Influence of functionally obsolete bridges on the efficiency of road network. part II: case studies/ Tiltu funkcinio nusidevejimo itaka keliu tinklo veiksmingumui. II dalis: konkretus atvejai/ Funkcionali novecojusu tiltu ietekme uz cela tikla efektivitati. II. Dala: piemeri/ Funktsionaalselt vananenud sildade moju teedevorgu efektiivsusele. Osa II: juhtumianaluusid.
Kamaitis, Zenonas
1. Introduction
The road bridges are very important elements in every
country's roadway network particularly at interchanges and river
crossings and inevitably reflect network's capacity. It is commonly
recognized that safety of existing bridges tends to originate serious
problems in many countries both in economic as well as social and
environmental terms. Many existing studies focus on the structural
deterioration of road bridges, however, less attention is given for
their functional obsolescence. Only limited research has been undertaken
also in Lithuania on this subject.
As was stated in Part I of this study, a functionally obsolete
bridge is the one that was built to standards that are not used today.
These bridges may be structurally in good condition but do not meet the
needs of current traffic and have to be renovated or even dismantled. As
an example, three precast segmental two-lane bridges in good structural
condition are considered as functionally obsolete and have to be removed
(Brown 2002). This situation establishes the claim for the adoption of a
rational and comprehensive scheme for the management of aging bridges.
Functionally obsolete bridges are those that do not have adequate
lane or shoulder widths, clearances, safety features, approach roadway
alignment or waterway adequacy. To quantify functional deficiencies of
individual structures or a whole bridge population, the data should be
collected during systematic and long-term inspections. This allows
managing all bridge inventory given various traffic regulation,
maintenance of structures and financial scenarios.
It seems that the most profound and systematic investigations and
assessments of existing highway bridges are performed in US. All bridges
in US by federal law have to undergo in-depth inspections that are
performed at least once every two years. In 2007, according to ASCE
there were 152 316 of the national 599 766 bridges--or 25.4%--that were
considered substandard. Of these, a total of 79 792 approx 13.3% were
classified as functionally obsolete.
In recent years, after a number of bridge collapses in the US, the
increased attention has been also given to the existing stock of bridges
in European countries. Numerous management systems have been developed
throughout Europe. Although, it seems that in Europe the emphasis is
greater on bridge structural deterioration. Less attention is attributed
to their functional obsolescence.
The cases of functionally obsolete bridges in some countries are
mentioned in Part I of this study with some references on this subject.
The first attempt to analyze the substandard underclearance bridges in
Lithuania was undertaken by the author of this paper in 1995 (Kamaitis
1997). Experience shows that the functional requirements in the bridge
codes are subject to change over time. For example, most of the existing
bridges in Lithuania in post-World War II period are designed according
to different codes adopted in 1948, 1953, 1962, 1984 and 2005 with
increasing live load and geometric specifications. It is evident that
much of the national bridge stock is now below an acceptable standard.
In some bridges, the conditions in which the circulation takes place
adversely affect the traffic capacity.
In Part I of this work the criteria of functionally obsolete
bridges, deficiency categories and assessment of deficient structures
using cost-based approach are presented. In order to illustrate the
practical aspects of bridge obsolescence problems the case studies were
undertaken. The Part II contains the findings based on the site
inspections during 2005-2010 of urban bridge stock of total 83
structures. It was the first step in this effort which was to identify
all functional obsolete bridges and to provide functional obsolescence
evaluation for the inspected bridges in Lithuania.
2. Bridges used for studies
During 2005-2010 the first step was undertaken to identify
functionally deficient bridges, including the characteristics and
examples causing them to be functionally deficient.
