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J. Strasky
The idea of prestressing—a product of the twentieth century—has announced the single most significant new
direction in structural engineering of any period in history. It put into the hands of the designer an ability to control
structural behaviour and, at the same time, it enabled the designer—or forced the designer—to think more deeply
about the construction. Moreover, the idea of prestressing opened up new possibilities for a form that influences
the general culture. To focus on that fact, and to narrow the scope, the paper will consider bridges only, even
though prestressing has broad applications to all kinds of buildings. However, the idea of prestressing arose out of
bridge design, and its most impressive forms, from a purely engineering viewpoint, have appeared in bridges.
Jiri Strasky This paper focuses on some problems that Load balancing
Technical University of are connected with finding the correct struc-
Brno, and Strasky Husty tural solution and the corresponding arrange- The design of structures is based on the full
and Partners, Brno, ment of prestressing steel. In the examples of understanding of the function of post-tension-
Czech Republic several structures, the possibilities of post-ten- ing, both during the post-tensioning service
sioning are presented and they serve to remind and in the ultimate limit state. During the
us of the outstanding structures that use pre- post-tensioning, the structure is loaded by an
Introduction stressing in a non-traditional way. equilibrium of forces. Owing to the creep of
The paper includes some structures where concrete, the original stage of stress can
While reinforced concrete combines concrete the author worked on the design, and these change significantly in time. The importance
and steel bars by simply putting them together show the author’s approach to the design of of this phenomenon is presented in the follow-
and letting them act together as they may structures, which is developed from an ing example.
wish, prestressed concrete combines high- attempt to understand the structural beha- Figure 1 shows a simple beam with a span
strength concrete with high-strength steel in viour and to find the most appropriate solu- length of 12 m, which was, after 14 days of
an active manner. The prestressing allows us tion. curing, suspended at mid-span on a very stiff
to balance the load, change boundary condi-
tions and create supports within the structure.
Prestressing is really a revolution. Prestressing
is a radical step from passive reinforcement to
creative thinking and development.
Modern concrete structures combine rein-
forced concrete with different levels of post-
tensioning in order to obtain the most appro-
priate behaviour of structures, both for service
and ultimate load.1 In this way, so-called
‘structural concrete’ is developed.
By post-tensioning structures, we can redis-
tribute internal forces within the structure and
achieve any stage of stress. But we have to be
careful. In contrast to steel structures, the cho-
sen stage of stress is redistributed in time by
the creep of the concrete to the natural stage
of concrete structures. And, of course, the
alignment of prestressing tendons is influ-
enced by the requirements on the ultimate
capacity and the ductility of the structures.
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The power of prestressing 27
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28 Strasky
~ Figure 6 Viaduct near the shopping centre in Hradec Kralove, Czech Republic
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The power of prestressing 29
~ Figure 9 Sunniberg Bridge, Switzerland: (a) calculation model; and (b) cross-section of the deck (courtesy of Christian Menn)
Structural Concrete 2003 4 No 1
30 Strasky
~ Figure 12 Vranov Lake pedestrian bridge, Czech Republic—suspension cables ~ Figure 13 Vranov Lake pedestrian
supported by A-shaped concrete pylons bridge, Czech Republic
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The power of prestressing 31
~ Figure 14 Vranov Lake pedestrian bridge, Czech Republic: (a) transverse bending and 33.00 m.10 The last three spans are sus-
moments due to the dead load; (b) layout of prestressing tendons and equivalent radial pended on one single pylon. Single piers, situ-
forces; and (c) transverse bending moments due to prestressing. P = prestressing force; ated in the bridge axis, support the approach
r = uniform radial forces from prestressing spans (Figure 16).
