ANALYSIS AND DESIGN OF BRIDGE SUBSTRUCTURES USING VB.NET

Abstract

The analysis and design of all the components of even the most simple bridge type can be a fairly laborious and cumbersome job especially with respect to the various elements of the bridge substructure. For bridges located on major perennial rivers, resort will have to be made to deep foundations like wells or pile foundations, the design of which involves lengthy computational effort. The bridge engineer should be equipped with a handy computational tool with the help of which he can quickly and reliably determine the suitability of various layouts and configuration of the sub-structure before finalizing the most optimum design of the substructure. In this thesis and attempt has been made to develop a P.C. based software on VB.Net platform for the analysis and design of substructure for bridges with simply-supported spans. The computer programme includes the analysis and of wall-type and circular piers and includes the option for the complete analysis and design of two-types of deep foundations on the basis of the relevant IS Codes of Practice: Well foundations and pile foundations. The pile foundations can be analyzed and designed for both river and non-river bridge crossings and the user is presented the option of two types of piles for use in the foundations: under-reamed piles particularly for non-rivet bridge foundations and bored cast-in-situ circular piles. A noteworthy feature of the program is that lateral load analysis of both free and fixed-head piles can be carried out by the user in line with the recommendations of the relevant IS Codes. The user friendly and interactive program assists the user in the selection of preliminary dimensions of the well foundation, the safety of which is checked of the elastic state of the soil surrounding the well and at ultimate loads. Structural design of the critical well components like well curb, steining and well cap is incorporated in the software. The results for foundation design obtained from the program have been validated with long-hand calculations present in the Appendix.