[FIGURE 1 OMITTED]
This study addresses 83 bridges located in city streets. A large
number of bridges are made of concrete (41.5%) or prestressed concrete
(31.7%) and steel (26.8%). The highest number of bridges was built
during the peak construction period from the late 1966s through the
early 1995s, but there are older bridges still in use (Fig. 1). Some
bridges (about 20%), although designed and constructed more than 50
years ago, are still in good structural condition and continue to be
specified in current application. The older bridges are designed to
lower geometric standards of the time and actually they need to be
posted or closed for some types of vehicles. Modernization has been
patchy and partial. Normally, some portion of functional obsolescence
could be curable.
Specifications on the basic geometry of bridge structures are
included in the codes of each country. The design standards and required
functional performance for bridges in Lithuania has been progressively
revised, as shown in Table 1. Dimensional requirements for bridge deck
widths, bridge openings and bridge railings normally are given. These
requirements are governed by the requirements to traffic safety and
considerations of economy.
For further studies 65 structures were selected. Footbridges and
reconstructed bridges were excluded from the analysis.
3. Survey findings
3.1. Narrow bridges
Evaluation is applied to bridge roadway between railings, curbs or
median barriers. The width of a bridge is compared to standards and is
related to the amount of traffic it carries, number and width of lanes
as well as presence and width of shoulders. The widths of shoulders vary
according to category of road, traffic volume and have to accommodate
traffic safety. The width of travel way and shoulders should be
consistent with the existing cross-section of the adjacent roadway. The
bridge is rated as functionally obsolete if the approaching traffic
needs to make driving adjustments (slow down, stop, sharp turn) before
crossing the bridge.
Narrow two-lane road bridges are those that are 7.0 m wide or less,
have poor approach geometries, narrow lanes, narrow or no shoulders or
do not accommodate pedestrian or bicycle traffic. These bridges are
usually older and built until 1983 using past design standards.
There are 13 narrow historical bridges. Any bridge built before
1962 is likely to be lacking breakdown shoulders. A very good example is
the bridge built in 1930 (Fig. 2). As the picture shows, the bridge is
so narrow that people are reluctant to be on the bridge when a truck is
crossing the bridge in the opposite direction. It accentuates the delays
caused by accidents, makes staging of resurfacing and repairs more
difficult, and can add chokepoints or bottlenecks.
It is well known that there is definite relationship between bridge
widths and vehicle accident rates. Unfortunately, there is a lack of
collision records and costs associated with narrow bridges.
3.2. Underclearances
This feature is a measure of vertical or lateral clearances for any
road passing under the bridge. Minimum underclearances are specifying to
ensure that the structures are not struck by vehicles, vessels or trains
which pass below them. On the other hand, appropriate clearance should
assure the comfortable and without any restriction traffic circulation.
If traffic must be controlled by clearance and speed limit signs, the
bridge should be considered at some measure as functionally obsolete.
The vertical clearance is measured down from the lowest part of the
bridge superstructure to the roadway surface. Note that the real values
of vertical clearances sometimes vary due to snow built-up or
resurfacing work, deflection of loaded bridge superstructures. In some
states of the US, if vertical clearance is less than 4.88 m it is
considered as functionally obsolete. In UK (Retting et al. 2000) the
bridges with clearances below 5.05 m are considered "at risk".
The most common height of bridges that are struck is that with a
clearance between 3.65 and 4.27 m. In Ireland the min safe headroom is
5.0 m. In Australia the min height clearance over roads is 4.9 m.
Although, for major freight routes a preferred min height clearance
would be 5.5 m. Otherwise, traffic must be controlled by clearance and
speed limit signs.