Both bridges have similar decks formed by
a spine box girder and additionally cast over-
hangs that are supported by precast struts. The
The pylons were cast horizontally and then Bridges across the River Elbe and load from the girder’s webs is transferred into
lifted into the design position. To resist signifi- Vrsovice railway station, Czech the stay cables situated on the bridge axis by
cant bending stresses that originated in the Republic internal ties formed by prestressed concrete
pylon’s legs during its lifting, it was necessary members (Figure 17(a)). This arrangement,
to post-tension them. This post-tensioning The cable-stayed bridge across the River Elbe
which was developed by a French engineer in
was utilised in the completed structure as (Figure 15) has three spans of lengths
well. The layout of the prestressing tendons 61.60 m, 123.20 m and 61.60 m, and the
was designed in such a way that it exactly cable-stayed bridge across the Vrsovice railway
balanced the bending moment due to the station has nine spans of lengths 26.40 m,
dead load (Figure 14). 4 35.00 m, 44.00 m, 101.20 m, 48.40 m
Structural Concrete 2003 4 No 1
32 Strasky
the design for the Broton Bridge, allows the at the top slab. The shear was resisted by the draped in blisters situated at the bottom slab.
transfer of the dead load shear directly into shear capacity of the widened webs (Figure The vertical component of the prestressing
the pylon. However, in the non-suspended 18(a)). force balances the shear forces that are trans-
part of the structure, the shear has to be In the case of the Vrsovice Bridge, the shear ferred into the middle of the top slab by ties
resisted by webs. in the non-suspended parts of the deck (close (see Figures 17(b) and 18(b)). The middle of
In the case of the cable-stayed bridge to the pylon and in the approaches) is trans- the top slabs are connected by short compres-
across the River Elbe, the bending moments ferred into the pylon or single supports directly sion struts (Figure 19).
in the non-suspended portion of the deck by the external cables situated like the stay In 2000, a similar structural arrangement
were balanced by short straight cables situated cables in the bridge axis. These cables are and a similar layout of external cables was
used in the construction of the Santarem
cable-stayed bridge in Portugal.11
Structural Concrete 2003 4 No 1
The power of prestressing 33
together with the top slab, form two cell box structural system. The shear forces from the Bridge across the River Svratka,
girders without any traditional overhangs. central webs are transferred by post-tensioned Czech Republic
In the suspended spans, the segments are inclined webs into the stay cable’s anchor
connected by a continuous deck slab and by blocks. The transverse bending of the structure A relatively small cable-stayed bridge with a
single precast struts erected between the seg- is resisted by a tension capacity of the trans- span length of 50 m has been built across
ments. These struts are fabricated together versally prestressed deck and by a compression the River Svratka in the small city of Zidlocho-
with stay anchor blocks (Figure 21). capacity of the struts (Figure 22). vice.12,13 The adjacent roads leave little space
The transverse connection of the segments A similar arrangement can be easily used in on the banks, therefore the deck is suspended
is relatively simple and creates a clear truss the design of an arch or suspension structure. on one side by an inclined pylon (Figure 23).
Structural Concrete 2003 4 No 1
34 Strasky
(a)
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The power of prestressing 35
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36 Strasky
~ Figure 27 Ruck a Chucky Bridge, California: (a) balancing of the vertical forces; and (b) balancing of the transverse forces (courtesy of
T. Y. Lin International)
the stay cables arranged in a hyperbolic para- curved structures. The design was performed cables, a true structure was developed. Again,
boloid formation to create an array of tensile by Professor Schlaich from Stuttgart.15 the design demonstrates how a pure engineer-
forces, which produce pure axial compression The bridge crosses the Mohan–Danube ing approach can create a structure of unbe-
in the curved deck. The vertical force compo- canal in smooth curves, naturally connecting lievable beauty and elegance.
nents of the cables balance the weight of the the pedestrian traffic on both banks (Figure
deck (see Figure 27(a)). The horizontal compo- 28). The deck, which, in the plan curvature
nents are designed to reduce the horizontal has a radius from 18.89 to 37.79 m, is sus-
bending moments at critical points to zero pended on one suspension cable situated
(see Figure 27(b)). inside the plan curvature. Two inclined pylons,
Bridge across the River Vltava near
The design demonstrates how a pure engi- Prague, Czech Republic
situated on both banks, support the suspen-
neering approach can create a structure of sion cables with hangers. The geometry and At present, cantilever structures are being
unbelievable beauty and elegance. initial stresses in the cables were designed in designed for longer and longer spans. The sec-
such a way that the vertical components of the tions above piers create unnatural barriers in
hangers’ forces balance the dead load (Figure the countryside. A proposed bridge across the
29). The horizontal components of the hanger River Vltava tries to solve this problem by
Pedestrian bridge, Kelheim,
force, together with the radial forces from the creating a light and transparent structure
Germany
prestressing cables situated close to the top (Figure 30).
