Techniques of off-site fabrication and on-site assembly of new bridges

Report, 2013

This report presents deliverable D4.18 defined as ‘Techniques for off-site fabrication and on-site assembly of new bridges’, which is a result from Work package 4, Task 4.2. The main aim of the PANTURA project is to "improve highly flexible off-site production and construction processes, create resource-efficient construction sites with minimum carbon emissions, improve technol- ogies and tools for bridge construction in densely populated areas and enhance communication between local authorities and construction companies.” With regard to this main aim, the goal of this report is to develop technologies for construction of new bridges in densely populated areas that enable total con- struction time reduction by at least 20%. To reach this goal, interest is focused on fast on-site assembly with regard to the connections between bridge elements, such as fibre reinforced polymer (FRP) decks and steel girders. Firstly, an extensive literature review about industrialized construction methods is conducted. The practi- cal problems involved mainly during assembly are brought up and new assembly techniques involving fibre reinforced polymer materials are proposed. The new assembly techniques are developed by transfer- ring knowledge from other sectors for potential use in construction with an emphasis on design for manu- facturing and assembly. These techniques are evaluated taking into account the voice of the customer. After evaluation, the promising techniques are further studied by advanced numerical analyses. Laborato- ry testing is performed on one potential connection between FRP bridge deck panels and it is found that this connection is sufficiently stiff and strong for use in bridges, and it enables immediate assembly. The potential use of this technique is demonstrated in one case study bridge, Koninginne bridge located in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Design recommendations for the FRP-steel composite bridges are devel- oped. In addition, a life-cycle assessment and life-cycle cost analysis is performed to determine the cost efficiency and environmental impact of the new proposed solutions compared with traditional bridge con- struction methods. The participating partners in WP4/Task 4.2 and in the preparation of this deliverable are CTH (Sweden), ACC (Spain), MOS (Poland), AIC (Italy) and TRV (Sweden). The work in this report has been carried out from January 2011 to December 2013.