Skip to main content

Lateral Stability of Prestressed Precast Concrete Girders During Lifting: Study Case

  • Conference paper
  • First Online:
  • 180 Accesses

Abstract

Improvements in concrete technology, reinforcing systems and manufacturing processes enable the use of increasingly long reinforced precast concrete girders, contributing to the competitiveness of girders in concrete in comparison with other alternatives. The weight of the girders should be limited however, in order to achieve an optimum between span length and lifting and transportations costs. The current tendency in design is to minimize the width of the flanges, thus the girder becoming more flexible laterally and more prone to suffer instability phenomena during transient loading situations. An increasing number of accidents and damages associated with this instability problem are reported in the technical literature (e.g., Hurff 2010; Rose 2013). The main objective of this study is to describe a real case of lateral instability of a long prestressed concrete bridge girder during lifting as well asto perform a parametric study to understand the limits of the problem observed. Special attention is paid to the evaluation of the provisions gathered in the Model Code 2010 (MC - 2010) regarding the lateral stability, since these might not be sufficient to cover limit cases.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.

Buying options

Chapter
USD   29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD   259.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD   329.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Learn about institutional subscriptions

References

  • Anderson, A.R.: Lateral stability of long prestressed concrete beams. PCI J. 16(3), 7–9 (1971)

    Google Scholar 

  • Bairán, J.M., Cladera, A.: Collapse of a precast concrete beam for a light roof. Importance of elastomeric bearing pads in the element’s stability. Eng. Fail. Anal. 39, 188–199 (2014)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Castrodale, R.W., White, C.D.: Extending span ranges of precast prestressed concrete girders. National Cooperative Highway Research Program, Report 517. Washington, D.C. (2004)

    Google Scholar 

  • de la Fuente, A., Aguado, A., Molins, C., Armengou, J.: Numerical model for the analysis up to failure of precast concrete sections. Comput. Struct. 106–107, 105–114 (2012)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • EHE-08: Comisión Permanente del Hormigón. Instrucción de Hormigón Estructural. Ministerio de Fomento, 3rd edn. (2009)

    Google Scholar 

  • EN 15050:2008 +A1: Precast concrete products – Bridge elements (2012)

    Google Scholar 

  • fib Bulletins 65–66, Model Code 2010. Final Draft. fédérationinternationale du béton (fib), Lausanne, Switzerland (2010)

    Google Scholar 

  • Hurff, J.: Stability of precast prestressed concrete bridge girders considering imperfections and thermal effects. Georgia Institute of Technology, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, August 2010

    Google Scholar 

  • Laszlo, G., Imper, R.R.: Handling and shipping of long span bridge beams. PCI J. 32, 86–101 (1987)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mast, R.F.: Lateral stability of long prestressed concrete beams, Part 1. PCI J. 34(1), 34–53 (1989)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mast, R.F.: Lateral stability of long prestressed concrete beams, Part 2. PCI J. 38(1), 70–88 (1993)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mast, R.F.: Lateral bending test to destruction of a 149 ft. prestressed concrete I-beam. PCI J. 39(1), 54–62 (1994)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Muller, J.: Lateral stability of precast members during handling and placing. PCI J. 7, 20–31 (1962)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • PCI: Tolerance Manual for Precast and Prestressed Concrete Construction, 1st edn. Precast Concrete Institute, Chicago, IL (2000)

    Google Scholar 

  • PCI: Recommended practice for lateral stability of precast, prestressed concrete bridge girders (CB-02-16). PCI committee on Bridges (2016)

    Google Scholar 

  • Plaut, R.H., Moen, C.D.: Analysis of elastic, doubly symmetric, horizontally curved beams during lifting. J. Struct. Eng. 139(1), 39–46 (2013)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rose, J.: Marquam Bridge wreck likely caused by truck with massive beam braking for Portland traffic jam. The Oregonian, April 2013

    Google Scholar 

  • Stratford, T.J., Burgoyne, C.J.: The toppling of hanging beams. Int. J. Solids Struct. 27(26), 3569–3589 (2000)

    Article  MATH  Google Scholar 

  • Swann, R.A.: Readers comment to “Lateral Stability of Long Prestressed Concrete Beams”. PCI J. 16(6), 85–87 (1971)

    MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Albert de la Fuente .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2018 Springer International Publishing AG

About this paper

Cite this paper

de la Fuente, A., Bairán, J., Cavalaro, S.H.P., Goodier, C., Palmeri, A. (2018). Lateral Stability of Prestressed Precast Concrete Girders During Lifting: Study Case. In: Hordijk, D., Luković, M. (eds) High Tech Concrete: Where Technology and Engineering Meet. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-59471-2_176

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-59471-2_176

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-59470-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-59471-2

  • eBook Packages: EngineeringEngineering (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics