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Balanced Cantilever Bridge

A balanced cantilever bridge consists of supported spans, cantilevers, and suspended spans arranged in a combination. The cantilever span is usually one-fifth to one-third of the main span. Some key advantages are that it is statically determinate, uneven foundation settlement does not cause distress, and peak moments are partly balanced by negative moments in the cantilever. Design considerations include analyzing the suspended span as simply supported, the cantilever span for loads on it and the suspended span, and the supported span under different live load scenarios. The articulation, where the suspended span connects, requires careful design to resist tensile, bending, and shear stresses.

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2K views4 pages

Balanced Cantilever Bridge

A balanced cantilever bridge consists of supported spans, cantilevers, and suspended spans arranged in a combination. The cantilever span is usually one-fifth to one-third of the main span. Some key advantages are that it is statically determinate, uneven foundation settlement does not cause distress, and peak moments are partly balanced by negative moments in the cantilever. Design considerations include analyzing the suspended span as simply supported, the cantilever span for loads on it and the suspended span, and the supported span under different live load scenarios. The articulation, where the suspended span connects, requires careful design to resist tensile, bending, and shear stresses.

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sushant metri
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  • Balanced Cantilever Bridge Overview: Introduces the concept of balanced cantilever bridges, defining their structure and highlighting their advantages over other types.
  • Design Considerations: Details the design considerations for the main girders of balanced cantilever bridges, including suspended and articulated spans.
  • Articulation Design: Covers the design of articulation, focusing on the loads and forces acting on these critical bridge components.
  • Reinforcement Design: Explains the reinforcement design process, including guidelines for designing nominal and shear reinforcement in bridge construction.

Design of Bridges by : Prof. M.

Manjunath
_____________________________________________________________________________________
Module V: Balanced Cantilever Bridge
Reference Books:
Johnson Victor
K.S. Rakshit

Definition: A Balanced cantilever bridge is a combination of simply supported and continuous


structures. They have the advantage of simply supported as well as continuous structures.

The advantages of Balanced cantilever bridge are as follows:


(i) The structure is statically determinate
(ii) Any uneven settlement of the foundation will not cause distress to the structure.
(iii) The peak positive span moments are partly balanced by the negative moment caused by the
cantilever, resulting in economical design.
(iv) Few number of expansion joints as compared to simply supported structure.
(v) Have better aesthetic appearance.
Structural arrangement:
The Balanced cantilever bridge structure consists of a combination of supported spans, cantilevers and
suspended spans arranged as shown in fig.
The suspended span is simply supported at the edge of the cantilever span, the connection is called
articulation.
Balanced cantilever bridges are usually used for spans ranging between 35 to 60m.
The cantilever span is usually about one-fifth to one-third of the main span.
Structural form:
Based on the span, the different structural forms are adopted, viz. (i) Solid deck slab (ii) T-beam and slab
with cross beams (iii) Hollow box girder etc. The typical cross section is shown in fig.
To achieve economy, the depth of the main girders is varied different profiles shapes i.e. either straight
or segmental or parabolic. A parabolic profile is preferred from aesthetic point of view.
Design consideration:
A. Suspended span:
The suspended span is designed as a simply supported span with supports at the articulations.
The suspended span is usually twice the cantilever span. This suspended span is designed for
maximum moments at mid-span and end sections are designed to carry the shear forces.
B. Cantilever span:
The cantilever span is usually about 0.2 to 0.25 of the supported span. The maximum moments
and shear in the cantilever portion is evaluated for loads acting on the cantilever as well as on
the suspended span. The maximum moments and shears at various sections of the cantilever is
determined by constructing Influence line diagrams.
C. Supported span:
For the design of the main span, the maximum negative moment at the support would occur
when the cantilever and suspended span are subjected to full live load with no live load on the
main span. Similarly the maximum positive moment at mid-span would occur with full live load
on the main span and no live load on the cantilever or suspended span. The maximum moments
and shears at various sections of the cantilever is determined by constructing Influence line
diagrams.
D. Articulation:
The articulation is the most important and vulnerable component of the bridge and is to be
designed carefully. The articulation is subjected to following forces:
(i) Vertical reaction from the suspended span due to LL and DL
(ii) Horizontal force due to braking, seismic, and temperature.
The articulation is designed to resist the direct tensile stresses, the bending stresses and
shearing stress.

Design of Articulation:
The articulation is the most important and vulnerable component of the bridge and is to be
designed carefully. The articulation is subjected to following forces:
(i) Vertical reaction from the suspended span due to LL and DL
(ii) Horizontal force due to braking, seismic, and temperature.

With reference to the figure


The forces on an inclined plane defined by ‘θ ‘ is given by
Direct tension on the plane, P = (R sin θ + H cos θ)
And Bending moment on the plane, M = R (a + D/2 tan θ) + H D/2
Shear force on the plane, V = R cos θ + H sin θ

The plane of maximum bending stress is given by tan 2 θ =

Similarly, the plane of maximum shear stress is given by tan 2 =

Max Shear stress =


Design of reinforcement:
Main Reft.: The section (critical section defined by ‘θ’ above) is designed for factored axial force Pu
(Tension) and moment Mu, as obtained above using SP:16.
Shear reft.: The nominal shear stress is obtained above is checked against design shear strength of
concrete and shear reft is designed accordingly if reqd.

General Procedure adopted in the Design of Balanced Cantilever Bridges:

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