TRANSPORT RESEARCH LABORATORY

IA

TITLE Design of Irish bridges. fords and causeways in

developing countries

by T E Jones and J 0 Parry

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Overseas Centre
Transport Research Laboratory
Crowthorne Berkshire United Kingdom
0

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 Design of Irish bridges, fords and
causeways in developing countries
By T E jones and j D Parry

T E Jones PhD CEng FICE Fl[HT

FGS

Tom Jones is a chartered civil engineer

and obtained his doctorate in highway
engineering from the University of
Birmingham. He has worked in the
Overseas Unit of the TRL, for over 25
years researching a wide range of
topics in over 30 developing countries.
The topics have included catchment
hydrology, storm rainfall prediction,
soil physics and more recently Vented causeway in Zimbabwe.
pavement maintenance and manage-
ment problems for both paved and
unpaved roads. Currently he is Head River crossings are vital to road networks and can absorb a
of the Pavement Management Section significant proportion of the cost of both construction and
of the Overseas Unit.
J D Parry CEng MIMechE FIHT
maintenance. It is important therefore that these structures are
appropriate to the category and volume of the traffic carried.
In forestry regions of UK and rural areas in many countries,
low level water crossings can provide practical, economical and
simple alternatives to conventional bridges. This paper
summarises the relative merits of water crossings for low
volume roads from the simplest fords to the engineered
bed-level causeways, vented causeways and submersible

John Parry studied mechanical

There
bridges.
are two basic types of low level
crossing:
for ordinary flows and are overtopped
only during the design flood.
engineering at Reading College of T-fords and bed-level causeways All four crossing types are suited to low
Technology and became a chartered - and vented causeways and traffic flows or where an all-weather
Engineer in 1972. Most of his career, submersible bridges. bridge is available on a reasonably short
apart from three years as engineer to a The success or life of these structures detour. They should be designed so that
refugee team in North Africa, has been depends very much on the hydraulic for most of the year there will be a flow
with the Transport Research Labora- design. Fords and bed-level causeways, of water over the carriageway no more
tory. Initially, he was a member of the like conventional bridges, may be than 150mm deep.
team responsible for the design and constructed so that they cause little
evaluation of the mini roundabout and interference with the design flood. Site selection
guardrail projects. In 1979 he joined Vented causeways and submersible The best location for a low level crossing
the Overseas Unit at TRL, where he bridges inevitably disrupt river flow and is similar to that for a conventional
'has reported on the design and so are liable to sustain damage themselves bridge, with the exception that a wide
performance of modular timber or indirectly cause scour damage to the stretch of the river provides easier road
bridges, and published manuals on river bed or banks, Which in turn may approaches and slower, shallower water.
bridge inspection, maintenance affect the road approaches to the crossing. The stream should be straight, with well
management and bridge design. More AS fords and bed-level causeways are defined banks and a uniform gradient and
recently he has been responsible for over-topped by any water flowing in the the bed material should be strong enough
the design and supervision of concrete river channel, there is no advantage in to support traffic. (The submersible
pavement trials in several developing raising the road surface above the stream bridge requires different considerations
countries. bed. Vented causeways and submersible and is described briefly under that
bridges usually present a dry carriageway sub-heading.)
28
JANUARY 1993 HIGHWAYS AND TRANSPORTATION
 Design of Irish bridges, fords and causeways in developing
countries

Table 1. Maximum rate of change per cent traffic to pass a broken down vehicle or
one which fails to mount the gradient.
Traffic speed Descending Ascending Fords
Fords are unpaved and only suitable for
45 mph (72 kph) 10 1s the lowest of traffic flows. These are the
60 mph (96 kph) 8 12 simplest form of river crossing where the
stream is wide, shallow and slow, the
Road approaches approaches gentle, and the surface firm.
The equal cut and fill construction of Improvements to the approaches are
Clearly, gentle slopes are required for the approach roads shown in Fig Ia chiefly concerned in lessening the
both traction and safety. The maximum requires less work than the cut and gradient. The running surface can be
gradient for motor traffic should be 10%, remove spoil of Fig lb but the placing of strengthened and made more even with
and for animals 5%. Change of gradient the spoil in the river channel, shown stones which are brought in and buried
should be gradual to prevent the hatched in ~Fig la, may cause scour just below the surface. Alternatively, if
underside of vehicles touching the road problems during a flood. Fig 2 shows in stones are carried in the flow, these may
and to preserve long sight distances. A plan how steep approaches may be be trapped by barriers made of boulders,
small change in horizontal alignment of relieved by a diagonal descent of the river gabions or piles.
the road at the crossing helps to draw the bank for roads where speeds are naturally
attention of drivers to a dip that may slow and the horizontal curve on the Boulders
conceal an obstacle, approach side is clearly visible. Large stones placed across the river bed
Suggested maximum rates of change of Even where the road is a single track, it at the downstream side of the crossing are
approach gradient are given in Table I is usual to make the crossing and the reputed to filter the flow of water and
(Binghamn, 1979). approaches of two-lane width to allow retain gravel and sand, which eventually
form a more level and even surface for
vehicles. However, if the stones are too
large or form too high a wall, scour will
result. If they are not heavy enough, they
C. --F. odi-b. will be washed away at the first flood. Fig
3a shows a typical cross section.
Gabions
A more expensive but durable
improvement may be made by replacing
the boulders with gabions to trap river
gravel or retain imported material, as
shown in Fig 3b.
The standard gabion is a rectangular
basket made of hexagonal steel wire
mesh. It is strengthened by edges of
b) C., ..d ------
heavier wire and by mesh diaphragms
which divide it into lim long compart-
Fig I. Vertical alignment of road approaches. ments. It is usually supplied as a flat pack
and assembled on site and is normally
filled in-situ with quarried stone or
rounded shingle of sufficient size that the
stones cannot pass through the mesh. The

(al 5,,aight crossing

(b) Roadf0110-5 lime bank,

Fig 2. Plans of low level crossings and approaches.

S
Fig 3. Types of ford.
HIGHWAYS AND TRANSPOR~nTION JANUARY 1993
29
 Design of Irish bridges, fords and causeways in developing countries

. bion structure is more stable and

durable if the stones are packed carefully
by hand, almost as if building a wall.
Internal tie wires at about 0.5m intervals
help to retain the shape. At a ford,
gabions are securely wired together in
position to form a continuous revetment.
The gabion baskets (typically 2 or 3m
long x Im wide and 0.5 or Im high) are
wired together and dropped into a
prepared trench. The central gabion is
first filled and, using that as an anchor,
the line of gabions is pulled taut and
straightened by a chain attached to a truck
or winch. This tension is maintained
while the remaining baskets are filled.
When filling is complete, final
adjustments are made to the top course
of rock and the baskets are closed.
It is important that gabions protrude
only 150-300mm above the natural bed
level of the river, depending on the nature
*the bed material, otherwise they will
etas a weir and cause heavy scour
downstream of the crossing.
As an alternative to conventional
gabions, tube baskets can be made from
a roll of fencing mesh filled with stone or
shingle. During filling, the edges are
raised and then bent over at the top to
form a tube and tied; finally a wire rope
is attached as shown in Fig 3c and
securely anchored at each end. As with
gabions, tube baskets need to be installed
in a previously excavated trench
approximately half the depth of the
basket, ie 0.2 to 0.3m. After installation,
sand and gravel transported by the stream
is trapped behind the baskets and
prov'ides a firmer fairly level surface
suitable for vehicles.
Piles
Where gabions are unobtainable, timber
~ie,driven into the river bed are suitable
macut-off wall, as shown in Fig 3d.
WIube effective, timber piles need to be Fig 4. Bed-level causeways.
about 2m long and placed at no more than
0.6m centres. If the river is fast flowing,
a continuous line of piles may be needed.
As with the gabions and wire baskets, the
top of the piles should be no more than
0.3m above bed level.
Provision of a curtain cut-off wall made
of gabions or piles may be necessary on
the upstream as well as the downstream
side if the road bed is erodible. Note that
all four types of ford may require rip rap
scour protection on the downstream side,
as shown in the Figures.
Bed level causeways
Where the type of traffic or the distance
to an alternative crossing justifies the
expense, a pavement may be laid on the
river bed. A paved ford is also called a
bed-level causeway, drift, paved dip or
,,ish bridge. Three common designs are
wn in Fig 4. To protect the pavement
Wmscour damage, curtain walls or
aprons are usually required on both the
upstream and the downstream side and lnsh bridge in central Kenya
30 JANUARY 1993 HIGHWAYS AND TRANSPORTATION
 Design of Irish bridges, fords and causeways in developing countries

