Load Distribution In Adjacent Precast "Deck Free" Concrete Box-Girder Bridges

Bridges built with adjacent precast, prestressed concrete box-girders are a popular and economical solution for short-span bridges because they can be constructed rapidly. The top flanges of the precast box girders form the bridge deck surface. A shear key is introduced between the adjacent boxes over the depth of the top flange (i.e. 225 mm thick as the thickness of the box's top flange). Canadian Highway Bridge Design Code, CHBDC specifies empirical equations for the moment and shear distribution factors for selected bridge configurations but not for adjacent precast concrete box-girder bridge type. In this study, a parametric study was conducted, using the 3D finite-element modeling, and a set of simplified equations for the moment, shear and deflection distribution factors for the studied bridge configuration was developed.