УДК 624.21.01:624.012.

35

M. PAŃTAK (Cracow University of Technology, Poland)

DOUBLE COMPOSITE BRIDGES – THE MAIN CONCEPT AND

EXAMPLES OF ITS IMPLEMENTATION
In the paper the issue of a double-composite steel-concrete bridges have been presented. The basic assumption
of idea of double-composite structures have been discussed and examples of design solutions of selected bridges
with double composite action constructed in Europe in 1992-2012 have been shown and characterized.
Keywords: double-composite steel-concrete bridges, bottom concrete plate, large spans, variable thickness

Development of the steel-concrete composite mulation. Variable thickness of the bottom plate
bridges enables alleviate the stresses accumulation. How-
ever the main way of the reduction of the stresses
Beside the classic structural solutions of the
accumulation is application of an arched hole in
composite steel-concrete bridges, where the coop-
bottom plate in order to ensure a progressive ap-
eration between concrete deck and steel beams is
pearance of the plate in cross-section.
realized, in development of the composite bridges
new trends still appear. One of them is the idea of
the bridges with double composite action devel-
oped in case of multi-span continuous bridges, in
which over the intermediate supports the bottom
fibers of the cross section are compressed.
The main purpose of the idea of double compo-
site action is strengthening of the steel cross-
section in region of the negative bending moments
by means of the concrete plate placed in bottom
parts of the cross-section. The bottom concrete
plate cooperates with steel girders in transmission
of compressive forces, protects the bottom com- Fig. 2. The bottom concrete plate in road viaduct near
Těšice, Czech Republic [1, 2]
pressed flanges before buckling, allows to reduce
the height of the steel girders, decreases the con- The plate thickness is determined taking into
sumption of the steel and enables to increase the account the load capacity of the compressed part of
bridge span length. the cross-section in longitudinal direction of the
composite girder and bending load capacity of the
plate in transverse direction. Because of occur-
rence in region of negative bending moment the
bottom plate is always compressed in longitudinal
direction. In transverse direction acts the dead load
of the plate and alternatively also weight of dehy-
dration and/or other equipment devices. Moreover
the bottom plate carries the horizontal loads per-
pendicular to the longitudinal axis of the bridge.
The bridge moving loads causes the strain of the
bottom plate only in longitudinal direction.
Fig. 1. Cross-sections with double composite action in
The bottom plate can achieve a significant
region of negative bending moments
thickness becoming a massive concrete part. In that
The bottom concrete plate is used mainly in case the plate can be concreted in two stages. Then
bridges with large spans. The thickness of bottom the first layer of the bottom plate will carry the
plate varies along the length of the bridge due to load of fresh concrete of the second layer.
the increase in compressive force towards the pil- The bottom plate is constructed mostly as par-
lar. Since the bottom plate is not applied on the tially fixed in the webs of the steel beams. Particu-
entire length of the span its appearance over the lar difficulties can be related to the design of an-
entire width in one section will result in rapid chorage of reinforcement carrying of negative
change of the girders stiffness and stresses accu- bending moments nearby the webs.
© Pantak М., 2012

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 The problem of cracking of the bottom plate b)
occurs only in the transverse direction. The calcu-
lations of the stresses and cracks should also take
into account the bending moments from non-
uniform deflection of the main girders.
A variations of the above solution are structures
with specially formed supporting areas where the
steel section is partially (compressed part of the
cross-section) or entirely replaced by concrete
cross-section over a distance of negative bending
moments (Fig. 3).
The first realization of a double composite
bridges, with main span of 80,0…180,0 m ap-
peared in the 70's of XX century in Spain. The idea
has been developed by Spanish engineer prof. Julio
Martínez Calzón [3]. In the last two decades, main-
ly in Europe, new projects were implemented in
Czech Republic, Germany and Spain: highway
bridge over the Odra River in Ostrava, highway
bridge over the Ostravice River in Ostrava, bridge
over the Elbe River in Torgau, highway bridge
over the Inn River in Neuötting, bridges over the
river Nalón in Langreo and Soto del Barco, bridge
over Sella River in Cangas de Onis. The character-
istics of selected objects are presented in a follow-
ing part of the paper.
a)

