INDIAN RAILWAY STANDARD CODE OF PRACTICE FOR PLAIN, REINFORCED

AND PRESTRESSED CONCRETE FOR GENERAL BRIDGE CONSTRUCTION

(CONCRETE BRIDGE CODE)
16 DESIGN & DETAILING :
16.2
Limit state design of
PRESTRESSED CONCRETE
prestressed concrete
16.1 General
16.1.1 This clause gives methods of
analysis and design which will in general
ensure that for prestressed concrete
construction, the recommendations set
out in 10.2 & 10.3 are met. Other
methods may be used provided they
can be shown to be satisfactory for the
type of structure or member considered.
In certain cases the assumptions made
in this clause may be inappropriate and
the engineer shall adopt a more suitable
method having regard to the nature of
the structure in question.
This clause does not cover prestress
concrete construction using any of the
following in the permanent works :
a) unbonded tendons,
b) external tendons ( a tendon is
considered external if, after stressing
and incorporating in the permanent
work but before protection, it is
outside the concrete section );
c) lightweight aggregate.
When analysing sections, the
terms strength, resistance and
capacity are used to describe the
strength of the section.
16.1.2
All
prestressed
concrete
structures shall be designed for safety,
serviceability
and
durability
requirements (structural and nonstructural
loads
caused
by
environment).
16.1.3 The bridges shall be designed for
the service life as given below: Type of structures

Design life in yrs.

Bridges in sea
Bridges in Coastal areas
Bridges in rest of India

50
80
100

16.2.1 Basis of Design Clause 16

follows the limit state philosophy set out
in clause 10 but, as it is not possible to
assume that a particular limit state will
always be the critical one, design
methods are given for both the ultimate
and the serviceability limit states.
In general, the design of
prestressed concrete members are
controlled by concrete stress limitations
for serviceability load conditions, but the
ultimate strength in flexure, shear and
torsion shall be checked.
16.2.2 Durability :- A proper drainage
system shall be provided for the deck as
indicated in 15.2.2.1. Guidance is given
in 16.9.2 on the minimum cover to
reinforcement and prestressing tendons.
For other requirements like maximum
water cement ratio, minimum grade of
concrete, minimum cement contents,
maximum crack width etc., Clause 5.4 &
10.2.1 shall be referred.
16.2.3 Loads In clause 16, the design
load (see 11.3) for the ultimate and
serviceability limit states are referred to
as ultimate loads and service loads
respectively.
Consideration shall be given to the
construction sequence and to the
secondary effects due to prestress
particularly for the serviceability limit
states. For prestressed concrete
members the different stages of
loadings defined below shall be
investigated and the various stresses to
which the member is subjected shall be
maintained within the permissible limits.
a) at transfer of prestress,
b) at handling and erection;
c) at design load.
16.2.4 Strength of Materials

INDIAN RAILWAY STANDARD CODE OF PRACTICE FOR PLAIN, REINFORCED

AND PRESTRESSED CONCRETE FOR GENERAL BRIDGE CONSTRUCTION
(CONCRETE BRIDGE CODE)
16.2.4.1 Definition of strengths In
under the ultimate limit state may be
clause 16 the design strengths of
carried out provided the following
materials are expressed in all the tables
conditions are met.
and equations in terms of the
a)
Appropriate checks are made to
characteristic strength of the material.
ensure that adequate rotation capacity
Unless specifically stated otherwise, all
exists at sections where moments are
equations and tables include allowances
reduced,
making
reference
to
for Ym, the partial safety factor for
appropriate test data.
material strength.
In the absence of a special
investigation,
the plastic
rotation
16.2.4.2
Characteristic strength of
capacity
may
be
taken
as
the
lesser
of :
concrete The characteristic cube
strengths of concrete for various grades
are given in Table 2. These values
given do not include any allowance for

d
(1)
0.008 + 0.035 0.5 c
Ym . Design shall be based on the
de

characteristic strength, fck, except that

at transfer the calculations shall be
or
based on the cube strength at transfer.
10
(2)
16.2.4.3
Characteristic strength of
d dc
prestressing tendons Until the
but not less than 0 or more than 0.015
relevant Indian standards specifications
for prestressing steel are modified to
where
include the concept of characteristic
dc is the calculated depth of concrete in
strength, the characteristic strength shall
compression at the ultimate limit
be assumed as the minimum ultimate
state (in mm) ;
tensile stress/breaking load for the
prestressing steel specified in the
de is the effective depth for a solid slab
relevant Indian Standard Specifications.
or rectangular beam, otherwise the
16.2.4.3.1 The values given in relevant
Indian Standard Specifications do not
include any allowance for Ym.
16.3

Structures
Frames:

&

Structural

16.3.1
Analysis of structures
Complete structures and complete
structural frames may be analysed in
accordance with the recommendations
of 13.1 but when appropriate the
methods given in 16.4 may be used for
the design of individual members.
The relative stiffness of members shall
generally be based on the concrete
section as described in 13.1.2.1.
16.3.2. Redistribution of Moments Redistribution
of
moments
obtained by rigorous elastic analysis

overall depth of the compression

flange (in mm);
d

is the effective depth to tension

reinforcement (in mm)

b)
Proper account is taken of
changes in transverse moments,
transverse deflections and transverse
shears consequent on redistribution of
longitudinal moments by means of an
appropriate non-linear analysis.
c)
Shears and reactions used in
design are taken as either those
calculated prior to redistribution or after
redistribution, whichever is greater.
d)
The depth of the members or
elements considered is less than 1200
mm.