BRIDGE ENGINEERING: CASE STUDY
Extradosed Bridge-Span Construction:
Case Study of 3rd Narmada Bridge, Bharuch
Viranjkumar Patel1, Dr. DevanshuPandit2,
Ajay Kumar Kamani3
Pre final year, CEPT University, 2AssociateProfessor, CEPT University,
1
Planning Manager-Civil Special Bridges, L&T-ECC
3
Abstract: Resolving obstacles in transportation involving any NHAI (National Highway Authority of India) has taken re-
water body, requires the concern of bridge engineering. In cur- sponsibility to assure smooth transportation on this highway. As
rent scenario, many structural configuration options are avail- per requirement, NHAI has initiated another 4-lane bridge over riv-
able for bridge structure. Bridge decks supported with cables er Narmada. For this bridge, L&T proposed extradosedbridge
are aesthetically pleasant and in some cases proved cost efficient design keeping the aesthetics and economy as a priority and won
too. As a result of advancement in the construction technology, the contract from NHAI.
construction field is spectating merger of structural configura-
tion to achieve desirable results. Extradosed bridges are perfect Some of the salient features of the project are as under:
example for combination in structural configuration of, stay cable Name of the Project: Six Laning of Km 192.00 to Km 198.00
bridges for aesthetics and girder bridges for their durability, Between Vadodara to Surat Section of NH-8 Including Con-
strength and ease of construction. Merger of both bridge con- struction of a new four lane Extradosed Bridge across river
figuration leads to economical bridge construction in terms of Narmada in state of Gujarat on EPC mode
design and construction costs savings.
The 3rd Narmada bridgeis taken as a case-study in this pa- Type of Project Road and bridge Infrastructure project
per to describe components and functioning of an extradosed-
Location: On Narmada River, Nr. Zadeshwar crossroads, Bha
structure. This paper addresses the design characteristics and
ruch, Gujarat, India.
construction methodology for bridge decking in extradosed bridge
Client: National Highway Authority of India(NHAI)
structure.
Contractor: L&T Construction Heavy civil infrastructure(HCIC)
Narmada bridge design and construction comprises of bored
Start of the Project: 3rd March 2014
cast in situ pile foundation, pier-cap, Y-shaped pylons, and ex-
Duration of Project: 30 months
tradosedcable deck which consist of 3-4 m varying length seg-
Type of Contact: E.P.C.(Engineering Procurement and Con-
ments having three-cell precast segmental box girder castwith
struction)
short-line method and erection with balance-cantilever un-
Type of Structural: Extradosed type Bridge structure
der-slug method by Bridge Builder. Stay-cables and post ten-
Specific Technology: Stay cable extradosedsystem-Dyna-Link
sioning systems are provided to have structurally sound deking
Anchor box stay cable system, Post-tension bar stressing.
system.
Keywords: Extradosed Bridge, Segmental box girder, Bal- Bridge structural configuration
ance Cantilever System, Stay-cables
This bridge has segmental precast girders erected in bal-
The Masterbuilder | June 2016 | www.masterbuilder.co.in
Introduction ance cantilever manner on both side of pylons supported even-
tually on pile foundation. Concept is more or less module based
NationalHighway (NH)-8-India, connects two major cities
design, where ninenumbers of pylons having balance cantilever
Delhi and Mumbai via many other important cities in its align-
extradoseddesign along with two abutments makes the bridge.
ment including Surat, Vadodara, Ahmedabad, Udaipur, and Jai-
Module geometry is illustrated in Figure 1.
pur. Route considered as one of the busiest national highway
across the country.
In 2012-13, heavy traffic conjunction issues are being en-
countered on this NH-8 due to distress of existing Sardar
Bridge on Narmada River at Bharuch. Prior to that, the two
well-functioning bridges, old Sardar Bridge and 2nd Narmada
constructed by L&T earlier are serving the traffic.
R-02 Figure1: Structural component details
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BRIDGE ENGINEERING: CASE STUDY
Alignment and Geometry of Bridge Superstructure
The extra-dosed bridge has straight alignment between In the super-structure of the main bridge, three-cell of precast
abutments A1 and A2.4 pylons are located in river, rest are sit- segmental box girder with depth of 4.0m. Sloping outer webs
uated on land mode. The length of main bridge is 1344m with connects the top slab and the inner vertical webs to stabilize the
two end spans of 96.0m and nineinternal spans of 144.0m. The top slab in transverse direction and also to transfer stay force to the
superstructure consists of 20.8m wide precast segmental con- bottom of inner/vertical webs. Soffit corners are rounded due to
crete box girder, with a carriageway to accommodate four lanes presence of transverse tendons in outer sloping webs and also
of traffic. Superstructure also has a single 3.0m wide footpath. to reduce drag coefficients under wind loadings. The length of
Stay cables are anchored at the edges of box girders to support typical segment is limited to 3.550m to limit the weight of the
them which are later deviated in short pylons. The precast seg- segments during handling. Segments are to be match-cast. In-
ments are erected by balanced cantilever construction method tegral connection at the pylon location of substructure and the
using a beam and winch erection system. Transverses slope of superstructure is provided by pier tables. Anchor saddle boxes
2.5 % is provided at single end for drainage purpose. are provided at upper pylon which provides individual support
Expansion joints are located at mid-span of every other span. for each strand and avoid lateral pressures due to grouping of
For vertical displacement between two adjacent cantilevers, a strands.
shear key is provided at the expansion joint. The bridge sub- Balanced cantilever construction method is used to erect
structure is Y-shaped cast-in-situ concrete pylons supported on the box girders with epoxy joints between segments. For ser-
pile foundations. vice and ultimate load condition adequate internal post-tensioning
is provided.
Foundations The draped hybrid (part external, part internal) tendons are
Bored cast-in-situ piles of 1.5 m diameter have been pro- provided for shear relief. The box girder is transversely post-ten-
vided with over 2 m thick pile-cap. Top of pile cap is at low water sioned against live load effects to eliminate cracking in the top
level. Vertical pile capacity is duly modified for scour condition by slab and to provide increased durability. Transverse post-ten-
considering overburden pressure from scour level. sioning provides further reduction in the slab thickness com-
pared to reinforced concrete slabs and facilitates reduction in
segment weights for handling.
Bridge Span construction
Bridge span-construction is a complex activity involving dif-
ferent phases shown schematically in Figure 3.
Figure 3: Bridge Span Constriction phases
Segment casting process
Total three number of cell pre-cast RCC box (Having of PT
Pylon tendons, in both longitudinalas well as transverse direction) is
Figure 2: typical
Piling inpylon
Waterfor
Front 20.8 m wide segment casting work is going on for the river as
The the main bridge substructure is chosen
well as land portion. The Main bridge length is 1344 m, which is
to have a Y-shaped with rounded corners to improve aesthetics
divided into 10 spans with extradosed arrangement. The span
and to reduce wind and water current loads. To cast this kind of
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consists of 8 nos. - 144 m and 2 nos. of 96 m typical shape and
shape, special steel formwork with adequate scaffolding and
stay segments are as shown in below sketch.
false-work system was designed and provided to have control
over geometry of structure. Segment (Typ.) 234 nos.
Pylon consist of four major components Stay segment 104 nos.
1. Lower pylon(cast-in-situ in 3 lifts specially design steel-forms Expansion joints 4 nos.
of approximately 5m height) Total segments 342 nos.
2. Pier Table (cast-in-situ consist of segment shape to have Table 1 Segment Count
uniform connection between segments and pylon)
3. Upper pylon (cast-in-situ in three lifts specially design steel- The typical short-line method with match cast type of
forms of approximately 5m height) pre-casting the segments has been adopted for this Project cast
4. Anchor-box with support system (embedded in second and segments are being erected by under slung method with the
third lift of upper-pylon, during construction system is sup- help of erection tackles. In addition to the transverse PT, Longi-
ported by frame) tudinal PT is proposed for holding the erected segments.
