Design Implications of Creep and Shrinkage in Integral Abutment Bridges

Integral abutment bridges are becoming popular among a number of transportation agencies owing to the benefits arising from elimination of expensive joints, installation, and reduced maintenance costs. The purpose of this study is to quantify the time dependent effects of creep, shrinkage and temperature using an analytical model to ensure efficient and reliable design, and give a rationale for the adoption of integral abutment bridges. An analytical procedure incorporating the time dependent behavior of the superstructure will aid in getting the appropriate forces transmitted to the substructure system of the integral abutment bridge rather than assuming the superstructure and substructure as separate systems.