As a result of insufficient vertical or lateral clearance highway
and railway bridges over roads are subject to risk of damages caused by
vehicular impact. Every year in many countries substandard bridges are
hit by lorries or trailers which are too high to pass underneath the
bridge. The number of collision accidents has been recorded in many
countries involving sometimes long-term traffic restrictions,
fatalities, injuries, serious environmental damages, and large economic
losses (e.g. Das, Gibbs 2001; El-Tawil et al. 2005; Ghose 2009; Horberry
et al. 2002; Kamaitis 1997; Martin, Michell 2004; Retting et al. 2000;
Trouillet 2001; Xin-Zheng et al. 2007; Yang, Qiao 2010). It seems that
the incidents due to inadequate circulation underclearances to bridge
sub- and superstructures are increasing. The damage done to the bridges
is not always obvious but can be serious. Sometimes these accidents are
very costly. For example, according to Maryland (US) bridge inspection
report (2001), from 1496 bridges a total of 309 bridges (20%) were found
to have some degree of over-height impact damage (Fig. 3). The annual
number of over-height accidents increased by 81% over the 6 year. There
were also 19 injuries. The two distinct peaks around 4.42 m and 5.03 m
depend on the type of route underneath the bridge. The main causes of
bridge strikes are the driver's lack of knowledge of the exact
height of their vehicles loaded by equipment, poor bridge warning signs
or markings, and bends of approach way located before a bridge (reduce
its visibility, particularly at night or in fog). Research work in the
vehicle collision with bridges continues. Several aspects, such as
predicting and modeling of accident rates influenced by traffic, road
and bridge geometric as well as environmental factors, the magnitude of
the collision loads, collision protection measures are not yet well
established.
The bridges inspected in this study (Fig. 4) included 65 on the
overpasses between them 25 (38.5%) that have limited overhead clearance
and could be involved in over-height collision. A total of 15 (23%)
bridges were found to have some degree of impact damage, between them 8
include serious collisions and had repair made at some point in time
(Fig. 5). The most common height of bridges that are struck is that with
a clearance between 4.5 and 5.0 m. As a rule all these bridges are built
before 1972. Note, that min vertical design clearance for new overpasses
in Lithuania since 1984 is [greater than or equal to] 5.0 m.
[FIGURE 2 OMITTED]
[FIGURE 3 OMITTED]
[FIGURE 4 OMITTED]
[FIGURE 5 OMITTED]
[FIGURE 6 OMITTED]
Horizontal or lateral clearances are measured from the through
roadway to the substructure and are evaluated unless the bridge is over
highway or railroad. Example of the bridge with restricted lateral
underclearance that causes the collision risk between passing vehicles
and the bridge piers is shown in Fig. 6. Average Daily Traffic ADT = 13
140 vpd (vehicles per day). Speed is reduced from 60 km/h to 40 km/h at
the distance of 200 m to the underclearance restricted bridge. In this
simple case the road user delay time (Eq (3) Kamaitis 2012) is of 12 620
hpy (hour per year) and vehicle operating delay time is of 15 850 hpy.
Although the vehicle collisions with bridge piers are rare
comparing to all truck collisions with bridges, the example of this type
of damage is presented in Fig. 7. It was found that under
geometry--lateral clearance of 7 (10.8%) inspected bridges are
functionally obsolete in this category.
Traffic on or over the under-standard bridges must be controlled by
clearance and speed limit signs. Signed high risk bridges with
restrictions of clearances force the drivers to choose alternative
routes taking into account "problematic" bridges.
3.3. Safety barriers and railings
Traffic safety feature is a measure of bridge railings condition.
Safety barriers and railings according to the requirements of current
standard are provided between roadway and sidewalk as well as at the
outside edges of the deck along the roadway to contain vehicles to the
roadway. The use of barriers and railings are governed by the criteria
that they have to prevent pedestrians, bicyclists or motor vehicles from
falling off the bridge deck and to separate vehicular lanes from
pedestrians with the aim to prevent their collision. Insufficient
barrier height leads to the result as shown in Fig. 8. In the old
bridges where the barriers are not installed, the height of the sidewalk
should be matched to that of the adjacent roadway for the sake of safety
and may be tolerated only for single lane bridges on low-volume traffic
roads.
It is recognized that the safest two-way roads with high traffic
volume are those with a central guiderail or concrete barrier wall.
