BRACING OF STEEL-CONCRETE COMPOSITE BRIDGE DURING CASTING OF THE DECK

Trapezoidal cross sections are often used as main longitudinal load-bearing systems in steel-concrete composite bridges. A critical design stage for these girders occurs during casting of the bridge deck, when the non-composite steel section must support the entire construction load, including the wet concrete. A research work was undertaken to study lateral torsional buckling (LTB) capacity and stiffness requirements of U-shaped girders with focus on discrete torsional bracing and top lateral truss bracing, under uniform loading condition due to self-weight of structural system and wet concrete. Findings are then compared with the results obtained by previous research works and common code specifications.