rehabilitation are currently available including the replacement of
damaged or under-strength members or components, addition of structural material using
steel or reinforced concrete jackets, bonded steel plates, etc. Two methods that are currently
proving to be very useful in increasing the capacity of short and medium span bridges are
plate bonding (either fibre reinforced plastic (FRP) laminates or steel plates) and external
post-tensioning (1). These methods can be applied to a wide range of structures. This paper
focuses on the use of external post-tensioning, and presents some applications in new and
existing bridges.
External post-tensioning and plate bonding are two methods proving to be very useful in
increasing the capacity of short and medium span bridges. However, external post-tensioning
has many advantages over other strengthening techniques. Some of the advantages include:
Economical construction
Easy monitoring and maintenance
Easier tendon layout, placement and easier construction and compaction
Can be use in wide range of the bridges (small, medium and long span bridges)
Figure 1 shows typical layout of an externally post-tensioned box girder bridge. Generally,
the external tendons are placed in the hollow section of the box girder. The prestressing force
is transferred to the beam through end anchorages and deviators.
External Tendons
Deviator Blocks
Diaphragm Anchorage
Post-tensioning for bridges has been in use since the 1950s and there are many examples
throughout the world. In most situations, the load is applied through prestressing cables,
either single or grouped strands. In some applications, the stress has been applied through
high tensile bars. In a few cases, the stress is applied using more unconventional techniques.
For example, stress in a tendon can be developed by anchoring a straight tendon in place and
imposing a deflection at mid-span. The deflection is then retained by fixing the deflected
point. Prestress can also be developed by applying a load to impose a deflection in the deck
prior to anchoring the tendons or bars. An extension on the use of external tendons is to place
them at large eccentricities. This is possible only when external prestressing is used, since the
tendons need not be arranged within the concrete section (Figure 2).
External prestressing has been developed in many countries, particularly for new bridges,
during the eighties after the invention of high performance steel with adequate protection
against corrosion. The development of fibre reinforced plastic (FRP) tendons led to a
remarkable use of external prestressing in bridges. Because external prestressing system is
simpler to construct and easier to inspect and maintain as compared with the internal tendon
system, it has been proposed recently in the construction of segmental bridges (4, 5) as well.
Some of the recent application of external prestressing in the new bridges is briefly discussed
in the following section.
Figure 3: Shigenobu River Bridge, Japan Figure 4: external tendons inside box-girder
In this structure, the external tendons are placed below the girder in the mid span region by
means of steel struts, the function of which is similar to a truss. At the intermediate support
region, it is placed above the bridge deck. Considerable research and analysis has been
performed before the construction of this bridge (6). This is a novel application where the use
of external post-tensioning has been effectively used to enhance the appetence of the bridge.
The use of prestressed concrete box girder bridges with corrugated steel webs is being
constructed widely considering the cost effectiveness to construct new bridges. In this
structure, the concrete webs are replaced with corrugated steel plates to reduce the self-
weight, which also simplify the construction. Figure 6 shows the typical section of a
prestressed concrete bridge with corrugated webs (6). Basically, the prestress is provided by
means of bonded tendons arranged in the upper and lower flanges of concrete slab and
unbonded external tendons, since the webs are made of steel plates. It is known that a
reduction of self-weight of about 25% can be achieved in this kind of structures, compared to
conventional prestressed concrete box-girder bridges. Number of bridges with corrugated
steel webs has been constructed worldwide. Some examples of such bridges constructed with
this technique are discussed below.
External tendons
The Ginzan-Miyuki Bridge has five spans with a total length of 210 m, which was the first
bridge to be constructed in Japan using the incremental launching method. Weathering steel
plates were used for the web. The feature of this bridge is that stud dowels connectors were
adopted for the connection between concrete and steel plate. Further, the connection between
steel plates in the direction of the bridge axis was by means of bolt connection of the end
plates. This method was adopted considering the aesthetic appearance of the bridge.
The Shirasawa Bridge that has a span of 50 m was also constructed in Japan using supported
formwork (Figure 7). The unique feature of this bridge is that, it has a horizontal curvature
with a radius of 250 m. The presence of horizontal curvature influences the overall behaviour
and torsional deformation of the structure, which need appropriate analysis and design.
Another feature of this bridge is that perforbond connection was adopted for the first time
in Japan to connect the steel web and lower flange of concrete slab. The Kogawauchi-gawa
Bridge with a length of 160 m was constructed by the cantilever lunching method. Painted
steel plates were used for the web. The connection between steel and concrete was by means
of angle dowels, which is the main feature of this bridge. The above examples illustrate by
the use of external post-tensioning how composite bridges can be designed to enhance better
performance by effective use of materials such as steel and concrete.
Figure 9: Shirarika River Bridge made of Figure 10: Transparent sheaths used for
HLA concrete inspection of grouting
The above application illustrates the ongoing development to improve grouting issues related
with internal and external bonded tendons. It is expected with improved protection to steel
external tendons, the use of this technology will become more popular.
The following projects are some examples of the application of external post-tensioning in
strengthening of bridges.
Figure 11: View of the Condet Bridge Figure 12: Kemlaka Gede Bridge after
after Strengthening (1) Strengthening (1)
Figure 13: Morrison Bridges headstock Figure 14: Shear strengthening of Tenthill
strengthening, USA Creek Bridge, Gatton, QLD
(Source: http://www.co.multnomah.or.us/)
A similar project was carried out to strengthen the headstock of the Tenthill Creek Bridge
located in Gatton, Queensland (Figure 14). Heavy transportation across the Tenthill Creek
Bridge has caused some shear cracking in the headstocks. The headstock was strengthened by
external post-tensioning. The shear cracks were properly repaired with epoxy injection prior
to the external post-tensioning to achieve maximum efficiency of the strengthening. It is
envisaged this type of strengthening will be used more in the near future for headstock
strengthening.
6. CONCLUDING REMARKS
External post-tensioning has been a popular technology that had been used in the construction
of new bridges and strengthening of existing bridges.
It is evident that the external post-tensioning is a viable technology for new bridges that
had resulted in the construction of several innovative bridge including composite bridges,
bridges with large eccentric tendons and bridges using lightweight concrete.
This technology has been successfully used for flexural and shear strengthening of
existing bridges in many part of the world.
While this technology is viable, there is need for further research especially in the area of
shear strengthening of members such as headstocks with existing cracks.
While the adoption of external post-tensioning technology in Australia has been limited,
the authors believe that the trend will improve with further research and development of
this technology. Such development could lead to sustainable bridge management in
Australia.
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