Fig. 3. Examples of variations of double

composite bridges:
a) – bridge over Turia River, Valencia;
b) – Milenario Bridge over Ebro River, Tortosa [2, 3]

Double composite bridges – examples

1. Highway bridge over the Odra River in

Ostrava, Czech Republic
The bridge is located within the highway D-1
"Via Moravice" near the Polish-Czech border
crossing Chałupki-Starý Bohumín. The construc-
tion was completed in 2007. The bridge is five
span continuous beam with spans:
40,0+50,5+84,5+50,5+40,0=265,5 m.
The cross-section consists of two steel plate-
girders made of Cor-Ten weathering steel com-
bined with a reinforced concrete deck. Over the
intermediate supports the steel beams are strength-
ened by bottom concrete plate. The edges of the
bottom plate have a parabolic shape in order to
ensure its progressive growth in cross-section.

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 before concreting of the deck. The bottom plate
was connected with main girders by means of
shear stud connectors. The bridge deck was built in
two stages: stage 1 – concreting of the span sec-
tions, stage 2 – concreting of the support sections.
The construction details and bridge construction
stages are presented in Fig. 6.

Fig. 4. Double composite bridge over Odra River in

Ostrava, Czech Republic – bottom view and cross-
sections of the bridge [4]
The main girders are hinged connected with in-
termediate supports constructed as a V-shaped
CFST elements (Concrete Filled Steel Tube). The Fig. 6. Construction details and bridge construction
stages [4, 5]
supports cross-section has a variable height of
0,5…1,215 m and constant width 0,86 m. In order
to increase the efficiency of cooperation of the 2. Highway bridge over the Ostravice River in
steel section and filling concrete inside the steel Ostrava, Czech Republic
box section a shear connectors and steel ribs with
semicircular cutouts has been used (Fig. 5).

Fig. 5. The V-shaped bridge supports – general view

and interior view of the supports [4, 5]
The bottom part of the supports is welded to
steel crossbeam anchored to the base plate by Fig. 7. The highway bridge over the Ostravice River in
means of Macalloy high-strength anchor rods. Ostrava, Czech Republic
The bridge was built using the incremental
launching method and temporary supports. The The bridge is located within the highway D-1
bottom plate over the intermediate supports was «Via Moravice» in Ostrava over the Ostravice
concreted after launching the steel structure and River. The construction was completed in 2005.

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 The bridge is four span continuous beam with
spans: 54,0+70,0+100,3+66,7=291,0 m. The main
girder is a single cell composite box girder with
variable height 2,70…5,00 m, longitudinally pre-
stressed and strengthened over intermediate sup-
ports by means of bottom concrete plate. The bot-
tom plate was connected with steel box by means
of shear stud connectors.

Fig. 9. The steel girders during assembly stage [4, 5]

The bridge was built using the temporary sup-
ports and mobile cranes. Side spans were built
from the ground level, main span was erected us-
ing the crane moving through the previously as-
sembled part of the bridge. The bridge deck was
concreted using a moveable formworks moving
through a previously assembled steel girders.

Fig. 8. The bridge cross-sections at midspan and over

the support [4, 5]
The box girder is made of Cor-Ten weathering
steel. The thickness of metal sheet are: bottom
flange 30…60 mm, webs 20…30 mm, top flange Fig. 10. The bridge construction stages [4, 5]
30…50 mm (width 1,0 m). The webs and bottom The longitudinal prestressing of the bridge was
flange are strengthened by longitudinal trapezoidal realized using unbounded tendons connected with
and triangular closed ribs and the transverse ribs in girders by means of transverse stiffening ribs with
distance 4,0 m. circular holes (Figs. 8 and 11).