The design of the pedestrian bridge built in the fibre of the cross-section, create a moment The bridge is formed by a self-anchored
small city of Kelheim clearly proves that that balances a torsional moment caused by arch, in which a horizontal force due to the
science, not intuition, is the tool of creativity. vertical forces. dead load is resisted by external cables. The
The structural solution was developed from a By fully understanding the prestressing, structure has three spans of lengths 64 m,
deep understanding of the behaviour of and by clever arrangement of the suspension 114 m and 64 m. The arch is erected in sym-
Structural Concrete 2003 4 No 1
The power of prestressing 37
metrical cantilevers starting from the piers, Bridge across the River Odra, Czech structures comprised of composite box girders
using a temporary pylon and stays (Figure Republic of four spans, with lengths ranging from 49 to
31). After erection of the arches, the central 102 m (Figure 32).
The bridge, 402 m long, is being built in an
joint is to be cast and the external cables are to The design of the bridge was influenced by
area influenced by the effects of mining sub-
be post-tensioned. Then the portion of the two opposing requirements. On the one hand,
sidence. The structures have to resist the
deck above the piers is cast and post-ten- the structure had to be sufficiently stiff to be
effects caused by different deflections of the
sioned. Although the arches can be designed able to resist the designed load and, on the
supports and also the effects caused by their
as traditional reinforced concrete members, other hand, the structure had to be sufficiently
horizontal movements and rotations. The flexible to be able to resist the effects of the
they call for taking advantage of the high-
motorway bridge is formed by two parallel subsidence. Since the relative different rota-
strength concrete.
~ Figure 31 Bridge across the River Vltava near Prague, Czech Republic—static function and erection
Structural Concrete 2003 4 No 1
38 Strasky
tions of the supports decrease with the length both in the transverse and longitudinal direc- area where only statically determined struc-
of the bridge, the points where rotations are tion of the bridge. The transverse post-tension- tures have been built so far.
transferred into the deck were designed at the ing is created by traditional transverse deck
longest possible distance—at the abutments. tendons, the longitudinal post-tensioning by
On all the intermediate supports, the deck is external cables situated inside the box (Figure
Structures using tension
supported by single bearings situated on the 34). The level of the post-tensioning is
stiffening
bridge axis. designed in such a way that after all losses,
The deck slab is stressed by bending and and after the significant redistribution of stres- Our experience with the design of stress ribbon
shear stresses caused by a local load and also ses caused by the creep and shrinkage of the (Figure 35) and suspension structures (Figure
by significant membrane stresses caused by concrete, the principal stresses in the deck are 36) has confirmed that the static and dynamic
global bending and torsion (Figure 33). Since within the limits given for limited prestressing. response of the prestressed concrete deck can
the composite deck slab guarantees the integ- The application of post-tensioning in the com- be significantly reduced by preventing the hor-
rity of the structure, we tried to eliminate the posite structure allows us to design a very sim- izontal movement of the deck at the sup-
cracks. Therefore, the deck is post-tensioned ple and clear continuous bridge structure in an ports.16–18 Figure 37(a) shows vertical
Structural Concrete 2003 4 No 1
The power of prestressing 39
deformations of the deck of the central span of normal stresses are much smaller than the stress ribbon and suspension structures with a
the Willamette River Bridge (see Figure 36), stresses in the structure with moveable sup- prestressed concrete deck for pedestrian and
which was completed in 2000 in Eugene, ports. wind loading.
