Deep-corrugated steel plate structures have been in use throughout the world since 1988. While they provide economical alternatives for short to medium span bridges, highway and rail grade separations and hydraulic structures, the most abundant application is for box culverts. Until the use of deep corrugated plate, typical maximum spans for metal box culverts were around 8 m (25 ft.). Deep corrugated plate quickly extended this span range up to 12 m. The innovative application of encased-concrete, composite ribs, has further extended box culvert spans up to the 14 m range. This paper describes the features and construction of a 14.1 m span, deep corrugated steel box culvert with encased concrete ribs which was installed over Price Creek on Highway 11 in Northern Ontario. This structure represents one of the longest box culvert structures in North America. The manufactured, deep-corrugated plate and the components of the composite rib system are presented. The paper also describes some of the construction aspects of the bridge project including; the plate assembly, staged construction, pouring of the encased rib concrete and use of steel sheet piling headwalls on the ends of the structure. Detailed instrumentation and live load testing that was later undertaken on the in-service structure as part of an independent study by the owner is also described. The measured live load response of the structure is compared with the theoretical results from 2-D frame analyses and a finite element analysis. Comparisons in design capacity are also presented for current Ontario design vehicle live loading. The paper highlights several advantages of this innovative bridge system for low cover, long span, stream crossings, including versatility, the strength benefits of deep-corrugated plate with encased concrete ribs, cost effectiveness, rapid installation time, environmental friendliness, aesthetics and durability. It is shown that these structures can be conservatively designed using a frame analysis or using finite element analysis, modeling the beneficial effects of soil-steel interaction as demonstrated in the full scale testing.
Thank you to our Premier Sponsors
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
