Substructure

The portion of the bridge structure below the level of the

bearing and above the foundation is generally referred to as
substructure. Thus for a river bridge with well foundation, the
substructure will consist of the piers, the abutments and the
bed block over the piers and abutments.

Ground conditions may be such as to make some settlement

of the foundation inevitable, and where the magnitude of
settlement involved is substantial, this may rule out the use
of structural forms involving continuous spans or torsionally
stiff deck, because they would be unable to accommodate
displacements at the points of supports.

Bed block [capping beam]

The bed block (also known as the bridge seat) is the block
resting over the top of the pier of abutment. It provides the
immediate bearing surface for the support of the
superstructure, and disperses the loads from the bearing to
the pier or abutment more evenly. The bed block should
cover the entire area of the top of the pier and should
project 75 mm beyond the pier dimensions. This offset
prevents rainwater from dipping down the sides and ends
of the pier and also improves the appearance of the pier.
The thickness of the bed block is about 450 mm to 600
mm over straight portion of the pier and is reduced to 300
mm at the end over the cutwaters.

Piers
The general shape and feature of a pier depend to a large
extent on the type, size and dimensions of the superstructure
and also on the environment in which the pier is located. Pier
can be solid, cellular or hammerhead types.
Solid and cellular piers for river bridge should be provided
with semicircular cutwater to facilitate flow and to reduce
scour. Other designs such as reinforced concrete framed type
have also been used. Solid piers are of masonry or mass
concrete. It is permissible to use stone masonry for the
exposed portions and to fill the interior with lean concrete.

Typical framed piers

Cellular, trestle and hammerhead types use reinforced

concrete. The cellular type permits saving in the quantity of
concrete, but usually requires difficult shuttering and
additional labour in placing reinforcements. The trestle type
consists of columns (usually circular or octagonal) with a
bent cap at the top.
In some recent designs, concrete hinges have been introduced
between the top of columns and the bent cap in order to avoid
moments being transferred from deck to the columns.
The hammerhead type provides slender substructure and is
normally suitable for elevated roadways. When used in a river
bridge, this design leads to minimum restriction of waterway.

The bottom width of pier is usually larger than the top width
so as to restrict the net stresses within the permissible values.
It is normally sufficient to provide a batter of 1 in 25 in all
sides for the portion of the pier between the bottom of bed
block and the top of the well or pile cap or foundation as the
case may be.

The loads and forces to be considered in the design of

piers are as below:
(1) Dead load of superstructure and the pier itself.
(2) Live load of traffic passing over the bridge. The
effect of eccentric loading due to the live load occurring
on one span only should be considered.
(3) Impact effect for the top 3 m of the pier only.
(4) Buoyancy of submerged part of substructure. If the
pier is anchored to rock by dowels, it is permissible to
neglect the effect of buoyancy.
(5) Effect of wind on moving loads and on the
superstructure.
(6) Force due to water current.
(7) Force due to wave action.

(8) Longitudinal forces due to tractive effort of vehicles.

(9) Longitudinal forces due to braking of vehicles.
(10) Longitudinal forces due to resistance in bearings. (11)
Seismic effects
(12) Force due to collision for piers in navigable waters

Various pier types and configurations

Abutments
An abutment is a substructure, which supports terminus of the
superstructure of a bridge and at the same time, laterally
supports the embankment and serves an approach to the
bridge. For a river bridge, the abutment also protects the
embankment from scour of the stream.
An abutment generally consists of the following elements:
The breast wall which directly supports the dead and live
loads of the superstructure, and retains the embankment in its
rear.
The wing wall which act as an extensions of breast wall in
retaining the fill though not taking any loads from
superstructure.
The back wall which is a small retaining wall just behind
the bridge seat, preventing flow of material from the fill.

Modes of failure

Column of bridge on the Route

210/5
Separation
and
Overhead
Structure.This
illustration emphasizes the
importance
of
achieving
Failure of superstructure due to integral action (continuity)
failure of piers- Showa bridge between
the
substructure
(foundation)
and
the
Niigata Earhquake Japan
superstructure

Foothill Boulevard Undercrossing damaged in the 1971

San Fernando earthquake. The superstructure (box girder
bridge) is highly skewed and supported on 1.2-m
octagonal columns. The undamaged superstructure
underwent significant horizontal rotation, inducing severe
damage to the substructure columns due to their
inadequate lateral reinforcement which consisted of 13-

View of the collapse of the

South Connector Overcrossing,
located in the Route 14/5
Interchange, during the 1971
San Fernando Earthquake.
The structure consisted of two
54-m continuous prestressed
concrete box girder spans that
were supported at their ends
at hinge seats on the ends of
the cantilevered parts of the
adjacent spans. The two
continuous
spans
were
supported by a single 1.8 x 3m cross section column which
was approximately 43 meters
high. As shown in this slide,