Skewed concrete box girder bridge static and dynamic testing and analysis

Skewed bridges are widely used in China, with one prominent application being for high speed railways, and, as in other parts of the world, certain behavioral aspects need additional research to better understand their performance and to provide additional scientific basis for design. This paper summarizes results of a research project that encompassed 1:8 scale model testing and analyses of a three-span continuous, prestressed concrete (PC), box girder bridge having a 45° skew. The scale-model structure replicates an actual bridge being constructed for a high speed railway between Beijing and Shanghai. Research that is summarized here involved static and dynamic testing. Along with summarizing the design and construction details and the experimental procedure, experimentally obtained displacements and stresses, natural frequencies, mode shapes and damping ratios are presented and compared against those obtained from FE analyses of the tested structures. The influence of skew on the bridge’s static and dynamic behavior is also investigated. Research results provide important scientific basis for the design and construction of skewed bridges on high speed railways.