71 *z

Vented causeway in Zimbabwe

these must continue up the approaches to Fig 4a (Gillett 1979) shows a section
the height of the design flood. Generally, a 1:2:4 concrete, by volume,
through a basic bed-level causeway is used and slabs are jointed using crack
It is recommended that if aprons are not suitable for maximum water flows below
installed curtain walls should be lm deep inducers every 5m. The concrete should
2m/sec and for light traffic. The crossing be laid on non-erodible material.
on the upstream side and at least 2m deep shown in Fig 4b (Metschies 1978),
on the downstream side unless a rock requires good concrete technology and Vented causeways
strata is reached before that depth. If the may sustain damage to the apron that is
bed is inerodible, the causeway need not Vented causeways are designed to pass
difficult to repair. Fig 4c shows a design what may be called an ordinary flood with
be provided with curtain walls, but the employing a practical combination of very little water overtopping the
bed on both the upstream and concrete pavement with flexible
dow~nstream sides of the crossing should carriageway, but may still be inundated
protection that is more suited to routine and unusable for a few days each year.
be trimmed flat to reduce turbulence. repair than the rigid concrete curtain wall. These structures present a considerable
obstacle to the free flow of both normal
flow and the design flood, so they must
be built massive enough to withstand
water pressure and debris impact. They
must also be provided with adequate
1.,i-.'. `.. f scour protection where the bed is
erodible, and marker posts.
Fig 5 shows a typical section and
G.bion o,
elevation, Fig 6 gives dimensions for
,qt~tl .I~
concrete cover and reinforcement (Parry,
1992).
The vents are usually concrete or
corrugated steel pipes from 0.6 to 1.Om
diameter, set in a block of concrete or
masonry. Where prefabricated pipes are
not available, vaulted masonry tunnels
have proved successful. Concrete or
masonry retaining walls and aprons are
required to channel the flow and prevent
scour at both entrance and exit. For this
reason too, the vents should be
distributed all along the structure so that
(.1 Ho.6---g, Wt,,Of
flow parallel to the roadway is avoided.
In order to prevent blockage of the
stream by debris or silting, careful
attention is required to setting the pipes
level with the stream bed and at the same
gradient. No part of the vents should be
H.F.L. narrower than the entrances and
wedge-shaped deflector ramps may be
required on the upstream side to; guide
large floating debris above the vents.
Alternatively, a grill of posts installed
S.e Fig.7.6 f., dim.,nioe, .nd --------- nf~c~en
upstream of the causeway will collect tree
branches before they reach the structure.
The capacity of the vents is sufficient to
(b) El.e.io pass all ordinary floods without damage
and with no more than 150mm of water
Fig S. Vented causeway. over-topping the structure. The
HIGHWAYS AND TRANSPORTATION JANUARY 1993
31
 Design of Irish bridges, fords and causeways in developing countries
- !.
R 120C 150-- as 0.9 (Farraday and Charlton, 1983). Use
of headwalls forming a square entrance
can reduce this to 0.5.
Ko is 1.0 for all types of pipe.
The friction loss
hf = f LV2
D2g
where
L = pipe length (in)

V = flow velocity (mn/sec)

D = the pipe internal diameter (in)

g = acceleration due to gravity

(MlSec 2 )

