A platform for research: civil engineering, architecture and urbanism
A platform for research: civil engineering, architecture and urbanism
Lessons Learnt from Hanger Failures in Arch Bridges
The analysis of 10 highway arch bridge hanger failures in China over the past 22 years reveals that the failed hangers were all made of high-strength steel wire. The failures were primarily caused by corrosion and fracture of the hanger steel wire, or slippage of the swaging anchorage. These failures led to either the complete collapse of the superstructure or partial damage to the deck. The hangers that failed had been in service for a range of 9.0 to 21.3 years, with an average age of 13 years. There are three main modes of hanger failure in arch bridges: connection damage, steel wire fracture, and anchorage slippage. To facilitate inspection and drainage, the connection structure of the hanger-girder and hanger-arch, as well as the anchorage, should be designed to be easily accessible. Any issues can be easily identified from the bridge deck. Contractors should conduct type examinations and static load tests on strand cables with swaging anchorage. If any hanger anchorage slips during construction or operation, immediate action should be taken to halt the construction or close the bridge to traffic. This is necessary to identify the cause and prevent the collapse of the bridge and any casualties resulting from the systematic and large-scale failure of the hangers. The tensile force of the hanger significantly decreases, potentially due to the slippage of the hanger anchorage. Once one hanger fails, it can trigger a chain reaction of adjacent hanger failures, ultimately leading to the collapse of the bridge.
Lessons Learnt from Hanger Failures in Arch Bridges
The analysis of 10 highway arch bridge hanger failures in China over the past 22 years reveals that the failed hangers were all made of high-strength steel wire. The failures were primarily caused by corrosion and fracture of the hanger steel wire, or slippage of the swaging anchorage. These failures led to either the complete collapse of the superstructure or partial damage to the deck. The hangers that failed had been in service for a range of 9.0 to 21.3 years, with an average age of 13 years. There are three main modes of hanger failure in arch bridges: connection damage, steel wire fracture, and anchorage slippage. To facilitate inspection and drainage, the connection structure of the hanger-girder and hanger-arch, as well as the anchorage, should be designed to be easily accessible. Any issues can be easily identified from the bridge deck. Contractors should conduct type examinations and static load tests on strand cables with swaging anchorage. If any hanger anchorage slips during construction or operation, immediate action should be taken to halt the construction or close the bridge to traffic. This is necessary to identify the cause and prevent the collapse of the bridge and any casualties resulting from the systematic and large-scale failure of the hangers. The tensile force of the hanger significantly decreases, potentially due to the slippage of the hanger anchorage. Once one hanger fails, it can trigger a chain reaction of adjacent hanger failures, ultimately leading to the collapse of the bridge.
Lessons Learnt from Hanger Failures in Arch Bridges
Structural Integrity
Briseghella, Bruno (editor) / Contento, Alessandro (editor) / Liu, Junping (editor) / Li, Jun (author) / Zhang, Bolun (author) / Duan, Yu (author) / Huang, Zhiyang (author) / Wang, Zinuo (author) / Tang, Chaoyong (author) / Sun, Hongbin (author)
International Conference on Arch Bridges ; 2023 ; Fuzhou, China
2025-02-25
10 pages
Article/Chapter (Book)
Electronic Resource
English
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