End-Warping Bracings during the Construction of Steel Bridges
Publication: Journal of Bridge Engineering
Volume 21, Issue 12
Abstract
Slight bracing of steel bridges to control end warping of the compression flanges near the end supports can be very effective in enhancing the load-carrying capacity of the main girders that are involved. Relatively little information is available, however, regarding the stiffness and strength requirements of end-warping bracings. The results of seven large-scale laboratory tests of different configurations of bracings, including plan bracing and corrugated metal sheets, used in a twin I-girder bridge to resist end warping at support points are presented here. Bracing forces generated in the plan bracings of the test bridge were also compared with those obtained through an approximate analysis for the preliminary analysis of such bracings. Moreover, the bracing forces present in the cross beam of the test bridge were obtained for the different end-warping brace configurations that were investigated. The bracings, the plan bracing type and corrugated metal sheets, were found to effectively enhance the load-carrying capacity of the test bridge. Only relatively small forces were generated in the bracing bars to achieve such a substantial increase (by a factor of greater than 2.0) in the load-carrying capacity of the studied bridges.
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Acknowledgments
The financial support from The Lars Erik Lundberg Stipendiestiftelse to this study, the research grant from Byggrådet to support the laboratory tests, and the material support by Structural Metal Decks Ltd. for the required corrugated sheets are gratefully acknowledged.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Bridge Engineering
Volume 21 • Issue 12 • December 2016
Copyright
© 2016 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Dec 2, 2015
Accepted: May 10, 2016
Published online: Jul 7, 2016
Published in print: Dec 1, 2016
Discussion open until: Dec 7, 2016
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