2
f =0.016 for concrete pipes and
Concrete sxrength30 N/m (28 day cr~be)
0.075 for corrugated metal pipes.
Dimentions (mm)
Submersible bridges
D A a c Where the traffic is dense enough to
600 250 175 150 justify a dry crossing of a substantial
750 250 175 150 ordinary flood and the design flood is
900 275 200 175 much greater, a submersible bridge is an
1000 300 225 200
alternative to a vented causeway.
Submersible bridges are able to pass a
larger flow than the vents of a causeway
Fig 6. Vented causeway dimensions and reinforcements.
of the same height but are more
maximum capacity of the vents is reached The entrance and outlet losses are susceptible to damage by the design
when water on the upstream side of the expressed in terms of the flood. The overturning moment at the
embankment stands at its highest safe Velocity head: pier foundations becomes very large
level. Under this condition, the outlet will unless the piers are kept short, and the
normally be submerged. h, ke V2 horizontal and vertical forces on the deck
The operating head h is the difference 2g require solid restraint.
between the upstream and downstream Because of these difficulties,
levels, and consists of the following three h,= k. V2 submersible bridges are not
elements: recommended for any foundation other
2g than rock, and even then a vented
h =he + hf + h,
causeway or conventional bridge may be
where where V is the average velocity in the a more durable alternative.
h, is the loss at the entrance pipe, k, for bevelled entrances to pipes Construction is usually of reinforced
and box culverts can be taken as 0. 15 but concrete with continuous reinforcement
hf is the friction loss and
for corrugated metal pipes projecting between the sub-structures and the
h. is the loss at the outlet from the fill the ke value can be as high deck.
U,'.

=Cip CO =_

Gabion wall before scour damage

After damage

c After repair

Fig 7. Repairs to gabion causeway.

32 J N A Y 1993
JANUARY 1 9 I H A S AND
HIGHWAYS A D TRANSPORTATION
T A S O T TO
 Design of Irish bridges, fords and causeways in developing countries

Signs and markers

All water crossings should be well
provided by building a ridge down the
centre of a concrete causeway, as shown
Acknowledgements W.
in Fig 4b. This also offers restraint against The work contained in this paper forms
signed in advance. Low level crossings part of the research programme of the
present more of a hazard to traffic than sideways drifting in strong currents but
is an additional restriction to flow. Overseas Unit (Unit Head: j S Yerrell) of
conventional bridges because of the the Transport Research Laboratory.
change in vertical alignment as well as the Maintenance
possibility of encountering water on the Submersible crossings of all types References
carriageway. require more frequent maintenance than 1 Binghamn j (1979). Low Water Cross-
Depth gauges should indicate the depth most conventional bridges. Therefore the ings, Compendium 4, Transporta-
of water at the lowest point of the structural design should allow for easy tion Research Board. Washington
crossing. Simple black and white repair of anticipated damage, which is DC.
markings are best with an indication of usually caused by scour. On very erodible
the units used. Posts should be about 2. BCEOM (1975). Manual for small
beds it is often more successful to build works in Africa. Paris: Ministry of
300mm diameter or square, placed within gabion curtain walls and use reno
easy vision of the approach but well away *Cooperation.
mattress aprons rather than a rigid 3. Farraday R V and F G CharIton
from possible impact damage by vehicles. concrete structure, and to accept that
Guide posts should be set each side of (1983). Hydraulic factors in bridge
some rebuilding will be required each design. Hydraulics Research Station,
the carriageway between 2 and 4m apart, year. Fig 7 from BCEOM (1975)
according to the probability of catching Wallingford, UK.
illustrates the principle.
floating debris. There are two opinions 4. Gillett D (1979). Low Cost River
about their height: Summary Crossings, Ministry of Works Report.
a) They should be high enough to be Properly designed submersible Kenya.
visible during the highest expected crossings can be an economical solution 5. Metschies G (1978). Manual on Road~1
floods. to river crossings with low levels of traffic. Construction. Economic and Social
b) They should be visible only when the They are only viable where normal daily Commission for Asia and the Pacific.
water is shallow enough for vehicles flow over the structure is less than 150mmn ESCAP.
to cross. deep and where flooding occurs for no 6. Parry j D (1992). A design manual
The posts may be of durable timber, more than about two weeks per year. for small bridges. OverseasRoad Note
metal or concrete, according to the Hydraulic design is of primary 9. Crowthorne: Transport and Road
materials used for the carriageway surface importance because most damage to the Research Laboratory.
and curtain walls; eg concrete posts on structures results directly from scour. For
concrete bases and timber posts set into 7. Roberts P A (1986). The Irish Bridge,
this reason it is also recommended that Low Cost River Crossing. Dept of
gabions etc. the design includes provision for ease of Civil Engineering Report, University
An additional guide for vehicles may be maintenance. of Southampton . 1
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