Author(s)

E. Gavaise, K. Papaefthimiou, T. Tzaveas, K. Stylianidis & J. Tegos

Abstract

The design of structural systems depends on a wide range of compliance criteria which are related to safety, functionality, economy, aesthetics, durability, constructability aspects, maintenance requirements etc. More specifically, with respect to earthquake resistant bridges, the issue of economy is mostly affected by the basic concept for their design, namely the selection of the optimum resistant system, taking into account the site-specific requirements and constraints in each case. For structural elements, such as the piers, for which the seismic combination of actions is critical to their design, economy is an interesting problem that concerns the designers of bridges and has not been systematically examined until now. In this paper, various cases of cross-sections of piers and foundations are examined analytically. The most fundamental conclusion of the paper is that the economy of choice is closely connected with the parameter of the mechanical ratio of the reinforcement of structural elements. Nevertheless, from the structural elements being examined, not all of them present the same amount of sensitivity with respect to the objective of economy and it is possible in some cases that other criteria, such as aesthetics or safety, can prevail over the criterion of economy. In the piers, for example, there is space for assessing the most economical cross-section, whereas in the pilecaps, economy is connected with the selection of \“tight” solutions, which are based on the safety criteria imposed by the appropriate codes of practice. Keywords: bridge, economy-cost, pier, abutment, joint, bearings, slab footing, pile cap, pile.

Keywords

bridge, economy-cost, pier, abutment, joint, bearings, slab footing, pile cap, pile.