F H E C O R J Ingenieros Consultores

New bridge over Tajua River

in Spain

Hugo Corres Peiretti

Javier Torrico
Javier Milin
Alberto Reig
Jos Romo
Alejandro Prez

ABSTRACT
This bridge is 2.000 m long and 140m high due to environmental
requirements. Strict economical restrictions led to a bridge design that
could be constructed in 36 months. The bridge has 14 spans of
40+3x70+150+5x250+150+2x70+40 m. The deck has a very large 24.0 m
wide, variable depth single-box cross section. The central part of the main
span was designed with H-35 lightweight concrete whereas high
performance H-75 concrete was used at the piers. The main 250 m spans
are to be built by the balanced cantilever method. The piers are very high,
up to 125 m, with a hollow box cross section at the bottom and two shafts
at the top, all made of high performance H-75 concrete

1. DESIGN CONSTRAINTS
1.1 Functional and layout constraints
The plan layout of the bridge is straight in almost its entire length; in
elevation it has a constant slope of -1.25% except at abutments.
The freeway's cross section includes two roadways, each of which
houses two 3.50m lanes for traffic, interior and exterior hard
shoulders (1.0m and 2.50m wide respectively) as well as double rigid
barriers. Both roadways are separated 2.0m (measured between the
inside edges of the interior shoulders). Transversely, the cross
section has a 2% crown, which changes towards the abutments to a
2% camber.
1.2 Constructive constraints
Constructive constraints are of great importance in the case of this
structure, due to the high altitude at which the road crosses the
valley. This situation leaves cantilevered construction coupled with
self-propelling formwork as the only choice. Current self-propelling
formwork systems have a maximum span of 70-80m, therefore only
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the side spans may be built using this method. During the
cantilevered construction of the main 250m spans, the deck must be
fixed at the piers; in some cases it will be permanently fixed and in
others only during construction.
The decks' height limits lightweight concrete strength to 35 N/mm,
since at the present time stronger concretes cannot be pumped to
such heights.

1.3 Aesthetic constraints

The magnitude of the structure and its height imply a large visibility
from the valley beneath, therefore aesthetics have been a major
factor in the design of this bridge.

Figure 1: Proposed solution Tajua valley with bridge.

1.4 Geotechnical constraints

The geotechnical characteristics at the construction site demand
piled foundations.
1.5 Economic constraints
The dimensions of this bridge make cost another factor of prime
importance, consequently all possible solutions where thoroughly
assessed in this respect.
2. PROPOSED SOLUTION
The selected solution consists of a single prestressed concrete boxgirder deck for both roadways, with a total width of 24.0m. The
central reserve is 2.0m wide, including both rigid barriers.

Figure 2: Proposed solution Elevation view

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The viaduct's total length of 1980.0m between abutment axes is

distributed in 14 spans as follows:
40+3x70+150+5x250+150+2x70+40m. The decks' depth is constant
and equal to 4.0m in the 40 and 70m spans, whilst in the cantilever
spans it tapers from 16.50m at the piers (d/L = 1/15.2) to 4.0m at
midspan (d/L = 1/62.5).
The box-girder is 7.5m wide, hence the length of the overhangs is
8.25m. This length implies the use of varying depth ribs (1.40m
maximum), which are 5.0m apart. The separation between ribs has
been chosen so that there is only one rib in each of the dowels
which comprise the deck. Web thickness in the box-girder is 0.60m
(constant) with top slab thickness varying between 0.32m and
0.20m. The bottom slab has a constant thickness of 0.30m for the 40
and 70m spans, and a variable thickness between 2.50m at the piers
and 0.30m at the midspan section.

Figure 3: Proposed solution Cross section at midspan and piers.

The deck will be built using both high performance and lightweight
concrete, lightweight concrete for the overhangs and the central
portions of the cantilever spans, and high performance concrete for
the box girder at the piers and in the 40 and 70m spans. This aspect
will be more thoroughly discussed in the next chapter, construction
process.
Prestressing in the 40 and 70m spans consists of 5 or 6 tendons per
web which are put in tension at the end of each stage. This is
reinforced with additional prestressing along the bottom slab once
the deck is complete. Prestressing in the cantilevered spans serves
two purposes; tendons in the top slab are needed to ensure that the
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structure is self-supporting during construction, whereas tendons in

the bottom slab, which are put in tension once the deck is complete,
are needed at the SLS and ULS. Tendons in the top slab are put in
tension two by two in each construction stage.

Figure 4: Proposed solution 3D View.