Oregon, for loading situated on one-half of A similar reduction of the deflection and Since the segments of the stress ribbon and
the main span and for different values of the stresses is found for the load situated in the suspension structures are suspended on the
horizontal springs modelling the flexible fixing main span in a chessboard pattern that caused bearing cables before the casting of the joints
of the deck. Although a tension force stresses maximum distortions of the deck (Figure between them (Figures 38 and 39), the dead
the horizontally fixed deck, the resultant 37(b)). It explains the good behaviour of the
Structural Concrete 2003 4 No 1
40 Strasky
Structural Concrete 2003 4 No 1
The power of prestressing 41
load of the structures is always balanced by It is well known that cables can stabilise San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge, Califor-
the forces in the cables. mats, pylons and arches (see Figure 41(a)). nia.21
Tension stiffening of the deck was also uti- The stabilising effect of the cables for the
lised by Jean Muller in his proposal for long- seismic load is proposed by Professor
span cable-stayed structures, which he calls bi- Ikeda.20 The cables are tensioned in such a
stayed bridges.19 The longest back stays are way that they behave elastically for seismic Conclusions
anchored in abutments that serve as anchor load. The tension force in the cables, which
blocks as well. In this way, the longest stays, is similar to stay cables, stabilises the columns The structures presented in this paper clearly
anchored in the main span, create a tension (see Figure 41(b)). A similar idea has also demonstrate the power of prestressing. Pre-
force in the deck and stabilise it (Figure 40). been used recently in a design for the new stressing allows us to balance the load, change
Structural Concrete 2003 4 No 1
42 Strasky
~ Figure 40 Bi-stayed bridge: (a) axonometric view; and (b) cross-section. DL = dead load; S = force in the cable; T = tension in the deck;
R = radial force; DL = dead load; P = prestressing
~ Figure 41 Tension stiffening: (a) pylons by stay cables; and (b) columns by external cables. EQ = horizontal force due to earthquake
Structural Concrete 2003 4 No 1
The power of prestressing 43
Switzerland 1990–1994. Proceedings of the 12th 11. Bridge over the river Tagus, Santarem. Concrete 17. Strasky, J. and Rayor, G. Technical innovations of
FIP Congress, Washington DC, USA. structures in Portugal. Proceedings of the 1st fib the Willamette River pedestrian bridge, Oregon.
5. Festschrift Ulrich Finsterwalder—50 Jahre für Congress, Osaka, 2002. Proceedings of the International Bridge
Dywidag. Verlag G. Braun, Karlsruhe, 1973. 12. Strasky, J. Progressive assembly of the deck of Conference, Pittsburgh, 2000.
6. Strasky, J. Betonove mosty. CKAIT, Praha, 2001 the cable-stayed bridges. Proceedings of the 18. Strasky, J. Long-span, slender pedestrian bridges.
(in Czech). Symposium on Modern Prestressing Techniques Concrete International, 2002, Feb.
7. Menn, C. Sonnibergbrücke, Generelle Berech- and their Application, Kyoto, Japan, 1993. 19. Muller, J. Reflections on cable-stayed bridges.
nung. Schweizerische Bauzeitung, 1998, 13. Strasky, J., Navratil, J. and Susky, S. Applications Revue générale des routes et des aerodromes,
Oktober. of time-dependent analysis of the design of Paris, 1994.
8. Bänziger, D. J., Bacchetta, A. and Baumann, K. hybrid bridge structures. PCI Journal, 2001, 20. Hishiki, Y. and Ikeda, S. Experimental study on
Sonnibergbrücke, Statik und Konstruction. July–Aug. seismic performance of prestressed concrete col-
Schweizerische Bauzeitung, 1998, Oktober. 14. Ruck a Chucky Bridge. 26th annual P/A Awards. umns. Proceedings of the fib Symposium,
9. Strasky, J. Design and construction of Vranov Progressive Architecture, 1979, Jan. Prague, 1999.
Lake pedestrian bridge, Czech Republic. PCI 15. Schlaich, J. and Bergermann, R. 21. Sun, J., Manzanarez, R., Nader, M. and Duxbury,
Journal, 1998, Nov.–Dec. Fußgängerbrücken. ETH Zürich, 1992. J. P. Anchoring the new San Francisco–Oakland
10. Strasky, J. Design and construction of cable- 16. Strasky, J. Stress-ribbon pedestrian bridges. Bay Bridge main suspension span with pre-
stayed bridges in the Czech Republic. PCI Proceedings of the International Bridge stressed concrete. Proceedings of the 1st fib
Journal, 1993, Nov.–Dec. Conference, Pittsburgh, 1999. Congress, Osaka, 2002.
Structural Concrete 2003 4 No 1