1971

37th IABSE Symposium Madrid 2014

Temburong
Bridge,
Temburong Bridge,
Brunei A new
30 kmBrunei
road link A new 30km road link
Steve KITE
Associate Director
Arup
Hong Kong

Kok On YEE
Director of Roads
Public Works Department
Brunei Darussalam

Naeem HUSSAIN
Fellow & Director
Arup
Hong Kong

Kok Kong CHIN

Managing Partner
Ove Arup dan Rakan Rakan
Brunei Darussalam

Sammy YIP
Associate
Arup
Hong Kong

Murphy TO
Associate
Arup
Hong Kong

steve.kite@arup.com

kokkong_chin@yahoo.com.sg

wanchung.yee@pwd.gov.bn

sammy.yip@arup.com

naeem.hussain@arup.com

murphy.to@arup.com

Summary
The new 30km Cadangan Projek Jambatan Temburong (Temburong Bridge Project) in Brunei will
connect the relatively isolated district of Temburong with the more developed Brunei-Muara
district. Improved connectivity will enhance the movement of labour, goods and services to and
from Temburong, and will facilitate the development of eco-tourism in the area.
The paper describes the objectives of the project, the project planning, the procurement strategy and
the design for the various structures. Details are provided on the overall design criteria following
Eurocodes, the seismic analysis, and the construction planning.
Keywords: project planning, sea-crossing, procurement, Eurocodes

1. Introduction
Temburong District is isolated from the rest
of Brunei by the Brunei Bay to the north,
and Malaysian state of Sarawak to the south,
east and west. Its only land-based access is
the road that passes through Limbang,
Sarawak. Its isolated location and lack of
connectivity with the main commercial
districts of Brunei and the associated port
and airport infrastructure essential for global
trade and commerce has constrained the
economic growth in the district.
The Cadangan Projek Jambatan Temburong
(Temburong Bridge Project) in Brunei will
connect Temburong with the more
developed Brunei-Muara district. Improved
connectivity will enhance the movement of
labour, goods and services to and from
Temburong, and will facilitate the
development of eco-tourism in the area.

Fig. 1: Layout Plan of Temburong Bridge

The new 30km link will comprise 14,6km

long marine viaducts and cable stayed bridges across Brunei Bay, 12km of elevated structures
across the Temburong peat swamp forest and a small area of mangroves, and approximately 3,6km
road in Brunei-Muara district where 3 lengths of tunnels are required as well as at-grade roads and
viaduct ramps to link with the existing road network. The construction is planned to commence in
2014 with completion targeted in 2018. The key challenges include very soft ground conditions,
shallow waters, difficult access, lack of local raw materials and the required fast-track programme.

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2.

Objectives of the Project

The new link will bring significant socio-economic benefits to Brunei. These include:
Providing a road transport link for the movement of labour, goods and services to and from
Temburong, hence encouraging more business activities and development there.

Allowing direct movement of international visitors into Brunei and onwards to Temburong,
which has been earmarked as Bruneis centre for eco-tourism. Potential tourism clusters can be
developed that include not only Brunei but also surrounding Malaysia, by developing packages
that provide a range of locations and sights within the one visit. This has downstream effects to
Brunei tourism sector as a whole including the national airline, hotels and restaurants which
potentially could capture a wider tourism market that visits Temburong and onwards to other
areas.
Increasing mobility of the workforce so that more citizens can settle in quiet Temburong and yet
work and enjoy leisure time in the capital or other parts of Brunei. Over time, it is expected that
the link will allow a resident population within Temburong to establish and grow with it
commercial and industrial sectors and the necessary social infrastructure such as medical and
educational facilities. This will potentially result in greater social and economic development
for Brunei as a whole.
Providing easy land transport from Temburong to the port in Brunei-Muara, or to the shops and
markets in other districts of Brunei. At present, farmers in Temburong practice subsistence
agriculture rather than commercial agriculture. Temburong can be transformed into the
countrys source of commercial agriculture to help diversify the countrys oil-based economy
and help in reducing food commodity imports.
Providing a strategic link to allow Brunei emergency response teams to be dispatched to
Temburong quickly, or vice versa.

3. Project Planning
The Government of Brunei Darussalam has
recognised the geographical separation and lack
of connections to and within Temburong which
have constrained development and growth
within the district and development of its full
socio-economic potential. In 2010, Arup was
commissioned to carry out the feasibility study
to provide a road and bridge link between the
districts of Brunei-Muara and Temburong.
A route selection exercise was carried out to
determine the most favourable route across
Brunei Bay as well as the optimum connection
points in both Brunei-Muara and Temburong
districts. The route selection study took into
account a comprehensive range of criteria,
including transport planning, engineering, land
matters, environmental issues, impact on local
community, programme and cost. During this
exercise, land use [1] and environmental
information were collected in Geographical
Information System (GIS, see Fig. 2 for
screenshots) to better understand the
relationship between alignment options and
Fig. 2: Alignment options and environmental
various constraints. Stakeholders were also
consulted to understand their opinions and other constraints from GIS model
constraints.
After the route selection exercise, more in-depth engineering assessment, cost estimation and cost-

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benefit analyses were carried out. The conclusion of the feasibility study was that the Project is
technically feasible, economically viable and that the environmental impacts can be managed or
mitigated and hence acceptable.
Following the feasibility study, the Government decided to proceed with the construction of the
link. In early 2013, the Government engaged Arup to carry out detailed design and support services
for the procurement of the Project, including the prequalification and tendering processes,
management of the construction contracts and other associated engineering support.

4.

Procurement Strategy

In order to achieve the target opening date of 2018 for the project, a fast track approach is essential.
Delivering the project on a fast track basis requires innovative contract packaging and phasing of
works. Activities which might traditionally be carried out sequentially are carried out in parallel and
the schedule is managed to focus on critical path activities and give priority to construction
activities that take the longest time.
4.1
Procurement Arrangement
The Project is being procured as a traditional engineer-design, contractor-construct arrangement
under various contract packages. It is intended that all these construction contracts will be procured
by selective tendering method. Prequalification will be adopted, and the subsequent tender for the
contracts will be invited from prequalified tenderers only. The prequalification and tendering
process will be separately carried out for each construction contract.
4.2
Contract Packaging
The civil works for the project is divided into six construction packages in order to enhance
competition and permit an early start to the construction works. This also gives more opportunity
for local contractors to be involved in contracts suitable for their skills and experience.
The current division of the work is outlined in Fig. 3 below:

Fig. 3: Layout plan of Contract Packages

The main features of the packaging are:

Contract CC2 is exclusively 50m span typical viaducts. This is relatively more straightforward
to design than other components, and can therefore be tendered on a fast track basis. This is
important because it will take considerable time to construct the large numbers of spans.

Contract CC3 brings together both of the navigation bridges. These will take longer to design
but because the total quantity of construction work is less than Package CC2 it can be built in a
shorter time.

Contract CC4 involves the construction of structure across peat swamp forest of high
ecological value. The findings of environmental impact assessment and ground investigation
are crucial for design. These started in 2013 and hence CC4 is procured at a later date.

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Table 1 below summarises the key contract scope in more details:

Table 1: Summary of Contract Packages
Contract

Key Contract Scope

Length

CC1A
Mentiri Interchange

Grade-separated connection to Jalan Utama Mentiri.

Interchange

CC1B
Mentiri Tunnels

Tunnels across Mentiri Ridge;

At-grade roads and viaducts between tunnels.

about 3,6km

CC2
Marine Viaducts

Marine viaducts in Brunei Bay

Turnaround facility at Pulau Baru-Baru;
Provision for future connection to Pulau Berambang.

about
13,4km

CC3
Navigation Bridges

Navigation bridges across the Brunei Channel and

Eastern Channel;
Viaducts between tunnel portal and Brunei Channel
navigation bridge;
Connecting ramps to Jalan Kota Batu;
Administration building at Jalan Kota Batu.

about 1,1km
(and slip
roads)

CC4
Temburong Road

Land viaducts and river crossing bridge;

Turnaround facility;
Reconfiguration of Jalan Labu at connection point.

about
11,8km

Route-wide traffic control and surveillance systems.

Route-wide

CC5
Traffic Control and
Surveillance System

4.3
Tender and Construction Programme
In order to achieve the target date, the programmed construction period is 45 months. This is
governed by Contract CC2 Marine Viaducts. Therefore this package was tendered first. It was
estimated that Contract CC3 and CC4 would each take 36 months to construct. These packages are
therefore tendered in a second wave. By staggering the various contracts, the project procurement
team and bidding contractors can focus on each tender one at a time.

Fig. 4: Tender and Construction Programme (as of February 2014)

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5.

37th IABSE Symposium Madrid 2014

Design of various structures

As discussed in Section 4, the Project is divided into different contract packages, each with its own
special features. The following sections describe the design of the structures across Brunei Bay in
more details.
5.1

Functional Cross Section

The Project will be a dual two-lane highway with the provision of paved shoulders, except that
there is a short section of dual 3-lane carriageways between the future connection to Pulau
Berambang and slip road connections to the existing road Jalan Kota Batu along the coast of
Brunei-Muara. The wider section is required otherwise there will be merging traffic from slip road
and diverging traffic from mainline leading to safety issues and congestion.
5.2
CC2 Marine Viaducts
Contract CC2 comprises viaducts across Brunei Bay, which is shallow except at the two navigation
channels. There are mud flats in the Bay, as well as mangroves near the landing point on
Temburong side and other islands. The ground is very soft, with typically 20 to 30m of soft marine
clay. The shallow waters, very soft ground conditions and the fast track programme pose significant
challenges to both design and construction.
5.2.1 Superstructure
The viaducts will be in the form of twin post-tensioned concrete single-cell, box girders with
exclusively 50m spans. Typical modules are formed by 6 spans of continuous deck. To fit between
the contract boundaries, some modules are formed by 5 spans. These standard modules have typical
box cell with 3.8m wide soffit. Figure 5 shows a typical cross-section of these modules.
2000
H/S

7300
C/W

700

700

M/S

M/S

7300
C/W

2000
H/S

Fig. 5: Typical cross-section of standard twin box girders

The turnaround facility at Pulau Baru-Baru, the dual 3-lane section and the transitions to these
require a much wider deck area compared to the typical. This is achieved by adding narrower box
cell with 2.8m wide soffit at each side. Figure 6 shows a cross-section.
2000
H/S

VARIES
C/W

700

700

M/S

M/S

VARIES
C/W

2000
H/S

Fig. 6: Cross-section of viaducts at transition section

The box girders will be post-tensioned with a combination of internal and external tendons. To
achieve the 45-month programme, the viaducts are designed for construction by precast segmental
span-by-span erection method. Construction by precast full-span launching method is also
permitted. Continuity between separate spans is achieved by a 200mm wide cast in-situ stitch. This

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minimises the amount of in-situ concreting and more importantly, the narrow gap would facilitate
the delivery of material such as precast segments on the erected deck.
5.2.2 Substructure
Due to the shallow water, dredging or temporary access bridge will be required to gain access to
carry out piling works. A number of foundation options were studied. Bored piles were initially
considered but to achieve the required programme and to minimise cost, it was decided that driven
piles would be adopted instead. Three types of piles are used:
(1). Majority of the piles will be 1m diameter concrete spun piles, which are precast circular
hollow sections with high density concrete achieved by spinning during the manufacturing
process.
(2). Steel tubular piles of 1m diameter are adopted for locations where hard materials are shallow.
(3). Steel tubular piles of 1,6m diameters are adopted at piers subject to higher ship impact forces
near the navigation channels
To construct the piles rapidly, it is envisaged that contractors would drive the full length of 30 to
70m long piles in one piece on site. This will require the use of large piling rigs on barges.
The soffit of pile cap will be above the Mean High High Water level for ease of construction. The
pier columns are solid for short piers and hollow for piers taller than 5,5m. To simplify
construction, there is no pier crosshead and the deck will sit on the pier columns.
5.2.3 Articulation
One of the key drawbacks of the use of concrete spun piles is that they have limited capacity to
resist bending and can behave in a brittle manner. Compound with the fact that the ground
investigation information would not be available until a late stage during detailed design, the design
team decided to use high damping rubber bearings for all the bearings of marine viaducts. Not only
this reduces the seismic force on the foundations, it also reduces the sensitivity of the design to the
ground conditions.
5.3
CC3 Navigation Bridges
There are two navigation channels in Brunei Bay, namely Brunei Channel and Eastern Channel.
Each channel will be crossed by a cable stayed bridge. The Brunei Channel Bridge will be a
gateway between the Brunei-Muara and the Temburong districts and hence designed as an iconic
bridge. The Eastern Channel Bridge will follow a similar form.
To cater for future navigation needs of trade and
navy vessels, Brunei Channel Bridge will have a
main span of 145m with the soffit level at about
23m. The Eastern Channel Bridge will cross an
international waterway with a main span of 260m
and the soffit level at about 34m. Both bridges
have a concrete ladder beam deck which
comprises two edge girders and cross beams
between the edge girders, with concrete slab
spanning between the cross beams. Foundations
will be 2,2m diameter concrete bored piles.
The concrete pylons are designed to be unique
and instantly recognisable with gateway qualities
and incorporating Islamic architectural features.
The design of the two cable stayed bridges are discussed in further details in another paper [2].
Fig. 7: Rendering of Brunei Channel Bridge

6.

Design Criteria

In Brunei, bridges used to be designed to British Standards. In this project, it was decided that
Eurocodes, with UK National Annex where relevant, would be adopted. A project-wide Master

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Design Criteria has been established to clarify how the Eurocode rules shall be applied in the
design, and supplemented with additional project specific criteria where necessary to cover issues
such as seismic action, wind climate and ship impact.
The main loading considered are briefly described below:
1) General actions Dead loads and superimposed dead loads are implemented in accordance with
the relevant parts of Eurocodes and the UK National Annex.
2) Traffic action The UK National Annex traffic action is adopted as other bridges in Brunei have
been designed for UK Highways Agency BD37 loading previously. This ensures that the bridges
in the transport network are designed for similar loading.
3) Wind action A site-specific wind climate assessment was carried out based on historic data.
Considering the thunderstorm phenomenon which could lead to sudden burst of high wind
speed, the 10-minute wind speed with mean return period of 50 years is conservatively taken as
26m/s at 10m above mean sea level.
4) Thermal action A statistical analysis of historical data was carried out and the maximum and
minimum air shade temperatures are 40C and 15C respectively.
5) Action during execution This is specified for each type of structure. In particular, parts of the
marine viaduct substructures and the cable stayed bridges are governed by the execution stage
loading.
6) Accidental action The cable stayed bridges are designed for sudden rupture of stay cables and
50MW gasoline spill fire on bridge carriageway. Ship impact is discussed further in section 6.1.
7) Seismic action A site specific probabilistic seismic hazard assessment was carried out for
Brunei to establish the bedrock seismic response spectra. Seismic analysis and design are
discussed further in section 6.2.
6.1
Ship impact
Apart from the two navigation channels described in section 5.3, the rest of Brunei Bay is very
shallow. Current vessel movements are very scarce in the Bay, with the largest vessel recorded
being 36m long. Despite that there is no known plan for future port development, a larger 80m long
rivertrade vessel was selected as the design vessel to safeguard future development opportunities.
The bridges are designed for ship impact in accordance with BS EN1991-7 [3]. As there is
generally no specific rule on the probability based analysis in this standard, the methodology in
AASHTO (American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials) Guide
Specification and Commentary for Vessel Collision Design of Highway Bridges [4] was adopted to
carry out the probability based risk assessment. A large number of vessels was assumed
conservatively such that the design ship impact forces are essentially established in a deterministic
way. For piers further away from the navigation channels, vessel collision associated with drifting
vessels at the speed of water current has been considered for robustness.
6.2
Seismic analysis and design
Based on the probabilistic seismic hazard assessment, it can be established that Brunei is a low
seismicity region based on the definition in BS EN1998-1 [5]. Despite this fact, considering the
importance and scale of this project, seismic design is essential.
Seismic analysis and verification have been carried out in accordance with BS EN1998-1 and BS
EN1998-2 [6]. The ground comprises thick layer of soft material and is hence classified as Type S,
which means that site specific response analyses are mandatory to establish the ground
displacement and design seismic response spectra (see Fig. 8).
The bridges are designed for two performance levels - Ultimate Limit State with 975-year return
period earthquake and Structural Integrity Limit State with 2475-year return period earthquake. In
order to achieve this, the analysis and verification rules in Eurocode 8 are followed for the 975-year
earthquake. Additional checks are then carried out for the 2475-year earthquake to ensure that there
is no brittle failure of non-ductile structural elements and no unseating of superstructure.

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3.5

Design response spectra (Brunei Bay)

975 year

Spectral Acceleration (m/s2)

Spectral Acceleration (m/s2)

Bedrock response spectra

2475 year

2.5
2
1.5

1
0.5
0
0

2
Period (s)

10

975 year

2475 year

6
4
2

0
0

2
Period (s)

Fig. 8: Bedrock and design response spectra

7.

Conclusion

The new 30km Cadangan Projek Jambatan Temburong will facilitate the development of
Temburong and Brunei as a whole. During the project planning stage, a comprehensive feasibility
study was carried out. Several route options were studied and an optimal solution was chosen
considering a wide range of criteria. The conclusion was that the Project is technically feasible,
economically viable and that the environmental impacts can be managed or mitigated.
To achieve the opening target date, an innovative procurement strategy and contract packaging has
been adopted to achieve a fast track programme. The marine viaduct construction is critical to the
delivery programme and has been designed in such a way that maximise the use of precast elements
to minimise the construction time. The solution is precast concrete box girder erected by span-byspan launching method with the use of driven concrete spun piles or steel tubular piles. To make the
bridge an iconic structure in Brunei, the two navigation channels will be crossed by two cablestayed bridges with unique concrete pylons that incorporate Islamic architectural features.
The Project is one of the first major projects in East Asia that is designed to Eurocodes.

8.

Acknowledgements

This paper has been published with the permission of the Public Works Department, Ministry of
Development, the Government of Brunei Darussalam.

References
[1]
[2]
[3]
[4]
[5]
[6]

DEPARTMENT OF TOWN AND COUNTRY PLANNING, National Land Use Master

Plan 2006-2025, Ministry of Development, Brunei Darussalam, November 2008.
HOOTON M., SALIM M., CARLUCCI A., YIP S., MONEYPENNY K., KITE S.,
Temburong Bridge, Brunei: Design of two cable stayed bridges, IABSE Symposium
Madrid 2014: Engineering for Progress, Nature and People, September 2014
BS EN1991-7:2006, Eurocode 1: Actions on structures - Part 1-7: General actions
Accidental actions, 2006
American Association of State Highway and Transport Officials, Guide Specification and
Commentary for Vessel Collision Design of Highway Bridges, 2nd Edition, 2009
BS EN1998-1:2004, Eurocode 8: Design of structures for earthquake resistance Part 1:
General rules, seismic actions and rules for buildings, 2004
BS EN1998-2:2005 + A2:2011, Eurocode 8 - Design of structures for earthquake resistance
- Part 2: Bridges, 2005 Incorporating corrigenda February 2010 and February 2012

IABSE Madrid Symposium Report, Vol. 102

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37th IABSE Symposium Madrid 2014

Temburong
Bridge,
- Design
two cable stayed bridges
Temburong
Bridge, Brunei
DesignBrunei
of two cable
stayedof
bridges
Martin HOOTON
Associate
Arup
London, UK

Hj Mazlan Abd SALIM

Senior Executive Engineer
Public Works Department
Brunei Darussalam

Alberto CARLUCCI
Senior Engineer
Arup
London, UK

Sammy YIP
Senior Engineer
Arup
Hong Kong

Kelvin MONEYPENNY
Senior Engineer
Arup
London, UK

Steve KITE
Associate Director
Arup
Hong Kong

martin.hooton@arup.com

sammy.yip@arup.com

mazlan.salim@pwd.gov.bn

kelvin.moneypenny@arup.com

alberto.carlucci@arup.com

steve.kite@arup.com

Summary
The Temburong Bridge Project is a 30km long dual two-lane highway crossing over the Brunei
Bay. It will connect the relatively isolated Brunei district of Temburong to the other three Brunei
districts. The main objective of the project is to stimulate economic growth in the Temburong
region by connecting it to the countrys airport and ports. The alignment crosses two navigation
channels resulting in the need for two cable stayed bridges the Brunei Channel Bridge (145m
main span) and the Eastern Channel Bridge (260m main span).
The design of these cable stayed bridges is one of the first applications of the Eurocode to a fully
concrete cable stayed bridge. Both cable stayed bridges draw on strong Islamic architectural
influences from the region to form a tower shape that is unique and instantly recognisable.
Keywords: Cable stayed bridge, concrete ladder beam deck, sea crossing, Eurocodes.

1.

Introduction

The Brunei district of Temburong is separated from the other three Brunei districts by the Brunei
Bay and Malaysian state of Sarawak. The journey time between Temburong and the rest of Brunei
can take several hours by road through Sarawak, else, the journey can be made by boat across the
Brunei Bay. This separation has limited the potential economic growth of Temburong compared to
the more prosperous Brunei-Muara district. The Cadangan Projek Jambatan Temburong
(Temburong Bridge Project) is a proposed 30km long dual two-lane highway project to connect
Temburong and Brunei-Muara, thus giving Temburong an economic boost from direct highway
access to the countrys airport and ports. The
construction is planned for completion in 2018.
The whole crossing comprises of a 14.6km long
marine viaduct, 12km long section of elevated
structure over peat swamp forest, 3km of tunnel
and several kilometres of highway at grade.
Further description of the project is given in [1].
There are two navigation channels along the
marine section of the crossing the 130m wide
Brunei Channel and the 235m wide Eastern
Channel. To cross these channels cable stayed
bridges will be constructed, with main spans of
145m and 260m respectively. These two cable
stayed bridges are the subject of this paper and
are here in referred to as the Brunei Channel
Bridge (BCB) and the Eastern Channel Bridge
(ECB).
Figure 1: Site Plan of Temburong Bridge

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2.

Design Basis

Historically Brunei has adopted the British Standards supplemented by local standards. As British
Standards have been superseded by the Eurocode in the United Kingdom (UK), the Brunei
authorities took the decision to adopt the Eurocodes with the UK National Annex for the project.
These standards are supplemented with project and location specific requirements, in particular to
take account of differences in climate and seismicity between Brunei and the UK.
The following are the main loading parameters adopted:
The highway loading is in accordance with BS EN 1991-2 [2] and the UK National Annex.
Load Model 1 and Load Model 3 SV196 are both adopted.
Brunei is a tropical climate with small annual temperature ranges and high humidity. The design
temperature range is 15 - 40Co.
Brunei is located just outside of the south-east Asian region that is frequently hit by typhoons.
Spikes in the wind speed records from regional anemometers indicate that wind speeds are
generally low, but higher speeds are being recorded due to the action of thunderstorms. The 10minute mean wind speed of 26m/s for a 50-year return period is a consequence of such
thunderstorm phenomena.
The site is a region of low seismicity. The bridges are founded on a thick layer of soft material
(Eurocode class type S) with spectral horizontal ground acceleration for a 975-year earthquake
of up to 0.7g.

3.

General Description

3.1

Brunei Channel Bridge

25m

82m

The Brunei Channel Bridge (BCB) is a single tower cable stayed bridge with a 145m navigation
span and a symmetrical 145m side span.
The all concrete ladder beam deck is 37.2m wide and formed from longitudinal edge girders with
transverse cross beams at 4.15m spacing. The stay cables are anchored into the edge girders. The
edge girders and the transverse cross beams are post-tensioned.
The general arrangement is illustrated in this Figure 2:

145m

145m

Figure 2: Brunei Channel Bridge General Arrangement

The main tower is a sculpted A-shape, 107m tall, supported on a group of 2.2m diameter bored
piles. Stay cable saddles support the cables. The deck is monolithic with the tower and the deck is
supported on high damping rubber bearings at the end piers which also support the marine viaducts.

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3.2
Eastern Channel Bridge
Despite a longer overall span and differences in width, the Eastern Channel Bridge (ECB) is
conceptually the Brunei Channel Bridge with two towers.
The main span is 260m with 130m side spans. The all concrete ladder beam deck is 30.2m wide
with a transverse cross beam spacing of 4.9m. The towers are of a similar form to the BCB tower,
but slightly taller at 110.5m and slightly narrower to suit the deck width.

130m

260m

130m

Figure 3: Eastern Channel Bridge General Arrangement

4.

Parametric Analysis and Design

The two cable stayed bridges show a similar architectural language which reinforces the idea of two
bridges being part of the same infrastructure link. This has been translated into common shapes and
details, even though the overall arrangement, span lengths and deck widths are different. The same
structural system has been chosen for both bridges and the similarity of the detailing and the
geometry will have a positive impact for the construction phase as, in the case the bridges will be
built in series, the same equipment can be used on one bridge might be re-adapted or even re-used
for the erection of the other one.
Common structural features of the two bridges have led to an efficient design process. In fact, given
the geometrical and conceptual similarities between the two bridges, a parametrical analysis of
them resulted effective and led to an optimized design of both structures. A common database to
both bridges was created through which, by only varying the few distinguishing geometrical
variables of the two bridges, it was possible to generate the structural modelling of them from a
unique source. The common model generation was also tied with similar verification tools adopted
for both structures and this process helped to improve the efficiency of the design process and
reduce the total time spent on the design of both bridges.

Figure 4: Structural analysis models for BCB (left) and ECB (right)

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5.

Deck Design

2.6m

Both Eastern Channel Bridge and Brunei Channel Bridge have a ladder beam deck that is cast insitu in sequential deck segments. The option selection process showed how this deck choice at this
span range is capable of satisfying the aesthetic requirement of a slender deck line with economical
use of materials.
Crossbeams span between the edge girders at regular spacing and they are shaped with a T-section
having the sides slightly inclined to facilitate the removal and reuse of the formwork system during
their casting. They are post tensioned along their axis by typically two tendons per beam which are
anchored at the deck edges. The spacing of the crossbeams along the axis of the bridges was chosen
so that the same cross section and a similar tendon arrangement (i.e. tendon number profile and
types) can be adopted for both bridges. This explains why the bridge with the wider deck (Brunei
Channel Bridge) has the smaller spacing of crossbeams and vice-versa. With this configuration the
weight of one cast segment, comprising two crossbeams is similar for the two structures, and
consequently similar erection equipment can be used for both bridges.
Also the edge girders are longitudinally post tensioned with the majority of tendons concentrated in
the mid-span regions where the maximum sagging moment occurs. The same number and size of
tendons (12 x 31 strand tendons) are defined for both the mid-span region of the Eastern Channel
Bridge and for the Brunei Channel Bridge spans. The tendons are curtailed to follow the shape of
the bending moment envelope, but they are not present in the regions close to the tower where the
axial force induced by the stay cables is sufficient to provide the resistance of the girder.

37.2m

Figure 5: Brunei Channel Bridge Deck Cross Section

In parallel to having similar tendon arrangements, the size of the edge girder is the same for both
bridges, 2m wide by 2.6m deep. The stays are anchored at the edge girders in proximity to the
connection with the crossbeams and the anchorage blocks of the stays lie within the width of the
edge girders in a clear attempt to make the detail compact and functional.
Three-dimensional geometric coordination between the crossbeam tendon anchorages, the stay
anchorages and the longitudinal edge girder tendon profiles was fundamental to the design of the
edge beam. The area available to place the longitudinal tendons was circumscribed from the stay
anchorages on one side, the crossbeams anchorages at the top and at the bottom and from a required
minimum concrete cover on the other side to allow a smooth bend out at the anchorage location.

Stay

Crossbeam
tendons

Edge
girder

Longitudinal
tendons

Crossbeam tendons
Anchorages space
allowance

Figure 6: Deck Stay Cable Anchorage Arrangement

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Stay Anchorages
space allowance

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As a result, the tendons are positioned closer to the centroid of the girder than to the bottom surface
but this, rather than inconvenient, was a clear actuation of the Eurocode design strategy.
In Eurocode 1992-2 [3] Section 7, for post tensioned concrete structures exposed to a marine
environment, all tendons under the Serviceability Limit State frequent combination shall remain
within the compression zone with a margin equal to at least cmin,dur to the neutral axis, and that for
the same combination the crack width shall be
limited to 0.2 mm. In conjunction with the
tuning of the stay cables, positioning the
tendons close to the centroid of the section
helped to satisfy the decompression
requirement and it was found that their
efficiency was improved if, within the same
combinations, the maximum tensile stress at
the surfaces of the beam was kept below the
mean tensile strength of the concrete, fctm. In
this case, the code allows the designer to
consider the section uncracked for the purpose
Figure 7: Deck Edge Beam Section
of stress calculations, which implies that by
remaining uncracked, the entire section is effective and the neutral axis is kept closer to the surface.
In addition, given that the section can be considered uncracked, the required crack width check is
automatically satisfied and the demand of additional passive reinforcement at the surfaces was
mainly governed by the Ultimate Limit State capacity checks both in service and, in particular,
during construction.
Close to the tower, where there are not any tendons in the edge girders, the member can be
considered in those regions as ordinary reinforced concrete element and therefore the durability
crack width check has to be carried out for the SLS Quasi Permanent combinations, which in
accordance to the code do not include any traffic live load. As a consequence, in those regions
where there is a substantial axial compression due to the horizontal component of the stay cable
prestress forces, the sections are uncracked under the above combinations and so, again, the
durability crack width requirement is automatically satisfied with the passive reinforcement only
governed by capacity requirements.
The deck has a 250mm thick slab which spans between the crossbeams and within the effective
width acts in composite action with the crossbeams in one direction and with the edge girders in the
other.
At their ends, the bridges have solid diaphragms sitting over the bearings and thus also acting as
counterweight by eliminating undesirable bearing uplift.
In both bridges the deck is integral at the towers through a torsionally resistant hollow box
crossbeam which becomes a solid diaphragm at the tower joint.

6.

Tower Design

The tower is the unique element of this pair of cable stayed bridges. It is inspired by Islamic
architecture with the objective to be instantly recognizable.
The side legs have a curved tapering shape in the front view from the deck, while they are linearly
reducing in section when viewed from the side elevation. The side faces of the tower, perpendicular
to the bridge axis, are slightly curved in a way to reduce the perception of its mass and at the same
time to be consistent with the curvilinear architectural language. The tower legs are connected
above the deck with a recessed infill wall which terminates with an Islamic arch. The arch is framed
with a ribbed feature that originates from the pile cap kicker level and then tapers out reaching the
maximum width at the crown of the arch. This element is strong with symbolism as each of the four
ribs represents one of the four districts of Brunei. Above the arch there is a long window slot in the
infill wall, which allows sun-light to filter through the tower and lighten the appearance of the front
elevation. The four ribs and the slot above them signify the unification of four districts into one by
the project bridge link. The symbols of the moon and the star mounted on top of the tower are the
crowning features.

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Figure 8: Tower Visualisations for BCB (left) and ECB (right)

The apparent complex geometry of the tower was resolved structurally with relatively simple
solutions and well established means of construction. The side legs are the primary structural
elements of the tower, supporting the stay cables. They are characterised by a hollow section with
constant wall thickness all round from foundation level to the deck diaphragm, and then again up to
the first stay saddle. Then the legs become solid so as to guarantee adequate material to resist the
increasing localized compression stresses at the stay cable locations. The recessed upper tower infill
provides the necessary stability to the system being made up of two separate walls. The cavity
between them, in addition to making the structure lighter and minimizing material use, provides
also an inspection route from the hollow legs at deck level to the top of the tower where operational
equipment is mounted.

B-B
A-A
A

7.

Figure 9: Tower Cross Sections: section along mid plane (left), side legs
hollow section (centre), side legs solid section (right)

Stay Cables and Saddles

The number of stay cables is an optimisation between the quantities of the stay cables and the
quantities of prestressing required within the deck. As a result of an optimisation study, 12 stay
cables per fan were optimal for ECB and 16 for BCB. The stay cables are placed in a modified fan
arrangement. At deck level, the spacing between the first stay and the tower was maximised to
exploit the structural capacity of the deck girder, and to increase the angle between the first stay and
the tower, which improved the aesthetics of that connection. Stay cables are anchored at alternate
crossbeams so that there is one stay per edge girder in each segment.
A multi-strand system is specified for the stay cables, where each 15.7mm diameter 7-wire strand is
individually protected against corrosion by being encapsulated in a tightly extruded HDPE cover
along its length. This system has the significant benefit of allowing installation and tensioning of
each strand, as well as individual strand removal and replacement. Both bridges have been designed
to allow replacement of an entire stay, as well as the accidental loss of a single stay cable.
During the design process, the determination of the stay load factors in accordance with the
Eurocode was not straightforward. In fact, depending on the stiffness of the structure, references
should be made to BS EN 1992-2 in the case of a stiff deck, and to BS EN 1993-1-11 [4] for a
flexible deck, but there is no clear guidance in the code as to determine to which category a

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structure belongs. A comparative study of built structures that were clearly flexible was carried out.
The conclusion was that a structure can be considered flexible when the application of the stay
force to the final stage model was within the allowable tolerance and resulted in a deflection more
than or equal to the allowable vertical deck tolerance, i.e. it can be easily measured. Both Brunei
bridges satisfied this rule and therefore the principles of EN1993-1-11 could be applied. In
accordance to section 5 of that code, (G+P) was taken as equal to Self Weight + Super-imposed
Dead Load + Creep + Shrinkage + Stay prestress, all measured and confirmed at the time of hand
over by reference to the actual stay loads and the actual achieved deflections. The (G+P) case was
then factored at ULS with factors 1.35/0.95 (or better still with the weighted factors which consider
the different SDL factors in the UK NA) with the residual creep and shrinkage from handover to
time infinite factored at ULS with factors 1.2/0.0.
Saddles were chosen at the tower so as to avoid the need for an inspection access route throughout
the full height of each tower leg, which would have been necessary for an anchorage system. This
resulted in more compact and aesthetical appealing towers. Modern cable saddles address the
corrosion protection requirements of the stay cable system and do not limit the multi-strand
advantage of individual strand replacement. Asymmetrical frictional loads transferred to the tower
are taken up through the strand and the allowable magnitude of this force was checked against the
rather conservative Coulomb friction formula reported in the section 6 of BS EN 1993-1-11.

max Ed 1 e M , fr (1)
FEd 2
Where FEd1 and FEd2 are the design values of the force respectively on either side of the saddle, is
the coefficient of friction between cable and saddle, is the angle in radians, of the cable passing
over the saddle and is the partial factor for friction.

Following the normal saddle design approach, a similar check was also introduced at the
Serviceability Limit State in order to prevent a sudden slippage of the saddle in service.

8.

Construction

For concrete deck cable stayed bridges, particularly those that adopt saddles in the tower, the
construction sequencing of the deck is critical to achieve an economical design and stability during
construction. The following construction sequence has been assumed in the design as no contractor
has been appointed at the time of writing.
8.1
Tower construction
The tower construction sequence is conventional, but with additional complexities due to the shape
of the towers. The tower legs can be cast in constant height lifts of approximately 4m with a jumpformwork system capable of adapting to the tapering cross section. The ribs on the inside of the legs
form a constant sized feature within the leg formwork to a point above deck level where the ribs
start to grow in size. At this point the arch ribs are cast separately and the leg casting continues up
the tower. Due to the inward inclination of the tower legs, the two legs are connected with
temporary horizontal struts at regular intervals. These struts can also be used to assist the casting of
the infill concrete wall that spans between the tower legs. Once the infill wall is cast between the
tower legs the final task is to cast the growing rib feature above deck level.
8.2

Deck construction

A cast in-situ deck cycle was developed to avoid additional materials to those required for the inservice condition of the bridge. For both cable stayed bridges, the first portion of the deck from the
tower to the first stay is cast on falsework supported by the wide tower pile cap. For the further
segment casting a balanced cantilever erection cycle is proposed. The sequence is that traveller
forms are launched forward, simultaneously or sequentially, into position to cast the new segments,
then all segment reinforcement is fixed and the cable stay anchors, stressing anchors and ducts are
installed. The stay cable is then installed and subject to a first stage of prestressing against the
formwork. Portion 1 (Figure 10) of the east and west segments are cast, and afterwards Portion 2,

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and in both cases simultaneously or sequentially. Finally the second stage of stressing of the stay
cable from both ends is performed after having been released from the formwork system.

Figure 10: Deck casting sequence

This sequence will allow the contractor flexibility to cast the two ends of the cantilevers
independently and sequentially on the condition that the cantilevers are not out of balance by more
than 50% of the deck segment weight acting with the same lever arm. 100% deck segment out of
balance was not possible as it resulted in an uneconomical deck and tower, with greater likelihood
of saddle slip during construction.
The adoption of temporary buffeting cables between the deck and the tower pile cap are assumed in
the design for the following benefits:
- reduction in wind buffeting response of the bridge during construction, in particular at the
maximum extent of the balanced cantilever construction;
- reduction in the unbalanced bending moment in the tower legs due to differential weight of
cantilevers can be compensated with the prestress of the buffeting cable.

9.

Conclusions

When built, the Brunei Bridges will be landmark and iconic structures for Brunei.
The towers are the most recognisable elements and, whilst having an apparent complex geometry,
they have been designed with conventional and well established structural solutions and means of
construction. The bridges show evident similarities, both in the towers and in the ladder beam
decks, and this led to an improved design efficiency by adopting a parametric procedure of analysis
while common detailing is expected to bring benefits during the construction.
These bridges have been one of the first applications of Eurocode to the design of a fully concrete
cable stayed bridge.

10.

Acknowledgements

This paper has been published with the permission of the Public Works Department, Ministry of
Development, the Government of Brunei Darussalam.

11.

References

[1]

KITE S., YEE K.O., HUSSAIN N., CHIN K.K., YIP S., and TO M., Temburong Bridge,
Brunei A new 30 km road link, IABSE Symposium Madrid 2014: Engineering for
Progress, Nature and People, September 2014
BS EN 1991-2, Eurocode 1: Actions on structures - Part 2: Traffic loads on bridges, 2003
BS EN 1992-2, Eurocode 2: Design of concrete structures - Part 2: Concrete bridges
Design and detailing rules, 2005
BS EN 1993-1-11, Eurocode 3: Design of steel structures - Part 1-11: Design of structures
with tension components, 2006

[2]
[3]
[4]

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