There are two types of piers, the first type (corresponding to the
side spans, piers 1 to 4 and 11 to 13) have a hollow rectangular cross
section of 7.5 x 3.0m with 0.30m thick walls, and heights ranging
between 9.5 and 46.3m. The deck is supported at these piers by POT
bearings, which allow displacement along the longitudinal axis.
The second type of piers (piers 5 to 10) is required to fix the deck
during the balanced cantilever construction process whilst
remaining flexible with respect to longitudinal displacements; their
height ranges from 59.2 to 124.8m. Each of them consists of two
hollow rectangular shafts, with a 9.0m axis-to-axis longitudinal
separation at the top which 50m bellow is reduced to 5.0m; from
that point to the pier foundation both shafts become a single
vertical shaft.
Shaft dimensions at the top are 8.50x3.0m, 0.25m thick in the
transverse direction and 0.35m thick in the longitudinal direction.
The shafts have a 1/66 slope in the transverse direction and a 1/166
slope in the longitudinal direction. Piers 6 to 9 are fixed to the deck,
piers 5 and 10 however are hinged to increase their flexibility with
regard to longitudinal displacements. During construction they will
be fixed to the deck using reinforcement bars.
The deck is supported at the abutments by a pair of 9.0m long,
2.30m wide walls reaching to the wall which contains the
embankment. This design follows the need to absorb the decks'
longitudinal displacements, (mainly due to rheological and thermal
loadings), whilst also housing both the expansion joint and the
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damper system. These elements are very large due to the fact that
the deck has no intermediate joints along its 1980m length.
Piled foundations have been used both at the piers and at the
abutments, with 1.80m diameter piles. Foundations for piers 1 to 4
and 11 to 13 consist of 9 piles with a 14 x 14m variable depth pile cap.
Piles 5 to 10 comprise 49 piles each, with a two-way prestressed pile
cap 36 x 36m wide and variable (3 to 8m) depth. Abutment
foundations consist of 6 piles each, with a variable geometry pile cap
3m deep.
3. CONSTRUCTION PROCESS
Construction will proceed as follows:

Foundation construction
Pier and abutment construction. Piers will be built using
travelling formwork.
Deck construction. Work on spans built using self-propelling
formwork and cantilever spans may proceed simultaneously.
The side spans (built on self-propelling formwork) will be
constructed in two stages, firstly the 9.5m wide box girder with
high performance H-75 concrete and then the 7.25m long
overhangs with HL-35 lightweight concrete.

Figure 5: Cross section construction stages in the 40 and 70m spans.

Construction stages for side spans are as follows:

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Construction of span 1 and 1/5 of span 2.

Construction of the remainder of span 2 and 1/5 of span 3.
Construction of the remainder of span 3 and 1/5 of span 4.
Construction of the remainder of span 4 and 14.0m of span 5.
Dismantlement of self-propelling formwork and assembly at
abutment 2.
Construction of span 14 and 1/5 of span 13.
Construction of the remainder of span 13 and 1/5 of span 12.
Construction of the remainder of span 12 and 14.0m of span 11.
Dismantlement of self-propelling formwork.

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Balanced cantilever spans will also be built in two stages, the first
stage is to be built with 14.7m wide dowels, with ribs and overhangs
being built in a second stage. Dowels from the pierhead to 9 are of
high performance H-75 concrete, whilst dowels 10 to closure are to
be built with HL-35 lightweight concrete.

Figure 6: Cross section construction stages for balanced cantilever spans.

Each 125m long cantilever is divided into 27 dowels, plus the

pierhead and closure stitches. The pierhead section is 14.6m long,
dowels 1-7 are 2.5m long, 8-26 are 5.0m long whilst dowel 27 is 4.0m
long. The closure stitch is 2.4m long. Maximum dowel weight is 426
ton.

Figure 7: Distribution of dowels for each 125m long cantilever.

Construction stages for cantilever spans are as follows:

Pierhead sections on piers 5 to 10 will be built using formwork

supported directly on the pier; once completed form travellers
will be built on them.
One dowel on either side of the piers will be built in each stage,
which includes placing of reinforcement bars, concrete pouring
and curing, top slab tendon tensioning and grouting as well as
form traveller displacement. Each stage will take 1 to 2 weeks,
depending on which dowel is built.
Once the closure stitch is built tendons connecting both
cantilevers along the bottom slab will be put into tension.

In spans 5 and 11, a 12.2m gap will remain between the portion built
on the self-propelling formwork and the cantilever. This portion will
be finished using formwork suspended from the edges of the
cantilever and the adjoining 70m span. It will be built entirely with
HL-35 lightweight concrete in two stages, using the same detailing
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as in the side spans. Once the curing of the concrete is complete the
tendons in the lower slab will be put into tension, thus completing
the structure.

