INTRODUCTION TO

BRIDGES

Site Investigations
& Planning

Dr. Shruti Sharma

Associate Professor
Civil Engineering Department
TIET, Patiala
BRIDGE SITE INVESTIGATION
Selection of Bridge Site

• Detailed ground reconnaissance

• Collection of adequate hydraulic/ground data
• Subsoil investigation
• An essential part of engineering survey for deciding
the best possible location and type of bridge
• Governed by engineering, economic, social and
aesthetic considerations
• In case of old alignments, the bridge site may be
governed by existing roadway or railway alignments.
• For new alignments, the bridge site is so chosen as to
give the maximum commercial and social benefits
keeping in view the three criteria of efficiency,
effectiveness and equity.
 Ideal Bridge Site Characteristics

• Suitable, unyielding and non-erodable material for

foundation should be available at a short depth for the
abutments and piers of a bridge.
• Bearing strata should be free from the tendency to slip
or slide or sink under loads and away from fault zone.
• In other words, it should be geologically suitable and
stable.
• Stream at the bridge side should be well defined and as
narrow as possible.
• There should be a straight reach of stream at bridge
site.
• The site should have firm, permanent, straight and high
banks.
 Ideal Bridge Site Characteristics

• The flow of water in the stream at the bridge

site should be in steady regime condition.
• It should be free from whirls and
crosscurrents.
• There should be no confluence of large
tributaries in the vicinity of bridge site.
• It should be feasible to have straight approach
roads and square alignment i.e. right-angled
crossing.
• There should be no need for costly river
training works in the vicinity of bridge site.
 Ideal Bridge Site Characteristics

• There should be minimum obstruction of natural

waterway so as to have minimum afflux.
• In order to achieve economy there should be
easy availability of labour, construction material
and transport facility in the vicinity of bridge
site.
• In order to have minimum foundation cost, the
bridge site should be such that no excessive
work is to be carried inside the water.
• At the bridge site it should be possible to
provide secure and economical approaches.
• In the case of curved alignments the bridge
should not be on the curve, but preferably on
the tangent since otherwise there is a greater
likelihood of accidents.
 Ideal Bridge Site Characteristics

• Also added centrifugal force, which increases

the load effect on the structure and will
require modification of design.
• There should be reasonable proximity to a
direct alignment of the road to be served
• Bridge site should be such that adequate
vertical height and waterway is available
underneath the bridge for navigational use.
• There should be no adverse environmental
input.
 Ideal Bridge Site

• The ideal bridge site never exists in reality.

• In order to select the least objectionable site,
merits and demerits of different alternative
sites are compared.
• The best compromise is a matter of judgment,
which depends upon the experience of
engineer.
• In actual practice the determination of the
best possible site for any proposed bridge is
truly an economic problem.
 Layout of a bridge
• Geographical conditions
• Government requirements
• Commercial influences
• Adjacent property consideration
• General features of the bridge structure
• Future trends for enlargements
 Layout of a bridge

• Time considerations
• Stream characteristics
• Foundation consideration
• Navigational considerations
• Construction facilities available
• Erection considerations
• Aesthetics
• Maintenance and repairs
• Environmental impact
 Bridge Alignment
Square Alignment
• In this the bridge is at right angle to the axis of the river.

Skew Alignment
• In this the bridge is at some angle to the axis of river, which is
not a right angle.
• As far as possible, it is always desirable to provide the square
alignment.

Disadvantages in skew alignment

• Great skill is required for the construction of skew bridges.

• Maintenance of such type of bridges is also difficult.
• Water-pressure on piers in case of skew alignment is also
excessive because of non-uniform flow of water underneath the
bridge superstructure.
• Foundation of a skew bridge is more susceptible to scour action.
• At certain locations to avoid costly and
unsafe approaches it becomes essential to
provide skew alignment.
• In such locations, the following points
should be kept in mind:

 There should be smooth entry and exist

of water underneath the skew bridge.
 Skew alignment should not be curved
 Difficult to construct and maintain the
curved bridge
 Curved bridge has to resist an additional
force due to centrifugal action.
 It is always desirable to arrange piers
parallel to the axis of river
 Collection of Bridge Design Data

