Steel-concrete composite bridges, both road and rail, have experienced a veritable boom in France since the late 1970s. Whilst highly competitive, primarily in the area of medium span structures, composite bridges have consistently extended their range of usage ...
Steel-concrete composite bridges, both road and rail, have experienced a veritable boom in France since the late 1970s. Whilst highly competitive, primarily in the area of medium span structures, composite bridges have consistently extended their range of usage through development specifically towards large spans, the design of which has progressed ever further away from prestressed box girder and steel structures. This guide reviews in detail the design and construction of the most common composite road structures, namely girder and box girder bridges. It is intended not only for Clients and Owners, but also design, construction and methods engineers. The present guide therefore replaces and supersedes the Sétra guide entitled "Ponts mixtes acier-béton bipoutres / Guide de conception" [twin girder steel-concrete composite bridges / design guide], published in October 1985, updating of which was necessary in relation to specific points (new design and material standards, wide structures) as well as complementing of major areas, such as box girder deck design and construction methods. This new guide also replaces and supersedes Sétra technical report No. 8, entitled "Montage des ponts métalliques" [steel bridge construction], published in 1973.
The guide comprises seven sections:
• Section 1 introduces the road composite structures covered by the guide and provides a succinct
review of relevant production over the last years; it recalls the most outstanding recent bridges and
positions composite bridges with respect to sustainable development criteria;
• Sections 2 and 3 include first a general, then a much more detailed, description of standard twin
girder and box girder composite structures;
• Sections 4 and 5 provide more technological descriptions of structural steelwork transportation-
installation and concrete slab construction respectively;
• Section 6 describes the precautionary measures to be integrated at design stage in favour of structural
maintenance and durability;
• Section 7 provides recommendations on both preparing French public tender DCEs [contractor
consultation packages] for standard composite structures and the content of their text documents.
The guide also includes three appendices: the first lists the main composite bridges built in France between 1995 and 2005, the second contains a bibliography and the third a glossary of the principal composite bridge construction terms.
This document is the fruit of extensive group work and represents a powerful illustration of the know-how possessed by French engineers and builders.
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