CONCRETE BRIDGE TECHNOLOGY

New FHWA Post-Tensioned Box Girder Design Manual

by Reggie Holt, Federal Highway Administration, and John Corven, Corven Engineering

The Federal Highway Administration

(FHWA) is pleased to announce the release
of a new manual for the analysis and design
of concrete box-girder bridges. The Post-
Tensioned Box Girder Design Manual was
developed as a part of the FHWA project
Advancing Steel and Concrete Bridge
Technology to Improve Infrastructure
Performance. Brian Kozy and Reggie Holt
of FHWA are providing direction to the
project team led by Lehigh University and
that includes Corven Engineering. The
author of the manual is John Corven of
Corven Engineering.
Figure 1. Typical concrete box-girder cross section. All Figures: Developed by Corven
The Post-Tensioned Box Girder Design Engineering for the Federal Highway Administration.
Manual focuses on cast-in-place, post-
tensioned concrete box-girder bridges
with superstructure cross sections similar the concrete (creep and shrinkage) and the prestressing steel (relaxation) are presented.
to those shown in Fig. 1. The manual Design provisions of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation
serves as a resource to state departments Officials’ AASHTO LRFD Bridge Design Specifications that address prestress losses
of transportation and consulting firms related to time-dependent material characteristics are presented in a later chapter.
that are exploring the benefits of, or
are looking for guidance on, using this Prestressing with Post-Tensioning
method of bridge construction. Two chapters of the manual deal with the mechanics of prestressing a girder with post-
tensioning. Chapter 3 presents typical stress summaries that are the result of girder self-
Introductory Chapters weight, superimposed loads, and post-tensioning. Equations for the summation of total
The FHWA Post-Tensioned Box Girder stress are then rearranged in two useful ways, so that the prestressing force required at
Design Manual was developed for a cross section can be found directly for a given tendon eccentricity and the permissible
engineers who have limited exposure to limits of eccentricity can be found for a given prestressing force. Figure 2, taken from
the design and construction of prestressed Chapter 3, graphically depicts the first of these two, where the internal moment resulting
concrete bridges. Chapter 1 presents from the prestressing, taken about the upper kern, is equated to the externally applied
a brief history of the use of the bridge bending moment. Chapter 3 also presents the geometric features of post-tensioning
type and describes the basic components tendons comprised of a series of parabolic profiles, the tendon geometry most commonly
of a box-girder superstructure. Typical used in cast-in-place concrete box-girder construction. These geometric features are then
geometries of post-tensioning tendons used to evaluate secondary moments due to the prestressing of continuous-span girders.
for cas t-in-place concrete bridges
are also presented in Chapter 1, along Losses in prestress resulting from tendon friction, wobble, anchor set, and elastic
with descriptions and photographs of shortening are developed and presented
the components that comprise a post- in Chapter 4. The calculation of tendon
tensioning tendon. This chapter concludes elongations is presented in this chapter,
with an overview of the construction as well as lump-sum time-dependent
of cast-in-place concrete box-girder losses in prestressing force as predicted
superstructures. by applicable AASHTO LRFD guidelines.
Considerations for single-end and two-end
Material characteristics of the concrete stressing are discussed. Figure 3, taken
and prestressing steel are presented in from Chapter 4, shows a typical tendon
Chapter 2 of the manual. Pertinent time- force diagram along the length of a three-
dependent characteristics in accordance span, post-tensioning tendon after two- Figure 2. Equilibrium of internal and
with the CEB-FIP Model Code (1990) of end stressing and anchor set. external moments.

40 | ASPIRE Summer 2016

 verification of strength limit states in
accordance with the AASHTO LRFD
specifications.

Box-girder superstructures require

analysis and design in the transverse
direction. Chapter 8 presents both the
approximate design method from the
AASHTO LRFD specifications and a
generalized approach to transverse
analysis and design for single-cell box-
girder superstructures.

Chapter 9 presents three important

design considerations for post-tensioned
box-girder bridges, beginning with a
detailed look into the local behavior of
tendons in curved concrete members,
depicted in Fig. 4. Both in-plane and out-
of-plane force effects and resistances are
presented. This information is followed by
a discussion of end anchorage zones and
the transfer of superstructure loads to the
substructure through diaphragms for both
nonintegral and integral superstructures.
Figure 3. Tendon force diagram after stressing from both ends.

Preliminary Design Useful Appendices

The Post-Tensioned Box Girder Design
Chapter 5 walks through the preliminary design process for a cast-in-place, post-
Manual includes four useful Appendices.
tensioned box-girder bridge using a three-span continuous bridge as an example.
Appendix A presents a hand method
Guidelines for the dimensions of the box-girder superstructure, both of the overall
of structural analysis of indeterminate
girder and the members of the cross section, are presented. This is followed by the
s t ru c t u r e s — t h e M e t h o d o f Join t
longitudinal analysis of the bridge to determine bending moments at critical sections.
Flexibilities. This flexibility-based method,
Post-tensioning tendon profiles and the number of strands in the tendons are selected
which relates simple-span girder rotations
based on the required prestressing force at each critical section. The jacking force of
to continuity moments in continuous
the tendons (Pjack) is established based on understanding the force in the tendon along
structures, is an excellent tool for
its length. Finally, service limit states are verified, substantiating the preliminary design.
analyzing post-tensioned structures where
tendon paths are quickly integrated as
Cast-in-place box-girder bridges are often constructed monolithically with supporting
curvature diagrams to produce simple
columns. Chapter 6 presents additional design considerations when the substructure
span end rotations. Appendix B presents
is integral with the superstructure. Superstructure bending moments caused by the
fundamental torsional characteristics
restraint of the integral substructures are evaluated. The load cases discussed include
of single- and multi-cell box-girder
temperature rise and fall, temperature gradient, concrete creep, and concrete shrinkage.
structures. Equations for shear flow
and the torsional constant for cross
Final Design sections are presented in this Appendix.
Chapters 7, 8, and 9 of the Post-Tensioned Box Girder Design Manual focus
Appendices C and D contain design
on final design. Longitudinal superstructure analysis and design are addressed
examples for three-span continuous
in Chapter 7. Guidelines for computer modeling of post-tensioned box girders
bridges.
are presented in this chapter. Modeling concepts for s traight and cur ved
bridges, with or without integral substructures, are discussed. Final design is
presented by continuing the design of the bridge for which preliminary design
No Cost Download
The Post-Tensioned Box Girder Design
was developed in Chapter 5. The mechanics of cross-section ultimate capacities
Manual can be downloaded from the
with regard to flexure and shear are developed. The chapter concludes with the
FHWA at no cost at https://www.fhwa.
dot.gov/bridge/concrete/. This website
contains many excellent bridge analysis
and design resources.
____________
Reggie Holt is a senior structural engineer
at the Federal Highway Administration in
Washington, D.C. John Corven is the president
and chief bridge engineer for Corven
Figure 4. Effects of tendons in curved concrete members. Engineering Inc. in Tallahassee, Fla.

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