Bridges without a central guiderail are more risky and more dangerous
for users. A recent accident observed on one of the city bridges in
which 13 vehicles were involved was not fatal due to the presence of
central guiderail that excluded vehicle collision in opposite
directions. Most of inspected bridges, some of them on the main arterial
streets, are two-way without vertical grid separator. Only few bridges
of the stock inspected meet this consideration.
3.4. Approach road alignment
This feature applies to those bridges that do not function properly
or adequately due to the road located within the influence zone of the
beginning or end of a bridge (in the bridge area adjacent to the bridge)
considering horizontal and vertical alignment of approaches. The basic
criteria of obsolescence are how the alignment of the roadway approaches
to the bridge i.e. approach curvature, lane and shoulder widths relates
to the traffic circulation in the sector of roadway the bridge is on.
The bridge geometrics should be compatible with its approach roads.
Entrance and exit of a bridge should be without any widening or posting
of any sign to control traffic. Speed limit should be taken as a measure
of existing functional obsolescence.
However, the number of cases exists when crossing the bridge
requires a major speed reduction due to the presence of intersections
near the bridge or horizontal or vertical curvature of the roadway at
the bridge reducing sight distances for vehicles. The driver will find
himself constrained to slow down, to avoid flying off at a tangent and
sliding downward across the pavement when the surface is slippery from
rain, snow or ice. Fig. 9 shows an example of the bridge on the
"S" shaped street over the main road. The photo shows that
there is a severe bend in the road and the reduction of allowable
traffic speed from 70 km/h to 40 km/h is envisaged by signing.
Another example--the bridges connected with approach street circle
interchanges that are very frequently found in the city street network.
The advantages and disadvantages of traffic circles at unsignalized city
or road intersections are discussed in many publications (e.g.
Caliskanelli et al. 2009; Daunoras et al. 2008; Dell'Acqua, Russo
2010; Jurevicius, Bogdevicius 2007; Zilioniene et al. 2010 among
others). These had their origin in city plan in the past and their
drawbacks became apparent. Traffic is slowed by the curve of the circle
and then by the vehicles entering or leaving a bridge. Frequently,
during peak traffic periods a complex situation on the bridges is
created. As an example, the river bridge of two way four lane, 14 m wide
and 174 m long with the average ADT = 16 100 vpd is considered (Fig.
10). The bridge and interchanges adequacy was evaluated based on the
average speed of vehicles (individual cars, commercial vehicles--light
and heavy, buses/trolleybuses) and traffic delay on the bridge during
the traffic jams. It was observed that the bridge experiences traffic
jams almost all day (from 6:00 to 22:00). Traffic congestion causes a
delay approximately 9500 of vehicle-hours and 21 150 of user-hours each
year. The user cost related to traffic jam on the bridge reaches about
528[euro] thousand each year. If we assume that socio-economic losses
are about 50% of user costs a total of approximately of [euro]800
thousand are lost every year. It is evident that traffic congestion
increases the cost of mobility to everyone and reduces the possibilities
of using bridge resources as the bridge is not functioning as intended.
The approaches for pedestrians at bridge sidewalks and footbridges
should be briefly mentioned also. Sidewalks and footbridges should be
accessible to all users, including those with disabilities, people using
wheelchairs, strollers, bicycles. The Lithuanian Code STR 2.06.02:2000
Tiltai ir tuneliai. Bendrieji reikalavimai [Bridges and Tunnels General
Requirements] requires the footbridges to be equipped with curb ramps.
It is observed that in the older crossings the mentioned users have a
limited access to pedestrian bridges.
[FIGURE 7 OMITTED]
[FIGURE 8 OMITTED]
[FIGURE 9 OMITTED]
4. Functional obsolescence evaluation
After field inspection of urban bridge stock and analysis of the
historic condition state data, each bridge was assessed for functional
deficiencies using condition rating system based on common opinion of
2-3 experts. In this investigation all bridges are rated using the
following scale:
5 excellent--superior or equal to current design standard and
present traffic flow criteria;
4 good--somewhat equal or better than present minimum criteria to
tolerate being left in place as it is; this indicates that the bridge
may show some functional deficiencies in the rush hours;
3 satisfactory--somewhat below minimum acceptable condition;
basically intolerable for at least one geometric category;
2 poor--below the design standard and current traffic demand
requiring special signing;
1 serious--the bridge does not meet currently acceptable standard
and not functioning as intended (repeated accidents are observed)
requiring high priority of signing or reconstruction/replacement.
[FIGURE 10 OMITTED]
[FIGURE 11 OMITTED]
[FIGURE 12 OMITTED]
Condition rating 3 and lower indicate that the bridge shows obvious
signs of excess obsolescence.
Four bridge geometry categories analyzed in the section 3
corresponding to each rating number in the form of special
classification are used to evaluate a bridge in relation to the level of
service. The structures are compared to current standard and current
traffic demand for particular type of street (arterial or local). The
values of Annual Average Daily Traffic (AADT) and magnitude of traffic
delays (occasional or significant) is taken into consideration for
condition rating. Due to limited space of the paper this classification
is omitted here.
After rating of deck geometry, safety features, clearances, and
approach road the general rating is provided. The general bridge rating
usually is the lowest categories rating and must reflect any safety
concerns related to the function of the bridge. Of the 65 bridges
analyzed in this investigation and currently located on city streets 27
(41.5%) are reported sufficient and 38 (58.5%) show the signs of
functional obsolescence.
Fig. 11 and Table 2 show the percentage of bridge deficiencies by
rating number and bridge geometry category. The two most common
deficiencies concern underclearances and approach road geometry. There
are 33.8% and 27.7% of bridges respectively having condition rating 3 or
less. Some structures are functionally obsolete in several categories.
Approx 68.4% of the bridges with functional deficiencies have one
functional deficiency, 26.3% two and about 5.3% three deficiencies.
The relationship between functional obsolescence categories and
bridge's age is shown in Fig. 12. The results show that functional
deficiencies decrease as age of bridges also decreases. Older bridges
are more likely to be functionally obsolete than newer ones. For
example, the proportion of functionally obsolete bridges is above 20% in
15 to 25 years old category, over 60% in 45 to 55 years old category.
Fig. 12 also shows that new recent bridges being constructed after 1996
are not deficient in any category.
This condition rating of inspected bridges is considered as a
today's condition evaluation and is not used to predict future
functional aging of the structure. The surveying of individual bridges
subject to functional deficiencies is continuing. The condition ratings
help to priority planning of future inspections and maintenance of
bridges.
5. Conclusions
1. A survey of 65 city bridges performed within a relatively short
period (2-5 years) on their functional performance has revealed that 27
bridges (41.5%) had adequate condition, whereas 38 (58.5%) were showing
well-defined or low-marked signs of functional obsolescence. The highest
percentage of obsolete bridges is classified in underclearance (33.8%)
and approach roadway (27.7%) categories. Moreover, functional
deficiencies increase with age. Extensive functional obsolescence is
common in many bridges over 25 years old. In most cases the obsolete
bridges continue to function, but at levels below contemporary
standards. The bridges constructed after 1996 are not deficient in any
category.
2. Some functionally deficient bridges were analyzed according to
the methodology described in Part I of this paper. Each bridge should be
examined individually. Reduced speed of traffic and associated traffic
delay was the principal criteria justifying functional obsolescence of
these bridges. It was found that due to rapid growth of traffic flows
the traffic congestion is a prevalent phenomenon in many city bridges.
The traffic congestion leads to longer trip times and additional user
costs. For example, the case study of the two-way four lane, 14 m wide
and 174 m long with the average ADT = 16 100 vpd bridge connected with
approach street circle interchanges showed that traffic congestion
causes a delay of 9500 vehicle-hours and 21 150 user-hours each year.