247
 The main span over the piers is a double com-
posite box girder with bottom concrete plate con-
nected with steel by means of shear stud connect-
ors (Figs. 13 and 14).

Fig. 11. Longitudinal prestressing of composite

girder [4, 5]

3. Bridge over the Elbe River in Torgau and

bridge over the Inn River in Neuötting,
Germany
The next two examples are bridges in Germany.
The bridge in Torgau was opened in 1993, a con-
struction of the bridge in Neuötting was completed
in 2000.
The bridge in Torgau is a thirteen span bridge
with spans length: 16,0+18,0+20,0+22,0+16,0+
+22,0+53,0+106,0+65,0+3×45,0+36,0=509,0 m.
The bridge is constructed with six concrete spans
and seven composite spans with single cell compo-
site box girder. Over the pier situated on the right Fig. 13. Bridge over the Inn River in Neuötting –
bank of the river main girder is a double composite general view, longitudinal section and cross-sections of
box girder with bottom concrete plate. The main main span [8]
girder has variable height of 2,30…5,60 m (Fig.
12).

Fig. 14. The bottom concrete plate connected with steel

by means of shear stud connectors [8]

4. Bridge over the Nalón River in Langreo,

Spain
The bridge over the Nalón River in Langreo is
a three span, double composite, single cell box
girder bridge with spans length:
Fig. 12. Bridge over the Elbe River in Torgau – general
27,5+110,0+27,5=165,0 m. The bridge is located
view and cross-sections of main span [6, 7, 8] within the road AS-17. The construction of the
bridge was completed in 2007.
The bridge in Neuötting over the Inn River is a The bridge is an example of the third variation
five span continuous beam with spans: of idea of double composite bridges with region of
95,0+154,0+95,0+68,0+58,0=470,0 m. negative bending moments made of concrete.

248
 Fig. 15. Bridge over the Nalón River in Langreo,
Spain [9, 10]
The main girder in the side spans and on the
half length of the region of negative bending mo-
ment is entirely made of concrete. In the region of
positive bending moments the girder is a compo-
site box girder strengthened at both ends by bottom
concrete plate.
Fig. 17. Region of prestressed butt joint of the concrete
and composite sections [9, 10]
The bridge was built using stationary scaffold-
ing system, temporary supports and telescopic mo-
bile cranes (Fig. 18). The bridge deck was built in
two stages with use of the precast concrete slabs
forming the bottom layer of the deck (lost form-
work) and by concreting the top layer of the deck
in situ.

Fig. 16. The bridge cross-sections in side and main

spans [9, 10]
The connection of concrete and composite
cross-sections, placed in the region of minimum
bending moments, was constructed as a prestressed Fig. 18. The bridge construction stages [9, 10]
butt joint. Additional prestressing has been used in
areas subjected to appearance of tensile stresses.
The composite section was strengthened by 5. Bridge over the Sella River in Cangas de
bottom concrete plate over a distance 17,9 m. The Onis, Spain
palate has a variable thickness of 0,25…0,50 m Another example is the bridge over the Sella
increasing towards the support. River in Cangas de Onis. The bridge is an example

249
of the second variation of idea of double composite By full use of the properties of structural mate-
bridges with region of negative bending moments rials (compressed concrete, stretched steel) the pro-
partially made of concrete placed in compressed ject becomes more economical.
part of the cross-section. In the opinion of prof. J. M. Calzóne bridges
The main girder is a composite single cell box with double composite action eliminate all disad-
girder with double composite action in the region vantages of traditional multi-span, continuous plate
of negative bending moments. The bridge is con- girder and box girder composite bridges.
structed as a three span, continuous beam with The idea of double composite action can be ef-
spans length: 17,55+80,00+17,55=115,10 m. fectively used in bridges with small, medium and
The side spans and compressed part of the large spans.
cross-section in the region of negative bending In the paper several examples of implementa-
moments are made as a suitably shaped concrete tion of the idea of double composite bridges has
cross-section (Fig. 19). been presented.

