Tristram Avenue Viaduct Northern Busway, Auckland: Simon Cook BE Civil (Hons.)
Tristram Avenue Viaduct Northern Busway, Auckland: Simon Cook BE Civil (Hons.)
Tristram Avenue Viaduct Northern Busway, Auckland: Simon Cook BE Civil (Hons.)
Auckland
Simon is a Bridge Engineer and has been working with Connell Wagner since
graduation from the University of Auckland in 2003 with a Bachelor of Engineering
(Civil) Hons. Simon was responsible for the modelling, design and detailing of the
substructure of Tristram Avenue Viaduct including treatment of the complex seismic
loading and soil structure interaction.
David Moore
Senior Engineer, Connell Wagner Pty Limited, Sydney NSW
Member of Institute of Engineers, Australia - Chartered Professional Engineer
Email: carters@conwag.com
Tristram Avenue Viaduct Northern Busway,
Auckland
Simon Cook, Design Engineer, Connell Wagner Limited, Auckland NZ
David Moore, Senior Engineer, Connell Wagner Limited, Sydney NSW
Sue Carter, Senior Engineer, Connell Wagner Limited, Auckland NZ
SYNOPSIS
At a glance, Tristram Avenue Viaduct may appear to be a relatively ordinary 360m
long, 12-span Super-T girder structure. However, upon closer inspection, the design
and detailing challenges of poor ground conditions coupled with seismic loading
become evident.
The structure is a key element of Auckland’s $200 million Northern Busway Project
for Transit New Zealand, which aims to provide an alternative to the heavily
congested motorway for residents of the North Shore.
This paper describes how innovation at tender stage introduced realignment of the
geometry which reduced the main span of the bridge and therefore allowed the use
of conventional precast prestressed concrete girders. The paper also discusses the
governing influence of the deep alluvial soils present beneath the proposed structure
and approach embankments. Such was the extent of this alluvial material, that the
most economical approach was to extend the bridge structure instead of installing
ground improvement measures beneath the approach embankments. The alluvial
soils provided little lateral support to the piled foundations and this resulted in a
structure sensitive to and a design largely governed by seismic events.
INTRODUCTION
Connell Wagner’s commission to
undertake design and construction
supervision of the Northern Sector of
the Northern Busway commenced in
March 2003. The Busway is a
purpose built 11km, two-lane
carriageway running parallel to the
existing State Highway 1 on the North
Shore of Auckland. The objectives of
the whole project include increasing
the person carrying capacity of the
motorway corridor, particularly during
periods of peak demand, and
facilitating the general improvement of
passenger transport systems between
Fig 1 – Location Plan
the North Shore and central
Auckland.
Tristram Avenue Viaduct is the key feature of the grade separated Busway over the
heavily trafficked and strategically critical Tristram Avenue intersection. The design
solution over the interchange required consideration of several issues, both technical
and functional before a preferred solution could be determined.
There are large concrete pits connected to the back of the abutment headstocks to
accommodate jointing of a high voltage cable route which runs along the entire
length of the Busway. The frictional resistance of these pits provides a significant
stiffening effect against longitudinal seismic forces and is modelled by stiff Winkler
springs.
At continuous piers i.e. piers without expansion joints, this is simply achieved via the
tension capacity of the link slab forming a “tight linkage”. At pier expansion joints,
”loose linkages” are required to allow the expansion joint to function under normal
use, while protecting the superstructure from unseating during a seismic event. The
loose linkage comprises a large diameter galvanised reinforcing bar (grade 500E
Reid bars) with 40mm thick stopper plates and toroidal rubber buffers at each end.
These linkages pass through the diaphragms cast between the ends of the girders
and the pier headstock upstands. If seismic deflections exceed those expected
during the design event, the linkages will prevent unseating whilst the toroidal buffers
prevent shock loading.
SUPERSTRUCTURE DESIGN
General
The girders selected for the design of Tristram Avenue Viaduct are Generation II
Super-T girders. The dimensions and strand configurations of the Super-Ts is based
on the New South Wales Roads and Traffic Authority (RTA) Bridge Section Standard
Drawings for Type 4 girders (RTA standard drawing RTAB033). Material properties
and exposure classifications have been derived from those recommended in NZS
3101 – Design of Concrete Structures2. Connell Wagner was the first design
consultant to introduce both Generation I and Generation II Super-T girders onto
Transit NZ projects in New Zealand.
The bridge parapet size and shape were determined by the requirements of the
Bridge Manual for a Type F barrier with Level 5 Barrier Performance.
Superstructure modelling
The superstructure was modelled using a combination of SAM 2000 software
complete with the NZ standards module and the SPACE GASS analysis package.
A 2D flat plate grillage model was created in SAM 2000 with longitudinal beams
representing the Super-T girders and a finite element plate deck representing the
cast in-situ concrete deck. Unlike a typical grillage model, the composite beam
sections position the neutral axis of the girders below deck level and the finite
The design also considered that this continuous parapet may be damaged in the
event of a vehicle impact. To analyse the effect of this, part of the parapet was
removed from the model. As might be expected, loads in the parapet reduced and
more load was distributed to the external girder. For this reason, even though the
parapets were designed as continuous elements, the girders were still designed as
simply supported elements.
In the transverse direction, a yield line method was used to design the bridge
parapets for vehicle impact as recommended in AS 5100. To ensure ease of repair
following a collision, the Bridge Manual requires that the parapet ‘fails’ before the
bridge deck. As such, the recommended load factor of 1.2 was applied to the traffic
impact loads for the design of the bridge deck at the parapet connection.
CONCLUDING REMARKS
This paper has described how design and detailing
work has addressed the challenging ground
conditions and seismic loading whilst complying with
restrictive spatial constraints of the Tristram Avenue
site. When construction work is completed in
December 2007, the structure will be a key
component of the Northern Busway helping to
“Bridge the Gap” in the public transport network for
residents of the North Shore who commute to
Auckland City. Fig 10 – Piling at Pier 8
March 2006
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The permission granted by Transit New Zealand to publish the information in this
paper is gratefully acknowledged.
REFERENCES
1. Bridge Manual, Second Edition 2003, Transit New Zealand.
2. NZS 3101, Part 1, 1995 – The Design of Concrete Structures
3. AS 5100, 1994 – Bridge Design