DESIGN OF ABUTMENTS

IN RCC BRIDGES.

PRESENTED BY
C.PRAVEEN RAJ
DEFINITION & FUNCTION OF ABUTMENT
Bridge abutments connect the deck, or surface of the bridge, to the
ground and help support its weight both horizontally and vertically. On short bridges, one
abutment is placed at either end of the bridge and connected to the embankment,
sometimes including a retaining wall.

Longer bridges include additional abutments placed along the length, or

span, of the bridge to provide necessary support at regular intervals. While these will not
include a retaining wall, they still provide vertical support. The choice of abutment
depends on the available space, geologic features of the bridge site, and available
funding for the project.

COMPONENTS OF AN ABUTMENTS

# BEAM SEAT
# WING WALLS

# BACK WALL

# PILE

# FOOTING TOE

# STEM
BRIDGE SEAT:-
This horizontal shelf supports the bridge deck and is near,
or on, the top of an abutment. On the embankment, these will hold the end
of a span, while those placed along a span will provide support to reduce
extended stress. In the diagram, the shelf is represented in the diagram by the
letter A.

WING WALLS:-
These are only included in abutments that connect to the
embankment. They are short retaining walls to prevent erosion and add
stability. Wing walls are visible in the right half of the image and are not
included in the diagram.

BACK WALL:-
Also only included in embankment
abutments, backwalls rise above the
seat to provide a horizontal
brace from the bridge deck
and reduce erosion at the
connecting point.
PILE:-
An abutment's pile can either be a vertical wall connecting the
seat with the foot or a row of columns that serve the same purpose. On an
embankment, the vertical wall structure provides a retaining wall, while mid-
span abutments use more cost-effective columns. The pile of an
embankment abutment is represented by the letter C in the diagram.

FOOTING:-
This part of an abutment connects the vertical, load-bearing
portion of the abutment to the ground and is usually buried beneath the
earth. It consists of a horizontal surface, sometimes wider than the bridge, to
distribute the weight. Finally, the foot is represented by the letter D in the
diagram.

FOUR TYPES OF BRIDGE ABUTMENT

1) TYPICAL GRAVITY ABUTMENT

The typical gravity abutment is the most common type of

abutment, and it includes the bridge seat, backwall, footing, and wing walls
to hold the bridge's deck while including a retaining wall for the
embankment. Usually, the wing walls are placed parallel to the bridge seat
or at a slight, backward angle into the embankment.
2) U- ABUTMENT
This U-abutment is a form of abutment that
differs from a gravity abutment in the angle of the wing walls. These are
placed at a perpendicular angle to the bridge seat, extending toward the
embankment and away from the bridge.

3) SPILL-THROUGHT ABUTMENT
Spill-through abutments usually support the
bridge periodically through its span. While they do not include wing walls or a
backwall to retain the embankment, the deck rests on a beam supported by
columns or a short wall. Water or roadways are able to pass between the
supports. The length of the support structure varies to accommodate the
distance between the level bridge and the changing terrain below.

4) PILE BENT ABUTMENT

The pile bent abutment is a variant on a spill-
through abutment that replaces the wall-like supports with a series of piles, or
columns, to hold the support beam.
Considerations of Abutments for Bridges:

The abutments are subjected to the following loads and forces:

i) Self weight of abutments including the weight of the back-fill materials

over the abutments.

ii) Dead and live load from superstructure — minimum live load for checking tension
and maximum live load for checking maximum compression.

iii) Temperature and tractive or braking effect.

iv) Horizontal force due to wind on superstructure.

v) Centrifugal force if the bridge is on a curve

Abutment Design Loads and Other Parameters:
This provides a brief description of the application of
abutment design loads, a summary of load modifiers, load factors and other
design parameters used for abutment and wing wall design.

Application of Abutment Design Loads:

# An abutment is subjected to both horizontal and vertical loads from the

superstructure.

# The vertical and horizontal reactions from the superstructure represent

concentrated loads, they are commonly assumed to be distributed over the
entire length of the abutment wall or stem that support the reactions.

# The sum of the reactions, either horizontal or vertical, is divided by the

length of the wall to obtain a load per unit length to be used in both the
stability analysis and the structural design.

# designers shall include vertical reactions from reinforced concrete

approaches as they directly transmit load from the approaches to the
abutment.
Design reinforcement of Abutment Reinforcement plate in
one way:

The one way reinforcement plate will be

found if the plate cement more dominant in weight which is like bearing
bending one direction. For.

Because the bending moment only works in one way,

namely the direction of L span, so then main reinforcement is also
installed a one-way direction of that L span.

To keep the position of main reinforcement (in the

casting process) not changes in its position, so it will be installed additional
reinforcement which is the direction same with the perpendicular direction
to the main reinforcement.
calculation of reinforcement abutment

a) The calculation of retaining wall reinforcement.

In this calculation the cantilever plate with assuming
that the end plate is pinned. The calculation can be calculated with the formula:
b) The calculation of retaining wall foundation.
There are two kinds of retaining wall
foundation, the first reinforcement in the end of front and back
foundation. Based on the calculation formula, it assumed that the
foundation with oblong. The used formula: