STEEL-CONCERETE

COMPOSITE BOX GIRDER

BRIDGE
Types of transverse schemes for bridge decks:
Beam deck:

Slab deck:

Box girder:
Box Girders
Box girders are used extensively in the construction
of urban highway, horizontally curved, and long-
span bridges.
Box girders have higher flexural capacity and
torsional rigidity, and the closed shape reduces the
exposed surface, making them less susceptible to
corrosion.
Box girders also provide smooth, aesthetically
pleasing structures.
Types of Steel Box Girders
There are two types of steel box girders:
steelconcrete composite box girders (i.e., steel box
composite with concrete deck)
steel box girders with orthotropic decks.

Composite box girders are generally used in

moderate- to medium-span (30 to 60 m) bridges,
and steel box girders with orthotropic decks are
often used for longer-span bridges
Box Girder
The Deutz bridge was the first of the slew of
post-war steel box girder bridges, and the first
girder bridge to use the slightly arched profile
which soon became common on river crossings.
The bridge was widened in 1980 by building a
parallel (but connected) prestressed concrete
bridge.
completed: 1948
carries road, streetcar line across Rhine River
total length 0.4 mi.
history:
1946: construction started
1948: completed
1980: widened with concrete bridge
carries:
1948: 4 road lanes
crossing Rhine River
length: 1434 ft.
type: box girder structure: steel maximum span:
604(1) 3 spans total
Box Girder
Box Girder

the Samuel Beckett Bridge in Dublin, Ireland, opened on December 10, 2009. The cable-stayed steel box girder
bridge spans 120 m (394 ft) from quay to quay; the top of the arching steel pylon is 48 m (157 ft) above the
high water level of the River Liffey. Named for the Nobel Prize-winning Irish writer, the bridge was delivered by
barge as an essentially complete structure.
Box Girder

Orthotropic Box Girder-Crossbeam Connection

Open trapezoidal composite box
girder during construction
Variable depth trapezoidal box
girders

River Nene Bridge, Peterborough

Long span steel box girder bridge

Foyle Bridge, Londonderry

 Construction of a composite box girder
bridge

Network Rail standard box girder (shown for

three-box, twin track option

CTRL M20 Newington Bridge

Internal Stiffeners
Curved bridges

Where the road is curved in plan, box girders can be curved to suit, which ensures that
the cantilevers are of constant length.
Typical cross sections of composite box
girder
Flange Distance Limitation
 Typical components of a composite box
girder
A composite box section usually consists of two webs, a bottom flange, two top flanges and
shear connectors welded to the top flange at the interface between concrete deck and the
steel section.
Typical components of a composite box
girder
The top flange is commonly assumed to be adequately braced by
the hardened concrete deck for the strength limit state, and is
checked against local buckling before concrete deck hardening.
The flange should be wide enough to provide adequate bearing for
the concrete deck and to allow sufficient space for welding of shear
connectors to the flange.
The bottom flange is designed to resist bending. Since the bottom
flange is usually wide, longitudinal stiffeners are often required in
the negative bending regions.
Web plates are designed primarily to carry shear forces and may
be placed perpendicular or inclined to the bottom flange.
 Typical Section
A single cell box girder is easy to analyze and relies on torsional
stiffness to carry eccentric loads.
The required flexural stiffness is independent of the torsional
stiffness. A single box girder with multiple cells is economical for
very long spans.
Multiple webs reduce the flange shear lag and also share the shear
forces.
The bottom flange creates more equal deformations and better load
distribution between adjacent girders.
The boxes in multiple box girders are relatively
small and close together, making the flexural and torsional stiffness
usually very high. The torsional
stiffness of the individual boxes is generally less important than its
relative flexural stiffness.
General Design Principles
A box-girder highway bridge should be designed to satisfy
AASHTO-LRFD specifications to achieve the objectives of
constructibility, safety, and serviceability.
In multiple box-girder design, primary consideration should be given
to flexure. In single boxgirder design, however, both torsion and
flexure must be considered.
Significant torsion on single box girders may occur during
construction and under live loads.
Warping stresses due to distortion should be considered for fatigue
but may be ignored at the strength limit state.
Torsional effects may be neglected when the rigid internal bracings
and diaphragms are provided to maintain the box cross section
geometry.
Flexural Resistance
The flexural resistance of a composite box girders
depends on the compactness of the cross sectional
elements.
This is related to compression flange slenderness,
lateral bracing, and web slenderness.
A compact section can reach full plastic flexural
capacity.
A noncompact section can only reach yield at the
outer fiber of one flange.
Flexural Resistance
In positive flexure regions, a multiple box section is
designed to be compact and a single box section is
considered noncompact with the effects of torsion shear
stress taken by the bottom flange
Flexural Resistance
Flexural Resistance
In general, in box girders non-negative flexure regions design formulas of nominal
flexure resistance are shown in
Shear Resistance
For unstiffened webs, the nominal shear resistance
Vn is based on shear yield or shear buckling
depending on web slenderness.
For stiffened interior web panels of homogeneous
sections, the postbuckling resistance due to tension-
field action is considered.
AASHTO-LRFD Design Formula of Stiffeners
Stiffeners
Stiffeners consist of longitudinal, transverse, and
bearing stiffeners as shown in Figure 13.1.
They are used to prevent local buckling of plate
elements, and to distribute and transfer
concentrated loads.
Top Lateral Bracings
Steel composite box girders are usually built of three
steel sides and a composite concrete deck.
Before the hardening of the concrete deck, the top
flanges may be subject to lateral torsion buckling.
Top lateral bracing shall be designed to resist shear
flow and flexure forces in the section prior to curing of
concrete deck.
The need for top lateral bracing shall be investigated
to ensure that deformation of the box is adequately
controlled during fabrication, erection, and placement
of the concrete deck.
Internal Diaphragms and Cross Frames
Internal diaphragms or cross frames are usually
provided at the end of a span and interior supports
within the spans.
Internal diaphragms not only provide warping restraint
to the box girder, but improve distribution of live loads,
depending on their axial stiffness which prevents
distortion.
Because rigid and widely spaced diaphragms may
introduce undesirable large local forces, it is generally
good practice to provide a large number of
diaphragms with less stiffness than a few very rigid
diaphragms.
Fatigue and Fracture
For steel structures under repeated live loads,
fatigue and fracture limit states should be satisfied
in accordance with AASHTO 6.6.1.
Torsion
single box girder under the combined forces of
bending and torsion. For a closed or an open box
girder with top lateral bracing, torsional warping
stresses are negligible.
Research indicates that the parameter determined
Eq. provides limits for consideration of different
types of torsional stresses.

where G is shear modulus, J is torsional constant, and Cw is warping constant.

A box section under eccentric loads
Torsion
Constructibility
Serviceability
Transverse structural behaviour under uniform load
Transverse structural behaviour under eccentric
point load

(1) Transverse
local bending
(2.1) Transverse
local bending
(2.2) Longitudinal
bending
(2.3.1) Saint-
Venant torsion
(2.3.2) Distorsion
Additional systems to reduce the transverse local bending in the slab:
Bracing in steel and composite decks to resist distorsion forces:
 Diaphragms on box girders at the support sections

Aims:
To resist distorsion
To transmit horizontal and vertical internal forces to the
bearings at the support sections providing resistance to
the induce transverse internal forces
To allow access through an opening
 Modelling box girders
Location of the longitudinal elements:

One longitudinal element per web, located in the centroid of the section

Location of the transverse elements:

Transverse members located at diaphragms, mid-span section plus intermediate
sections
The ratio between the transverse spacing and the longitudinal spacing should not
be larger than 2 and smaller than 0.5
Properties of the longitudinal elements:

Second moment of inertia of the longitudinal members = Second moment of

inertia of the corresponding section
Torsional constant of the longitudinal members = Torsional constant of the
corresponding section (50% of the of the total torsional constant for every
member)
Properties of the transverse elements:

Second moment of inertia of the transverse members = Second moment of

inertia of the corresponding slab section, with respect of the centroid
Shear area of the transverse members = equivalent shear area to model the
transverse distorsion of the section

Torsional constant of the transverse members = Part of the Torsional constant

(close circuit through the support diaphragms) proportional the member width
Example
Properties
Solution
Solution
Shear Envelopes for Strength Limit State I
Moment and Shear Envelopes for Fatigue Limit State
Unfactored momment envelopes
Determine Load Factors for Strength
Limit State I and Fracture Limit State
Unfactored fatigue load moment
Unfactored fatigue load Shear
Assumed Values
Calcultae composite Section Properties
Typical Section for Positive flexure
region
Calculation
Section modulus
Short Term Composite Section Properties
Long Term Composite Section Properties
Elastic Composite section
Typical Section for Negative Flexure Region
Noncomposite Section Properties for Negative
Flexure Region
Composite Section Properties
Yield Moment My and Momen Capacity Mp
Yield Moment My and Momen Capacity Mp
Plastic Moment Mp
Plastic Moment Mp
Flexural Strength Design
Nominal Flexure resitence, Mn
Negative Flexure region
Nominal flange Stress
Nominal flange Stress
Calculate MAD
Calculate nominal Flexure
Shear Strength Design
Stiffened Web Panel
Fatigue Design