Bridge across the River Saale, Beesedau, Germany

Winfried Glitsch, Civil Eng. DEGES, Berlin, Germany

Introduction General view

About halfway between Magdeburg

km 35 + 481
805 m
and Halle/Saale, the new federal mo-

km 36 + 286
65 180 56 56 56 56 56 56 56 56 56 46
torway (Bundesautobahn) A14 crosses
the river Saale and its adjacent flood

tioning
to Halle (Beesedau) to Magedburg

parti-

pier
plain near Bernburg near the village of
Beesedau. This bridge is 805 m-long Saale River
and is the longest structure along the
Top view
A14. Construction began in 1998 and
was completed in 2000.
R
=
The construction is divided into a 310 35
0

r
m-long river bridge and the 495 m-long

ve
Ri
foreshore bridge (Fig. 1). The gradient

A = 2000 m
A = 810
A = 810
ranges from a height of around 11 m to

R=
Saale

14 m over the site. At the bridge it in- intended expansion

dicates a longitudinal decline of 0.5% of the river Saale
towards the southeast. The river bridge
is laid out in a straight line, but de-
velops into a clothoid at the foreshore Fig. 1: Elevation and plan view
bridge.
View of the river bridge

vibration
Bridge damper

During the design process various

structures, including a deck bridge, a
tied arch bridge, a cable-stayed bridge, 19.00 13.02 17.58 9 13.20 = 118.80 17.58 13.02 19.00
and a true arch bridge with angled
piers were examined and compared 180.00 m
through computer simulation.
Arch cross section at the suspension rods Arch cross section at the crown
A true arch bridge with angled piers
1800
~40

was selected (Fig. 2). The main reasons 1800

~30

60
are as follows:
900 900
Bogenachse

1200
~30
1800

19
zur

the arch further the tradition of the

~30

existing old arch bridges over the

25
River Saale
variabel

its unusual form lends it a distinctive, Vibration damper

(Outer dimensions)
250

unmistakable character
10 10
20 t

driver can consciously experience 160 t

500

0 R
the arch, because its structural ele- ~
250

ments lie above the roadway. 180 ~

420
Fig. 2: Longitudinal section of bridge ~
180
The arched construction consists of
two outer reinforced arched plains in-
At the crossbars the width of the arch angled piers, channel back some of this
clining towards each other and secured
is a constant 1.8 m; from there to the force to the roadway surface.
with 6 crossbars. The roadway surface
base of the arch it widens to 3.6 m. The
is continuous and consists of separate The arches and angled piers are each
box width of the arch girders is a con-
hollow-box girders in composite-steel connected at the intersections with
stant 1.6 m. Angled piers are added at
construction with a height of 3.1 m the roadway through bend- and tor-
the lower extensions of the arch. These
(Fig. 3). The arch spans 180 m with sion-resistant box girders and are thus
provide additional structural support
a height of 38 m; the arch form was connected with one another (Fig. 4).
for the hollow box girders in the pe-
developed from a square parabola.
ripheral segments. The force of the The roadway is joined to the arches
arches is directed through the founda- through 10 suspension rods set apart
tion and straight into the ground. The at a distance of 13.2 m. The suspenders