Detailed information to be collected may cover

 Traffic Projection: Loading to be used for

design based on the present and anticipated
future traffic
 Hydraulic data based on stream
characteristics, geological data, subsoil data,
climatic data, alternative sites, aesthetics,
cost, etc.
 Drawings containing information as indicated
should be prepared.
 Index Map

•Index map to a scale of 1/50,000 should

be procured from Survey of India.
•This map should show the proposed
location of the bridge, the alternative
sties investigated and rejected.
•Existing communications, general
topography and the important towns, etc.
in the vicinity.
 Contour Survey Plan
• Contour survey plan showing the topographical or
other features that might influence the location
and design of the bridge and its approaches should
be plotted.
• Survey plan should extend to the distance shown
below upstream and downstream of any of the
proposed site and to a sufficient distance on
either side.
• 100 meters for catchment areas less than 3
sq km (Scale not less than 1/1000).
• 300 meters for catchment areas of 15 sq
km (Scale not less than 1/1000).
• 1.5 km for catchment areas of more than 15
sq km (Scale not less than 1/5000).
 Site Plan
• Show the details of the site selected and extend not less than
100 meters upstream and downstream for the center line
of the crossing
• Covering the approaches to sufficient distance which in case
of a large bridge should not be less than 500 meters on
either side of the stream.
• Plan should include the following information:
• Name of the stream or bridge and of the
road.
• Approximate outline of the banks, and river at
H.F.L. and L.W.L.
• Direction of flow
• Alignment of existing and proposed approaches
and also the alignment of proposed crossing.
• Angle and direction of skew if the proposed
alignment is on a skew.
• Name of nearest inhabited locality
• Position of the benchmark used as datum
• Location of trial pits or borings.
• Location of all nullahs, buildings, wells, out
crops of rocks and other possible obstructions
to a road alignment
• Locations of L-Section and X-Sections of road
and stream
 Cross-Sections
• Cross-sections at the site of the proposed bridge, at
D/s and U/s should be plotted to the scale not less
than 1/1000 horizontally and to a scale of not less than
1/1000 vertically.
• Following information should be indicated on the cross-section:
• Name of the stream.
• Name of the road and chainage.
• Position of the LWL, OFL and the HFL.
• Maximum discharge and average velocity of flow at the
bridge site
• Depth of scour below H.F.L.
 Cross-Sections
• In case of tidal streams the following tidal
information should be indicated
• Highest high water (HHW)
• Mean high water springs (MHWS)
• Mean high water (MHW)
• Mean high water neaps (MHWN)
• Mean sea level (MSL)
• Mean low water neaps (MLWN)
• Mean low water (MLW)
• Mean low water springs (MLWS)
• Lowest low water (LLW)
 Longitudinal Section

• Longitudinal section of the stream showing the site of the

bridge with HFL, OFL , LWL and the bed levels to the scale not
less than 1/2500 horizontally and to the scale not less than
1/1000 vertically should be drawn.

Catchment Area Map

• Catchment area map of the river at the proposed bridge site is

plotted from the topographical map of Survey of India drawn
to a scale of 1/50000.
• Included catchment area both in hilly parts and plains is
computed separately.
 Soil Profile
• Soil profile data as obtained from sub-soil
exploration program along each of different
alternative sites

• Should be plotted showing the location of

water table and depth, thickness and
composition of each soil strata.

• Levels of bed, bank and depth of the rock or

other hard soil suitable for resting foundation
should be clearly shown.
Design Data for Major Bridges
General Data

• Name of the road and its classification.

• Name of the stream.
• Location of the nearest G.T.S. benchmark and its
reduced level.
• Chainage at centerline of the stream.
• Existing arrangement for crossing the stream:
(a) During monsoon
(b) During dry season
• Liability of the site to earthquake disturbances
Catchment Area and Run Off Data
• Catchment area (a) In hilly parts,
(b) In plains
• Maximum recorded intensity and frequency of
rainfall in catchment
• Rainfall in centimeters per year in the region.
• Length of catchment in kilometers
• Width of catchment in kilometers
• Longitudinal slope of catchment
• Cross slope of catchment
• Nature of catchment and its shape
• Presence of any artificial or natural storage such
as lakes, etc. in the catchment.
• Possibility of change in the nature of catchment
due to afforestation, deforestation.
 Data Regarding Nature of Stream
• Stream can be:
Alluvial (with erodable banks)
Quasi-alluvial (with more or less fixed bed but erodible banks)
Rigid (with in-erodable banks and bed)
• Stream can be:
Perennial
Seasonal
Tidal
• Extent of meander if any experienced in the past
• Banks at the proposed site can be:
 Firm and steep
 Firm but gently sloping
 Erodable and indefinite
 Stream can confine itself within banks, or overtops banks in
floods
• Nature of stream in the vicinity of proposed site can
have:

