Comparative study on the girder erection scheme for the Chibi Yangtze river highway bridge

Abstract

The construction process of composite cable-stayed bridges varies, and it closely affects the finished bridge. This study takes

the Chibi Yangtze River Highway Bridge, which is the world’s largest-span composite cable-stayed bridge, as an example in determining the optimal scheme of girder erection during the construction of the composite cable-stayed bridge. Six girder construction schemes were proposed for comparison and analysis. On the basis of satisfying the objective principles of the finished bridge, the stress safety principle, and the economic principle, qualitative and quantitative methods were used to analyze the girder erection schemes. The refined model of the composite girder segment was established by the finite element software ABAQUS to examine the local stress of the bridge. Subsequently, the optimal scheme of girder erection was determined. Then, the key calculation results of the optimal scheme of girder erection during the construction stages and for the finished bridge were given, which proved thefeasibility, safety, economy, and controllability of the proposed optimal scheme. Results show that the measured data of the girder line shapes and the cable forces of the finished bridge agree well with the theoretical values. This agreement verifies the correctness of the determination and demonstration of the proposed optimal scheme. This study provides a certain reference for the determination of the girder erection scheme of composite cable-stayed bridges.