Construction of Prestressed Bridges by Successive Cantilevering

Abstract

The system of construction whereby successive extensions of a cantilevered structure are carried out has made it possible to extend, to an extraordinary extent, the free spans of straight section prestressed concrete bridges. At present the Bendorf bridge is being constructed, whose central span is 208 m long. This system was first used in Brazil, for the construction of an ordinary reinforced concrete bridge over the river Peixe. But the method fell into disuse, except for very few exceptions, until Firsterwalder again brought it up to date 20 years later, when building the Neckar bridge, made of prestressed concrete. With this new technique all the advantages of the system could be exploited, as well as achieving a very rapid construction. This constructional procedure leads directly to the structural type known as compensated cantilevers. T shaped cells are attached together by means of prestressing cables to form advancing cantilevers. Thereby a, total bridge structure is formed, whose span is twice that of each cantilevered half. This method can be applied to other bridge types, such as dintels with overhanging sections (this was the first new application), single span portal frames, T portal frames, continuous beams, etc. The typical constructional method is to move the formwork, which is anchored and cantilevered beyond the constructed part. A weekly progress of 3,50 m is normal. It is also possible to employ prefabricated sections, which are successively joined to the ones already in place.