For stay cable, DYNA Link system is provided by Dywidag Segment casting yard
System International. The firm is works as a subcontractor for
extradosed stay cable work by L&T. Casting yard is situated 5 km. away from the bridge siteto
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BRIDGE ENGINEERING: CASE STUDY
provide adequate space for casting and stacking of segments. There are two different transportation modes available during
Short-line segment casting arrangements and stacking yard erection work (Figure 7&8).
are provided. This layout is currently in modification phase due
to increase in the number of segment casting mounds. Gan- 1) Land-front Erection
try cranes are provided in the arrangements. To lift 1 segment In this mode loaded Puller tractor is just aligned to the ori-
(105-115T) minimum 2 nos. of cranes are required for handling/ entation of bridge segment. For erection work
casting/stacking/loading work. Figure 4 shows segment views
and Figure 5 shows casting yard. 2) Water-front Erection
There is a provision for road and survey towers in this ar-
rangement. For loading/unloading purpose loading space is In this mode loaded Puller tractor moves to Load out jetty
provided for puller tractor to move for better access. structure as shown in Figure 8 and then via lifling gentry crane
it is being loaded on floating barge. Then barge is being aligned
to the orientation of bridge segment.
Figure 4: Segment Classification
Figure 7: Alignment of Puller Tractor for Land-Front Erection
BridgeBuilder
The Bridge builder is used for free cantilever construction
of post-tensioned box girder/Segments - and cable-stayed con-
crete bridges.
Figure 5: Casting moulds with stacking Yard for Segment
Typical segment casting cycle consist of alignment work ,
rebar and post tensioned work, shuttering work, inspection and
concreting, deshutteringwork. Cumulatively it results in three Figure 8: Load-out jetty arrangement
days of typical segment casting cycle. Stay segment takes five
Precast segmental BridgeBuilder
days due to complex reinforcement and other guide-pipe ar-
rangement in blisters. The precast segmental BridgeBuilder(Figure 9) is designed
for a maximum precast segment length of approx. 3 - 5 m and
Segment handling
load capacities between 100 and 300 tons. It is equipped with two
Segment stacking yard is planned adjacent to segment hoists for lifting the precast segments as well as for adjusting
production area. Two 100MT capacity gantries for handling of the cross-fall. A manipulator permits adjustment of the longitu-
segments are erected on track beam supported on RCC raft. dinal fall and hydraulic cylinders launch the device forward. The
(referFigure-6). Precast Segmental BridgeBuilder is designed and adopted for
Considering balance cantilever method of erection pre- balance cantilever precast segment erection.
The Masterbuilder | June 2016 | www.masterbuilder.co.in
liminary step of handling and transportation work is to identify The bridge builders on both end of the spans initially erect-
the segment.Erection of segment on any pylon will start from ed on pier-table only. Then one by one precast segments are
expansion side segment. After the erection of one segment on lifted simultaneously and fixed as motioned in erection section
expansion side; next segment will be erected on continuous joint involving prestressing and stay cable system.
side.
Erection work methodology
After that,lifting beam is attached to that particular segment.
Lifting holes are provided in design and left during casting of The erection procedure includes 4-cyclic activities, which
segments, and with help of both of lifting cranes slings and
de-shackles segment is lifted and moved to loading bay.
Figure 6: Segment Loading Process on Puller Tractor Figure9: BridgeBuilder arrangement on Pylon-span
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BRIDGE ENGINEERING: CASE STUDY
are listed below. Erection method is precast-segmental balance dons. PT bars are stressed in same manner but this time with
cantilever erection system. So, erection process will be for both higher forces and locking nut is also being installed to remain
arms of pylon. that stress.