3. Functional surveying of bridge stock to make functional
evaluation was the first step in Lithuanian bridge management. Each
bridge should be examined individually for deficiencies that could
affect the level of service provided to bridge users and excess user
costs. Realistic estimation of functional obsolescence of the bridge
stock requires detailed knowledge of the current situation based on
long-term prediction results. The surveying of individual bridges
subject to functional deficiencies is continuing. The results from this
research are used for proposals to update current design guidelines and
to develop new effective maintenance methods.
Caption: Fig. 1. Number of bridges by the year built
Caption: Fig. 2. Urban steel bridge (1930) restricted to one-way
traffic in opposite directions: narrow clear roadway (5.8 m) and
sidewalks (0.5 m); no shoulders, no sidewalks and lane markings along
the bridge
Caption: Fig. 3. Vertical clearance of bridges struck by
over-height vehicles
Caption: Fig. 4. Total number of inspected bridges and number of
bridges damaged by over-height vehicle accidents versus vertical
clearance of obsolete bridges
Caption: Fig. 5. Collision damage of concrete footbridge with
vertical clearance of 4.97 m
Caption: Fig. 6. Example of the bridge with insufficient lateral
underclearance
Caption: Fig. 7. Collision damage of bridge pier column
Caption: Fig. 8. Car accident on the bridge built on sharp street
bend and insufficient parapet height (photo from Delphi)
Caption: Fig. 9. Example of the bridge on the severe bend in the
road and as result with posted traffic speed
Caption: Fig. 10. Illustration of circle-shape unsignalized
intersection in the bridge area leading to bridge-bottleneck and traffic
jam formation
Caption: Fig. 11. Distribution of bridges by rating number for each
of bridge geometrical category
Caption: Fig. 12. Functionally obsolete bridges by geometrical
category and age group
doi: 10.3846/bjrbe.2013.10
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Received 11 April 2011; accepted 13 June 2011
Zenonas Kamaitis
Dept of Bridges and Special Structures, Vilnius Gediminas Technical
University, Sauletekio al. 11, 10223 Vilnius, Lithuania
E-mail: zenonas.kamaitis@vgtu.lt
Table 1. Design geometrical parameters for 2-way urban bridges on
arterial roads
Codes Shoulders, m Railings, m
CH 200-62 no curbs
(1962-1984) requirements 0.25 m height
Chu[PI] 2.05.03-84 0.75 0.75/0.60 ***
(1984-2001)
STR 2.06.02:2000 [greater than or [greater than or
(2001 up to now) equal to] 0.50 equal to]
0.75/0.50 ***
Codes Street underclearances
Vertical, m Lateral *, m
CH 200-62 4.5 no
(1962-1984) requirements
Chu[PI] 2.05.03-84 [greater than or [greater than or
(1984-2001) equal to] 5.0 equal to] 1.5
STR 2.06.02:2000 [greater than or 9.0
(2001 up to now) equal to] 5.0
Codes Railroad underclearances
Vertical, m Lateral **, m
CH 200-62 6.3 3.1
(1962-1984)
Chu[PI] 2.05.03-84 6.4 3.1
(1984-2001)
STR 2.06.02:2000 6.4 3.1
(2001 up to now)
*--distance from the edge of the adjacent traffic lane to the face
of bridge pier where the bridge pier is not protected by safety
barrier;
**--distance from the centerline of track to the face of bridge pier;
***--0.75/0.60 = safety barrier/parapet.
Table 2. Functionally obsolete bridges by geometrical category
Deck geometry Safety features
Category I Category II
Non deficient 54 57
Functionally obsolete 11 (16.8%) 8 (12.3%)
Underclearances Approach geometry
Category III Category IV
Non deficient 43 47
Functionally obsolete 22 (33.8%) (27.7%)