Two New Earthquake Resistant Integral Abutments for Medium to Long Span Bridges

Mitoulis, Stergios A.; Tegos, Ioannis A.

doi:10.2749/101686611x12994961034011

Cited by 3 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 12 publications

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“…Integral abutment bridges (IABs), whose abutments are rigidly connected to the deck, are frame structures that have no bearings or expansion joints, which became popular recently [2,3], as they comply with the urgent requirement for maintenance-free bridges [4]. Hence, extending the length limits of IABs is a major challenge that was faced by researchers [5][6][7] as they can reduce costs and maintenance requirements [8].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Extending the application of integral frame abutment bridges in earthquake‐prone areas by using novel isolators of recycled materials

Mitoulis

Palaiochorinou

Georgiadis

et al. 2016

Earthq Engng Struct Dyn

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Integral Abutment Bridges (IABs) are jointless structures without bearings or expansion joints, which require minimum or zero maintenance. The barrier to the application of longspan IABs is the interaction of the abutment with the backfill soil during the thermal expansion and contraction of the bridge deck, i.e. serviceability, or when the bridge is subjected to dynamic loads, such as earthquakes. The interaction of the bridge with the backfill leads to settlements and ratcheting of the soil behind the abutment and, as a result, the soil pressures acting on the abutment build-up in the long-term. This paper provides a solution for the aforementioned challenges, by introducing a novel isolator that is a compressible inclusion (CI) of reused tyre derived aggregates (TDA) placed between the bridge abutment and the backfill. The compressibility of typical tyre derived aggregates was measured by laboratory tests and the compressible inclusion was designed accordingly. The CI was then applied to a typical integral frame abutment model, which was subjected to static and dynamic loads representing in-service and seismic loads correspondingly. The response of both the conventional and the isolated abutment was assessed based on the settlements of the backfill, the soil pressures and the actions of the abutment. The study of the isolated abutment showed that the achieved decoupling of the abutment from the backfill soil results in significant reductions of the settlements of the backfill and of the pressures acting on the abutment. Hence, the proposed research can be of use for extending the length limits of integral frame bridges subjected to earthquake excitations.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Extending the application of integral frame abutment bridges in earthquake‐prone areas by using novel isolators of recycled materials

Mitoulis

Palaiochorinou

Georgiadis

et al. 2016

Earthq Engng Struct Dyn

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Challenges and opportunities for the application of integral abutment bridges in earthquake-prone areas: A review

Mitoulis

2020

Soil Dynamics and Earthquake Engineering

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Numerical modelling of integral abutment bridges under seasonal thermal cycles

Caristo¹,

Barnes²,

Mitoulis

2018

Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers - Bridge Engi

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The interest in Integral Abutment Bridges (IABs) from the industry has increased in recent years. IABs are robust bridges without joints and bearings hence they are durable and virtually maintenance-free; moreover, the resulting cost-saving associated with their construction is significant, a fact that makes IABs appealing to Agencies, Contractors and Consultants. However, their use in long-span bridges is limited by the complex Soil-Structure Interaction (SSI) which is developed between the structure and the backfill soil. Thermal movements, horizontal loads and dynamic actions are transferred directly to the backfill soil, leading to settlements, ratcheting effects and high earth pressures, hence deteriorating the serviceability of the structure and leading to poor driving conditions for the end-users. The longer the integral bridge the greater the challenge, as movements are increased and so are the aforementioned SSI phenomena. This is an acknowledged gap in IAB design philosophy and even though many solutions have been proposed in the international literature, the emphasis is placed on the understanding of the mechanisms developed within the soil, rather than on the efficient design of the involved components. This is the gap that this research fills. This paper provides an extended review of the techniques used in the international literature and in practice to alleviate the interaction between the bridge abutment and the backfill. Subsequently, the performance of an innovative isolation system for IABs using recycled tyres as a compressible inclusion is studied using detailed numerical models of a representative three span IAB. The inclusion decouples the response of the abutments and the backfill soil under static and dynamic loads. Regarding the methodology followed for assessing the performance of the IAB with the TDA isolator, initially, a conventional IAB is subjected to realistic temperature time histories and amplitudes essentially providing an envelope of the thermal cycles for 120 years of the bridge service and then a second IAB, isolated from the backfill, is subjected to the same loading. The two bridges, i.e. conventional and isolated, are then analysed for different initial restraint conditions, in order to determine the effect of initial temperature on the development of pressures behind the abutment walls. The comparison of the responses showed that the proposed isolation scheme is an effective and sustainable method to isolate the structure from the backfill soil, reducing the pressures experienced by the abutments and the residual vertical displacements of the backfill soil. The proposed research can be of use for extending the length limits of integral abutment bridges, delivering in this way long lasting and more sustainable infrastructure for future highways.

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Two New Earthquake Resistant Integral Abutments for Medium to Long Span Bridges

Cited by 3 publications

References 12 publications

Extending the application of integral frame abutment bridges in earthquake‐prone areas by using novel isolators of recycled materials

Extending the application of integral frame abutment bridges in earthquake‐prone areas by using novel isolators of recycled materials

Challenges and opportunities for the application of integral abutment bridges in earthquake-prone areas: A review

Numerical modelling of integral abutment bridges under seasonal thermal cycles

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