234 Recent Bridges in Germany Structural Engineering International 4/2002

Cross section
2.00
4%
1.70 1.40
30.00
3.50
2.5% 2.5%
2.26
20.30 20.30
Fig. 3: Cross section of bridge
attach to projecting bracket-like trans-
verse beams. The suspension roads lie
in the plain of the arch and consist of
steel rounds with a circumference of
180 and 200 mm. The transverse beams
for the suspenders are sickle-shaped in
order to emphasise the axial support.
Conical cover plates form the end of
the transverse beams and serve also as
joint plates for the suspension rods.
Foreshore Bridge
A continuous beam was selected for
the foreshore bridge and consists of
9 segments with the dimensions of 8
56 m and 1 46 m. The total length is
495 m. The superstructure consists of
2 concrete longitudinal and transverse
prestressed one-celled hollow box
girders. The construction height was
set at 3.1 m corresponding to the main
bridge. This results in a statically bene-
ficial and economical slenderness of
L/H = 18.
Piers
The separation between the river
bridge and the foreshore bridge is em-
phasised by the partitioning pier. The
Fig. 4: Angled base with angled piers
Structural Engineering International 4/2002
15.00
11.50
1.50 1.50
2.5% 4% 2.5%
0.00 6.5%
R = 62.50
75 75 75
3.10
6.50 3.50 3.50
7.50 7.50 7.50
View A
1.10
13.20 13.20
partitioning pier (Fig. 5) was deliber-
ately designed as a massive, solid slab.
The outer sides are bevelled in a point-
ed surface, and their diagonal slope of
4:1 corresponds to the incline of the
arch. The benchmark for the foreshore
bridge was established at the pier be-
cause of its massive structure. The lo-
cation of the partitioning pier is em-
phasised for drivers by a small crows
nest. In accordance with the design
concept of the A14 the connecting
pier is coated on the outer sides with
porphyry and on the inner sides with
a more economical brickwork in a
matching colour.
The regular piers (Fig. 5) are specially
designed concrete slabs with large
openings. The diagonal slope of 4:1 is
adopted from the connecting pier and
continued. The exposed surfaces of the
regular piers consist of face-mix con-
crete in a formwork construction.
Construction of the Arches
The arches were built (Fig. 6) by means
of 7 props, which were in some cases
taken down after the successful partial
construction of the arch. First, the
bases of the arches were measured, ad-
justed, and encased in concrete. Then,
starting from the bases, the arch was
15.00
11.50 2.00
built up in segments with the help of
props. Individual segments were 20 m
to 25 m in length and had a weight of
A 120 t. These segments were individual-
1.36 1.40
0.00 4%
ly lifted into place by a 500-t mobile
crane. Finally, the 46-m and 270-t mid-
75
A dle section of the arch was installed.
6.50 3.50 This middle section was welded to-
7.50 2.26 gether from 4 segments and 4 cross-
bars on a pontoon nearby and then
shipped to the construction site. The
pontoon was then turned sideways and
brought into position; the middle sec-
tion was lifted into place to connect
with the four ends of the arches by
stranded wire pulleys.
Fig. 5: Dividing pier and regular piers
Construction of the Composite
Steel Deck
The stiffening girders were transport-
ed by truck to the pre-construction site
behind abutment 0. Delivered in pre-
construction units divided lengthwise
down the centre, the girders were weld-
ed together and prepared for position-
ing. The uniform segments were approx-
imately 22 m. Transfer was done via
4 props (arch props which had been
partially taken down) and 2 installa-
tion stations along with the installation
station at the abutment 0. The two
adjacent steel stiffening girders were
inserted in a tandem push by a tension
rail, which was installed along the main
Fig. 6: Arch construction
Recent Bridges in Germany 235
axis of the structure. The maximum
distance supported during the transfer
was 66 m. During the transfer over the
River Saale, the sickle-shaped trans-
verse stiffening girders were hung and
locked in their future positions. A stroke
lever was employed in order to miti-
gate the bending of the cantilever arm
and to ensure and secure arrival at the
first installation station.
Simultaneously, the suspension rods
were built and adjusted, first at the
arch, after complete positioning and
installation of the cross beams and also
at the cross beam plates.
The roadway was cast in 13 segments
in concrete, each with a length of
approximately 25 m. To minimise the
tensions within the roadway surface,
the segments were cast from the mid-
dle of the section and the abutment
towards the ends of the arch.
Damping the Vibration of the
Suspension Rails
To prevent vibration induced by wind
and rain, liquid-filled vibration dampers
were installed. The size and number
of the damping units was determined
by oscillation measurements taken on
the completed structure. Through the
oscillation measurements, the natural
oscillation and damping decrement of
the individual suspension rods were
determined. Based on previous ex-
perience and model projections the
required damping decrements were
calculated, and the final number and
dimensions of the dampers were deter-
mined. Finally, in-situ measurements
demonstrated the actual damping ca-
pacity and the effectiveness of the
dampers was confirmed.
Fig. 8: View of new Saale Bridge, Beesedau
236 Recent Bridges in Germany
Fig. 7: Formwork carriage and foreshore bridge
Construction of the Foreshore In 2000, the completed motorway be-
Bridge tween Magdeburg and Halle was
opened to traffic. The Beesedau/Saale
Bridge forms a striking accent within
To construct the foreshore bridge a
the landscape and can be seen from
transfer carriage was employed (Fig. 7).
kilometers around (Fig. 8).
The transfer carriage was supported
on the span supports of the piers as
well as in the middle of the section.
This was favourable for the deforma-
tion conditions during the construction
of the superstructure. For lengthwise
transfer the carriage was separated in
SEI Data Block
the middle, pulled apart, and trans-
ported to the next forward position. Owner:
DEGES on behalf of Saxony-Anhalt
Concrete was poured section by sec-
and Federal Republic of Germany
tion. The connection occurred at ap-
proximately L/5. During the pouring Tender design:
of concrete the transfer carriage was Schssler-Plan, Berlin, Prof. Laage u.
hung on the previously concreted seg- Partner, Hamburg
ment of the superstructure. The con- Execution design:
struction of the superstructure was Planungsgesellschaft Nord-West GmbH,
done in two-week cycles. Hannover, Dr. Schtz, Kempten
The superstructure was concreted in Test engineer:
two sections, each approximately 350 m3. Prof. Dr.-Ing. U. Weyer, Dortmund
First, the trough was poured, and then
Contractor:
about a week later, the roadway plates
ARGE Saalebrcke Beesedau
were cast in concrete.
Dyckerhoff and Widmann AG, Magdeburg
Teerbau, Oebisfelde
Krupp Stahlbau Hannover GmbH
River bridge:
Steel (t): 4500
Concrete (m3): 3600
Concrete steel (t): 970
Foreshore bridge:
Concrete (m3): 11 600
Concrete steel (t): 1250
Prestressing steel (t): 490
Substructure:
Concrete (m3): 14 500
Concrete steel (t): 1170
Cost (USD millions): 29
Service date: 2000
Structural Engineering International 4/2002