New bridge over Tajua River in

Span Ribs and overhangs will be built using form travellers

Once the structure is complete barriers, paving and other details

will be completed.
4. CALCULATION
A single FEM model, which includes the complete sequence of the
construction process, has been used to calculate the structure. Long
term stress redistribution effects have been taken into account
using the Spanish EHE model. Creep coefficients have been
calculated as an average of all the dowels, considering both the date
in which they were loaded and the date at which construction ends.
Pier calculation was done using a specific model for each pier which
took into account both geometric and material non linearities. Each
pier was modelled independently from the deck, considering the
corresponding restraints at its head: none for piers 14 and 1114,
blocked longitudinal displacements for piers 5 and 10, and
embedded for piers 69.
Loadings included, depending on the pier, either horizontal forces
or imposed displacements, axial forces and bending moments
obtained from a linear calculation, and wind on the shaft. Pier
stability has been studied both during the construction process and
with the completed structure.
Transverse bending was calculated using slab models, which
included the position of ribs in order to determine how much
bending was absorbed by the ribs and how much was absorbed by
the longitudinal bending of the slab between ribs. The results of
these models were used to gauge actions to be introduced in the
cross section models which study its behaviour as a frame.
4.1 Calculation model
The overall model is a 3D FEM model using bar-type elements. It
contains a number of subsystems which take into account the
different stages of the construction process as well as the varying
cross section properties.
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yzx

New bridge over Tajua River in

Span
Figure 8: Elevation view of the FEM model

Each construction stage has been modelled in a different subsystem

so as to introduce the loads due to the construction of the next
dowel on the previous dowel. During construction piers 5 and 10 are
fixed to the deck, once the structure is complete the support
system changes in order to allow rotation, in accordance with the
fixed POT bearings used. Loads applied during the construction
process are as follows:
Self weight of the next dowel, with a single out-of-balance
dowel.
Prestressing of the current stage.
Form traveller displacement.
Construction live load, on one or both cantileveres.
Transverse or longitudinal wind, simultaneous with vertical
wind.
4.2 Non linear pier calculation model
Every pier has been calculated as an independent support with a
specific model considering both mechanical and geometric non
linearities. Piers have been conservatively modelled as cantilevers in
the transverse direction, disregarding the restraining capacity of the
other piers and deck. Restraints in the longitudinal direction are
different for each pier, for piers 1 to 4 and 11 to 13 displacements and
rotations are both free since they are equipped with sliding POT
bearings. Piers 5 to 10 have both displacements and rotations free
during the construction process, however once the structure is
complete they have different restraints; piers 5 and 10 have blocked
displacements but are free to rotate (they are equipped with fixed
POT bearings), whereas piers 6 to 9 have both displacements and
rotations blocked.
4.3 Cross-sectional analysis
Transverse bending has been studied using plate models which
include the position and stiffness of the ribs. Since two different
types of concrete have been used on the deck, and since the second
stage of construction has different widths along the bridge, several
such models have been considered in order to account for all
possible combinations.
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In view of the results obtained from these models, two different

reinforcement areas have been included in the slab. The first, heavily
reinforced area, has a width of 3.0m and is centred on the ribs,
whereas the second 2.0m wide strip is located between ribs.
Web bending has been studied at pier and midspan sections, as well
as at dowels 7, 13 and 19, using a bar model of the cross section.
Loads on these models have been determined from the maximum
shear forces and bending moments obtained from the plate models,
and have been introduced in a self-balancing load state.
REFERENCES
[1] Mathivat, Jacques. Construction par encorbellement des ponts en
bton prcontraint. ditions Eyrolles 1979.
[2] EN 1992-1-1. Eurocode 2 : Design of concrete structures Part 1-1:
General rules and rules for buildings. European Committee for
Standardisation. 1992.
[3] Mar Bernat, Antonio (Coord.) Recomendaciones para el
proyecto de estructuras de hormign de alta resistencia. Monografa
M-8. Asociacin Cientfico-Tcnica del Hormign Estructural.
Madrid 2004.
[4] Mar Bernat, Antonio; Cladera Bohigas, Antoni. Bases de
clculo para el hormign de alta resistencia. Hormign y Acero.
Asociacin Cientfico-Tcnica del Hormign Estructural. Madrid
2003.
[5] Gayo Martn-Nieto, Isabel. Caractersticas tcnicas y
aplicaciones con hormign ligero Hormign y Acero. Asociacin
Cientfico-Tcnica del Hormign Estructural. Madrid 2003.

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