The erection of segments Involves following activities. Post-tensioning tendons are major stressing component in
the bridge. This tendons acts as vanes distributed through pier-ta-
Lifting of segment ble. Providing rigid joinery and additional bearing capacity to
Initially lift& tilt arrangement is lowered using strand jacks, bridge span. As in described in geometry, transverse as well
mounted over the BridgeBuilder frame. Segment top beam is as longitudinal tendons are there for post tensioning purpose.
fixed to the segment with the help of lifting pins. Then segment Transverse tendons are provided and stressed during seg-
is being lifted from trailer/puller with the help of lift & tilt sys- ment casting only. But longitudinal tendons are provided during
tem. Segment is lifted to the required level with lift & tilt system erection, here it is noticeable that the tendons are provided starting
for one end to another end every time in erection. Means some
of the tendons can travel up to half-span length or more.
In order to do stressing strands are High-Tensile stands are
inserted according to design and sequence and then stressed
with the help of jack one or both end. And then grouted after
suitable duration.
Stay cable work
Stay cable work consists of main sub-activities involving
material procurement work, cable installation work, and stage-
wise stressing activity.
Figure10: Erection work flow
Material and system selection is depends upon requirement of
Alignment work structure, Environmental conditions and clients requirements.
Material includes coated strands HDPE duct-pipes and an-
To maintain the geometry of bridge alignment is necessary chorage system. For anchorage, in particular segment blister
and it is carried out with the help of precise coordinates and is provided to counter stressing/busting forces and live anchor
survey team. Alignment and gradient adjustments are done us- from where stressing is conducted with help of stressing jack.
ing Hydraulic Systems. Alignment is carried out followed by dry Dead anchor boxes are already embedded during pylon casting.
matching the segment to the exact position by adjusting with so, there is an simple installation procedure for cables and then
hydraulic jacks. Then segment is pulled in forward direction. stage wise stressing is provided to have control over geometry.
Gluing on segment Average 2 days erection cycle is achieved in normal site condi-
tions.
After alignment glue application is carried out to have prop-
er bonding between two segments. Epoxy glue is mixed with Conclusion
a mechanical mixer. Application of the glue on the face of the Casestudy on the NarmadaBridgeis excellent example for
erected segment as well as new segment is carried out by ex- multi-span extradosedbridge type. Construction methodology
perienced construction workers. Backward movement of new adopted reduces the construction duration and economizes the
segment is performed to match with erected segment. Tem- overall cost.However,construction still has to face constraints
porary stressing is applied to segment to squeeze the excess such as tidal conditions and weather will, but bridge progress
glue out. till date substantiates the importance of sound efforts in planning,
Post Tensioning design, and management.
The Masterbuilder | June 2016 | www.masterbuilder.co.in
Bridge case studydemonstrates the ease in precast seg-
Following are the types of stressing is being adopted at site mental construction. Ease in construction can determined by
for the segments the ongoing process, which is at segment casting yard- with
- Temporary Stressing, - Permanent Stressing six moulds and 3 to 5 days of casting time cycle for segment,
average 30-40 segments casting is observed. On erection front,
Temporary stressing 35-40 segments per months are achieved with help of 3 sets of
This stressing is carried out to squeeze the glue and get BridgeBuilder.
adequate rigid bonding between two segments. To achieve Acknowledgement
that P.T Bars with the coupler is being connected in the pre-
The authors would like to acknowledge entire the Narmada
vioussegment. These bars are connected throughout five seg-
Bridge project team, L&T (Heavy civil Infrastructure) for their
ments and then stressed by placing hex-nut and tightening it up
data support and guidance.
to desired pressure.
References*
Permanent stressing
- The 3rd Narmada Bridge-L&T (Heavy civil Infrastructure)
As its name suggests, the stressing which is going to re- project Documentation, 2016
main permanently are classified in this stressing, which is a
combination of partiallystressing PT Bars and majorly PT Ten- *References: A complete list can be viewed at: www.masterbuilder.co.in
88
