Design and construction of prestressed concrete curved railway bridge consisting of precast concrete blocks

THE YONESHIRO-GAWA RAILWAY BRIDGE BETWEEN TOMINE AND FATATSUI STATIONS IS THE FIRST CURVED, PRESTRESSED CONCRETE BRIDGE CONSTRUCTED BY THE JAPANESE NATIONAL RAILWAYS. IT CONSISTS OF THREE CONTINUOUS SPANS, EACH 56.3 M LONG; OVERALL BRIDGE LENGTH IS 337.8 M. THE CURVED SECTION HAS A RADIUS OF 800 M. THE TOPICS COVERED ARE ROUTE SELECTION AND EXECUTION, GIRDER DESIGN, SUPPORT DESIGN (INCLUDING A SPECIALLY DESIGNED OIL DAMPER SYSTEM), CONSTRUCTION, AND LOAD TESTS. SINCE A MAJOR PART OF THE WORK HAD TO BE CARRIED OUT DURING THE WINTER, PRECAST CONCRETE BLOCKS WERE ASSEMBLED ON TEMPORARY STAGINGS. IT IS CONCLUDED THAT THE METHOD SUFFERS FROM THE DISADVANTAGE THAT CONSIDERABLE TIME IS REQUIRED TO INSTALL THE STAGINGS, WHICH MEANS THAT THE SCHEDULE MUST BE RIGOROUSLY OBSERVED. HOWEVER, IT ALSO HAS A NUMBER OF ADVANTAGES, PARTICULARLY IN COLD WEATHER.