Page 1 of 6
European Journal of Business &
Social Sciences
Available at https://ejbss.org/
ISSN: 2235-767X
Volume 07 Issue 05
May 2019
Available online:https://ejbss.org/ P a g e | 885
Integral Bridges An Innovative Concept
R.A. PRABHAKARAN
DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING
PRIST (Deemed to be University), THANJAVUR.
Abstract - Nowadays the methods of bridge construction is changing all over the world. The
new innovative methods are developed and adopted over the traditional construction method
as per the requirement of the field and the structural requirement. In this paper introduced a
brief understanding of the concept of Integral Abutment Bridge and it’s working. We tried to
give an idea about the procedure of construction of the Integral Abutment Bridge and
explains its structural benefits. There are several advantages of the Integral Abutment Bridge
over the conventional bridge system they also elaborate on this paper. The paper listed the
different types of bridges and different types of the Integral Abutment Bridge. It tries to
explain the need of Integral Abutment Bridge in specific areas where maintenance cost is
way more And the damages due to leakage and corrosion of the bridge components is a
major problem. The structural system has the potential to fulfill the requirements and
demands of the structural requirement. The paper presents an elaborate comparison of the
integral abutment system with the conventional bridge system.
INTRODUCTION
The bridges are nothing but any structure which is constructed or used for the traveling or
transportation over river, valley, uneven surface or any obstacle. A bridge should be designed
such that it is safe, aesthetically pleasing, and economically beneficial. There are numerous
bridges divided based on their different criteria like -construction method, the material used
for construction, visual appearance, working concept, the connection of substructure and
superstructure, span length and many more. Mainly the bridges are divided into six type as
mention as Cantilever Bridges, Suspension Bridges, Cable-Stayed Bridge, Arch Bridge,
Beam Bridge, Truss bridge. But with growing development the requirement of newly
developed bridge construction technique and method increases to get maximum benefits
from minimum cost and efforts with this to reduce the other impact of structure on
Page 2 of 6
European Journal of Business &
Social Sciences
Available at https://ejbss.org/
ISSN: 2235-767X
Volume 07 Issue 05
May 2019
Available online:https://ejbss.org/ P a g e | 886
surrounding environmental as well as social life. Integral Abutment Bridge is one of those
innovative types of the bridge and a large number of countries in the world are accepted
integral bridge over the conventional bridge because it’s various benefits over Convention
Bridge. Starting in the early 1960s, the use of jointless bridges for new bridge construction
attracted lots of people’s interest. The main basic concept of Integral Abutment Bridge is the
bridge which totally eliminates the various types of joints from the deck which is provided in
a conventional method and the bearings are also eliminated in the fully integral bridge but
kept in a semi-integral type of bridges with the modification in bearing providing technique.
Due to eliminating bearings and joints from the structure the corrosion damage and detrition
and loss in strength of the structure is minimized which results in maximizing the lifespan of
structure and minimizing the and the maintained cost of the structure. Due to its monolithic
connection between deck and abutment, this bridge became very useful in an earthquake- prone area.
Characteristics of integral bridges:
The integral abutment bridge concept is based on the theory that due to the flexibility of
the piling, thermal stresses are transferred to the substructure by way of a rigid connection
between the superstructure and substructure. An Integral bridge features a fully continuous
moment connection between the superstructure and substructure at the abutments eliminating
the need for joints or bearings to accommodate rotations and cyclical thermally-induced
displacements at the ends of the deck, the Semi-integral bridge form has no deck joints but
incorporates bearings at the supports. This form may be adopted when ground conditions are
not suitable for a fully integral bridge in both cases, horizontal forces in the superstructure
are transmitted to the abutment fill by a diaphragm that is continuous with the superstructure.
The term Joint-less Bridge describes a bridge with a continuous deck over the intermediate
piers but which has movement joints and bearings at the abutments. In multi-span integral
bridges, the deck is made continuous between abutments and there are no joints in the deck
at intermediate piers.
Type of integral abutment bridges
There are four basic ways that a bridge can be made integral, depending on the abutment
detail. The four forms of abutment can be referred to as:
Page 3 of 6
European Journal of Business &
Social Sciences
Available at https://ejbss.org/
ISSN: 2235-767X
Volume 07 Issue 05
May 2019
Available online:https://ejbss.org/ P a g e | 887
Frame abutments (fully integral bridges)
Integral bridge with frame abutments acts like the portal frame where moments, shear
force and axial loads transfer directly to the supporting structure from a deck of the bridge.
The frame abutments retain the backfill behind it like retaining walls.
Bank pad abutments
Integral bridge with bank pad abutments is another type in which stiff portal frame type
arrangement can be constructed. In this type, the end supports are fully integrated with the
deck beams but these supports are not fixed in the ground. They are allowed to slide and
rotate.
The subtype of bank pad abutment are;
Bank pad abutment on a piled
foundation.
Bank pad abutment on a sleeved piled foundation.
Flexible support abutment in front of RC earth retaining wall piled.
Bank pad abutment in reinforced earth.
Flexible support abutments
In Flexible support abutments, Post holes are created around the piles up to the depth of
piles. The posthole should provide enough space for the pile to move horizontally during
thermal expansion or contraction. This will eliminate the soil and foundation interaction.
Semi-integral end screen abutments
In this case, also end screen wall and deck beams are integral with each other but end
screen wall does not give support to the deck beams. Structure with Bearings which can
accommodate horizontal displacement is provided as support to the deck beams. Since the
support is separate the soil- substructure interaction is negligible in this case.
LITERATURE REVIEW
1) B. Kong et.al 2016-In this paper they explain about the water leaking problems,
maintenance issues of expansion joints, temperature loadings, backfill–abutment interactions,
and soil–pile interactions, is validated by comparing the bridge response with the field
measurements. It needs to balance all these parameters in designs so that the thermal