REFERENCES
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Union of Bridge Builders of the Republic of Po-
land (ZMRP), ZMRP Bookcase, Issue No. 3, Cra-
cow 1999 (in Polish).
2. Flaga, K. Double composite bridges / K. Flaga,
M. Pańtak // Inżynieria i Budownictwo (Engineer-
ing and Construction). – 2006. – No. 7-8. – P. 402–
407 (in Polish).
3. Mc2 Estudio de Ingeniería, S.L. / Projects / Bridg-
es: http://www.mc2.es (June 2012).
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5. OKF s.r.o. Ocelové Konstrukce Fasády / Refer-
ences / Bridges / 2004-2005: http://www.okf.cz
(June 2012).
6. Grabein, K. Die neue Elbebrücke in Torgau /
K. Grabein, G. J. Pust, H. Roesler, R. Saul –
Bauingenieur – 1995. – No. 70. – P. 277–286.
7. Reiner, S. Bridges with Double Composite Action /
S. Reiner – SEI (Structural Engineering Interna-
tional) – February 1996. – vol. 6, no. 1. – P. 32–
36.
8. Hanswille, G. Steel and composite bridges in Ger-
many. State of the At / G. Hanswille,
G. Sedlacek – Norsk Stĺlforbund (Nortwegian
Fig. 19. Bridge over the Sella River in Cangas de Onis,
Steel Association): http://www.stalforbund.com
Spain – general view and construction stage [10]
(April 2011).
9. Millanes-Mato, F. M. El viaducto sobre el Río
Conclusions Nalón, un puente mixto de carretera con un vano
principal de 110 m de luz / F. M. Millanes-Mato,
The main aim of the idea of double composite M. Ortega-Cornejo, J. P. Santos // ACHE (Aso-
bridges is strengthening of the compressed part of ciación Científico-Técnica del Hormigón Estruc-
the steel cross-section in the region of negative tural) Hormigón y Acero. – Octubre-Diciembre,
bending moments by means of concrete plate. Im- 2009 – vol. 60, no. 254. – P. 29–42: http://e-
plementation of the bottom concrete plate cooper- ache.com.
ating with compressed fibers of steel cross-section 10. IDEAM S.A. Civil Engineering Consultancy Com-
protects the steel girders from buckling and allows pany / Projects / Bridges / Road Composite Bidges:
http://www.ideam.es (April 2011).
to reduce the steel consumption.
A variation of the main idea are specially
Received by editors’ board: July 20, 2012.
shaped structures with supporting areas in which
Approved for publication: July 31, 2012.
the steel section is partially or completely replaced
by concrete section.

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M. ПАНТАК (Краківський технологічний університет, Польща)

ПОДВІЙНІ СТАЛЕЗАЛІЗОБЕТОННІ МОСТИ – ОСНОВНІ

ОСОБЛИВОСТІ ТА ПРИКЛАДИ ЇХ ЗАСТОСУВАННЯ

У статті відображена проблема формування подвійних комбінованих сталезалізобетонних мостових спо-

руд. представлені основні особливості подвійного суміщення мостів, які реалізовані у Європі з 1992 по 2012
рік.
Ключові слова: подвійний комбінований сталезалізобетонний міст, нижня бетонна частина, великі про-
гони, змінний переріз

M. ПАНТАК (Краковский технологический университет, Польша)

ДВОЙНЫЕ СТАЛЕЖЕЛЕЗОБЕТОННЫЕ МОСТЫ – ОСНОВНЫЕ

ОСОБЕННОСТИ И ПРИМЕРЫ ИХ ПРИМЕНЕНИЯ

В статье показана проблема формирования двойных комбинированных сталежелезобетонных мостовых

сооружений. Представлены также основные особенности двойного совмещения мостов, реализованные в
Европе в 1992-2012 годах.
Ключевые слова: двойной составной сталежелезобетонный мост, нижняя бетонная часть, большие проле-
ты, переменное сечение

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