6.

Substructure Design
Abutment

• As a component of a bridge, the abutment

provides the vertical support to the bridge
superstructure at the bridge ends, connects the
bridge with the approach roadway, and retains the
roadway base materials from the bridge spans.
• Though there are numerous types of abutments
and the abutments for the important bridges may
be extremely complicated, the analysis principles
and design methods are very similar.
Abutment Types

• Open-End and Closed-End Abutments

• From the view of the relation between the
bridge abutment and roadway or water flow
that the bridge overcrosses, bridge abutments
can be divided into two categories: open-end
abutment, and closed-end abutment
Abutment Type Selection

• The selection of an abutment type needs to consider all

available information and bridge design requirements.
• Those may include bridge geometry, roadway and
riverbank requirements, geotechnical and right-of-way
restrictions, aesthetic requirements, economic
considerations, etc.
• Knowledge of the advantages and disadvantages for the
different types of abutments will greatly benefit the bridge
designer in choosing the right type of abutment for the
bridge structure from the beginning stage of the bridge
design.
Abutment Design Loads (Service Load Design)
Cases
Abutment Design Loads I II III IV V
Dead load of superstructure X X — X X
Dead load of wall and footing X X X X X
Dead load of earth on heel of wall X X X X —
including surcharge
Dead load of earth on toe of wall X X X X —
Earth pressure on rear of wall including
Surcharge X X X X —
Live load on superstructure X — — X —
Temperature and shrinkage — — — X —
Allowable pile capacity of allowable soil 100 100 150 125 150
pressure in % or basic
Fig. Configuration of abutment design load and load combinations.
Fig. Typical abutment drainage system.
 Backwall and Wingwall

Wingwall
A wingwall is a side wall to the abutment back wall or stem designed to
assist in confining earth behind the abutment backwall.
Backwall
A backwall, sometimes called the stem, is the primary component of the
abutment acting as a retaining structure at each approach.
 Abutment Slope Protection

• Flow water scoring may severely damage bridge structures

by washing out the bridge abutment support soil.
• To reduce water scoring damage to the bridge abutment,
pile support, rock slope protection, concrete slope paving,
and gunite cement slope paving may be used.
• Figure below shows the actual design of rock slope
protection and concrete slope paving protection for bridge
abutments. The stability of the rock and concrete slope
protection should be considered in the design. An enlarged
block is usually designed at the toe of the protections.
 Abutment Design
• Stability of the abutment is determined by
considering:
Sliding
Overturning
Failure of the foundation soil
Slip failure of the surrounding soil
Structural design
Pier Types
 Selection Criteria
• Selection of the type of piers for a bridge
should be based on functional, structural, and
geometric requirements.
• Aesthetics is also a very important factor of
selection since modern highway bridges are
part of a city’s landscape.
Fig. Typical cross-section shapes of piers for overcrossings or
viaducts on land.
 Pier Design Loads
• Piers are commonly subjected to forces and loads
transmitted from the superstructure, and forces
acting directly on the substructure.
• The effect of temperature changes and shrinkage of
the superstructure needs to be considered when the
superstructure is rigidly connected with the
supports.
• Where expansion bearings are used, forces caused
by temperature changes are limited to the frictional
resistance of bearings.
 Pier Design Loads
• Dead loads • Earth pressure
• Live loads and impact from • Stream flow pressure
the superstructure • Ice pressure
• Wind loads on the structure • Earthquake forces
and the live loads • Thermal and shrinkage
• Centrifugal force from the forces
superstructure • Ship impact forces
• Longitudinal force from live • Force due to prestressing of
loads the superstructure
• Drag forces due to the • Forces due to settlement of
friction at bearings foundations
 Live Loads
• Live-load reactions obtained from the design of
individual members of the superstructure should
not be used directly for substructure design.
• These reactions are based upon maximum
conditions for one beam and make no allowance
for distribution of live loads across the roadway.
• Use of these maximum loadings would result in a
pier design with an unrealistically severe loading
condition and uneconomical sections.
 Live Loads Contd.
• LRFD Section 3.6. For the calculation of the actual beam reactions on the
piers, the maximum lane reaction can be applied within the design traffic
lanes as wheel loads, and then distributed to the beams assuming the slab
between beams to be simply supported. (Figure 6.16). Wheel loads can be
positioned anywhere within the design traffic lane with a minimum distance
between lane boundary and wheel load of 0.61 m (2 ft).
• The design traffic lanes and the live load within the lanes should be arranged
to produce beam reactions that result in maximum loads on the piers.
• AASHTO LRFD Section 3.6.1.1.2 provides load reduction factors due to
multiple loaded lanes.
• Live-load reactions will be increased due to impact effect.
• AASHTO LRFD refers to this as the dynamic load allowance, IM. and is listed
here as in Table 6.4.
Wheel load arrangement to produce maximum positive moment.
 Design Criteria

