Innovative composite overpasses on the Romanian A1 motorway

Abstract

Bridges are of essential importance to the infrastructure; it is a fact that, in the last decades, composite bridges became a well-liked solution in many European countries as a cost-effective and aesthetic alternative to concrete bridges. Their competitiveness depends on several circumstances such as site conditions, local costs of material and staff and the contractor’s experience. Beside the classical solution, the new ones with efficient design, which follows the present tendency in bridges consisting in simplifying the structure as much as possible, consolidate the market position of the steel construction and steel producing industry. In the background of Europe’s transportation system renewal process, Romania is also passing through a development period of its transportation infrastructure. This is an opportunity for a country to develop efficient, economical and also modern projects, targeting towards obtaining sustainable systems in the end. Continuous shear connection using a cut steel strip is a solution for composite beams. The present paper presents a quick overview of the technical solution chosen for two of the structures from the Orăştie – Sibiu motorway section – overpasses which use in the cross section prefabricated composite girders, applying composite dowels strips and VFT^® technology. To prove the accuracy of the model, the bridge was submitted to several in-situ tests, which proved to be a success.