 Clean bed, straight banks or rifts or deep pools with or

without some weeds or stones.
 Winding, some pools and shoals, but clean with or without
weeds or stones
 Stony section with ineffective slopes and shoals
 Sluggish river reaches, rather weedy or with deep pools
 With very weedy reaches
Information regarding Low Water Level
• Surface velocity at L.W.L.
• Water surface slopes at L.W.L.
• Bed slope at L.W.L.

Information regarding Ordinary Flood level

(i) At site
(ii) At U/s cross-section

Other Data at O.F.L

 Surface velocity at O.F.L.
 Water-surface slope at O.F.L.
 Area of cross section at site at O.F.L.
 Discharge at O.F.L.
 High Flood Level
• H.F.L. at
(i) at site
(ii) at U/s cross section
(iii) at D/s cross-section
• Surface velocity at H.F.L.
• Water surface slope at H.F.L.
• Area of the X-section at H.F.L.
(i) At site; (ii) at U/s cross-section; (iii) at D/s cross-section
• Discharge at H.F.L.
• R.L. and location of maximum-recorded scour below H.F.L.
• R.L. of maximum anticipated scour below H.F.L.
• Location on the plan of trial pits borings with their
identification numbers both at proposed bridge site
and other locations.
• Test results of the samples of bores at different
depths in respect of:
Mean diameter of the particle in mm.
Lacey’s silt factor.
Angle of internal friction
• Allowable bearings capacity of the strata at foundation
level:
(a) Theoretical
(b) By standard test
• Nature of drifting matter in floods, such as bushes,
tree branches, boulders, etc.
• The extent of cutting of banks occurred in the past.
• The clearance required in case of navigable streams.
 Data Regarding Alignment and
Approaches
• The proposed alignment of the bridge can be skew or square.
If skew, then angle of skew is determined.
• In case of curvilinear approaches, the proposed radii of curves
on
(a) Right approach (b) Left approach
• Proposed gradients in approaches
(a) Right approach (b) Left approach
• Details of bridge visibility
• Proposed type of surface of approaches
 Superstructure Data
• Proposed clear roadway over the bridge
• Proposed width of footpaths, cycle track and central verge
• Proposed formation level of the road over the bridge at the
centre
• Gradient, if any in the road formation along the length of the
bridge
• Camber in the road formation
• Sight distance
• The proposed bridge can be designed to pass:
(a) Maximum floods
(b) Ordinary floods with dips to pass excess discharge in
high floods
(c) Only dry season discharge (submersible bridge)
 Foundation Data

• Type of foundations can be

(a) Open foundations
(b) Well foundation
(c) R.C. Pile foundations
 Data of Existing Structures
• Position of existing bridges on index plan.
• Details of the existing bridges:
(a) Size and No. of spans
(b) type of substructure
(c) Type of superstructure
(d) Type and depth of foundations
(e) X-sectional area at H.F.L. under bridges
(f) The waterway condition before and after the bride
construction
(g) The foundation conditions before and after the bridge
construction
 Miscellaneous Data

• Name of nearest inhabited identifiable locality.

• Facilities available for accommodation at site or in the
neighborhood for construction staff.
• Nearest railways station and its distance from site.
• Means of transport for materials.
• Availability of unskilled and skilled labour for
different trades required for construction.
• Availability of electric power.
• Nearest place of availability of cement, steel and
timber.
• Availability and quality of stones from the nearest
quarries for stones for masonry and for concrete
aggregates.
 Miscellaneous Data
•The following drawings should be
prepared:
(a) Key Map – Scale 1 cm. = 50 km
(b) Index Plan
(c) Contour Survey Plan
(d) Site plan
(e) Three X-sections
(f) Longitudinal Section
(g) Soil Profile
(h) Catchment Area Map