• Like the design of any structural component, the design of a pier or column
is performed to fulfill strength and serviceability requirements.
• A pier should be designed to withstand the overturning, sliding forces
applied from superstructure as well as the forces applied to substructures.
It also needs to be designed so that during an extreme event it will prevent
the collapse of the structure but may sustain some damage.
• A pier as a structure component is subjected to combined forces of axial,
bending, and shear.
• For a pier, the bending strength is dependent upon the axial force. In the
plastic hinge zone of a pier, the shear strength is also influenced by bending.
• To complicate the behavior even more, the bending moment will be
magnified by the axial force due to the P-∆ effect.
 Design Criteria Contd.
• In current design practice, the bridge designers are
becoming increasingly aware of the adverse effects of
earthquake.
• Therefore, ductility consideration has become a very
important factor for bridge design.
• Failure due to scouring is also a common cause of
failure of bridges. In order to prevent this type of
failure, the bridge designers need to work closely with
the hydraulic engineers to determine adequate depths
for the piers and provide proper protection measures.
Scour

• Scour is the washing away of streambed material by water channel flow.

• Typically, scour occurs when the water channel becomes narrowed or
constricted.
• From basic fluid dynamics, we know that a smaller opening leads to a greater
velocity (Q = Av).
• If constrictions in the channel are significant, the velocity of the stream can
increase such that the substructure footings and/or piles become
undermined.
• Sharp bends or curves in the water channel also increase velocity which can
create cross-currents and turbulence.
• Scour can either occur locally at specific substructure components (local
scour) or over the entire structure crossing the channel (general scour).
• The removal of material from under a pier’s foundation, often associated
with scour, is known as undermining or undercutting.
 Scour contd.
• Scour protection is usually required where a bridge
is built across a meandering stream, when the
natural stone protection is removed or when some
restriction to the flow of the design flood occurs at
a bridge. Protection measures can take the form of:
 riprap on slopes or river bed
 gabion or Reno mattress aprons or revetments
 sheetpiled walls
 vegetation with deep roots
 river training works
Figure: An exposed pier footing shows evidence of undermining.
 Scour Protection:
• Scour protection is required when some restriction is made to the flow of the
flood.
• Riprap:
• It is carpet of loose stones, which protects the loose bed material for bed
protection and loose bank or embankment material from erosion by water
current. The stone elements must be heavy enough not to be carried away by
water.
• Gabion and Reno mattresses:
• The standard gabion is a rectangular basket made of steel wire mesh with
sizes of 2m, 3m and 4m long by 1m wide by 0.5m or 1m high. Reno mattress
is a mattress - shaped version of the gabion for use when the gabions height
and bulk are not needed as in lining river beds and banks. Their standard size
is 6m length, divided in to 6 compartments of 1m width..
 Scour Protection contd.
• Filter Blankets:
• If the river bed and bank material are non - cohesive
and fine, they may be washed away through the spaces
between the voids in riprap or gabion lining. This can
be prevented by using textile filter or using gravel filter.
• Vegetation:
• Many plant types can be used to protect river banks
against erosion. The most successful ones are almost
always those found growing natural.1y along t11e liver
being bridged.
 Scour Protection contd.
• Sheet piling of prefabricated RC or steel shall be
driven to form a continuous wall.
• The resulting wall is less flexible than gabions or
riprap and may fail due to movements in the
ground.
• To withstand the earth pressure it should be
designed through calculations.
• Only temporary sheet piling shall be made out of
wood.