Analysis of mechanism of semi-circular transverse cracks in light double column bridge piers

The reasons of semi-circular transverse cracks of the bridge piers are analyzed in the paper. A lot of semi-circular transverse cracks occurred in the top of 1# and 2# bridge piers before the open to traffic. In the loading process of the load test, the cracks show the trend of expansion. The formation causes of these cracks are analyzed from aspects of the material, environment temperature, construction methods and imposed load and the finite element software ANSYS is further used to conduct the local stress analysis of the 1# and 2# bridge piers. It is found that the main reason leading to the transverse cracks on the top of 1# and 2# bridge piers caused by the active earth pressure on the two bridge piers generated by the asymmetry landfill. Recommendation: If the bridge piers in an inclined plane, the bulldozers should be avoided piled up around the piers, if unavoidable, should ensure that the bulldozers on both sides of the piers generated balance active earth pressure in order to avoid similar incidents.