THE SCHISM BETWEEN BRIDGE DESIGNER AND CONTRACTOR

The paper stresses the need for production orientated design in bridges. Most research is concentrated on the methods of producing the designs as specified within the constraints of the work in hand and only in rare cases into new forms of materials for construction. The author discusses the economics of precasting and suggests that the cost of transport and a portion of the craneage should be equal to the cost of falsework for the in-situ deck. The types of precast units available are described. Segmental construction and the importance of realistic tolerances are discussed. The author concludes that because the contractor was required to build the structure as designed any problems should have been solved on the drawing board. Minimal material content did not always imply minimum price because often in reducing sections the constructional difficulties increased. Sometimes to carry out a design with minimal sections the method becomes elaborate with the inherent risk of staged construction. /TRRL/

• Corporate Authors:

  Embankment Press Limited

  Embankment House, 3 Caledonian Road
  London,   England 
• Publication Date: 1976-9

Language

• English

Media Info

• Pagination: p. 4-6
• Serial:
  • Highways and Road Construction International
  • Volume: 44
  • Issue Number: 1801
  • Publisher: Embankment Press

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Bridge decks; Bridge design; Bridges; Building materials; Contractors; Contracts; Costs; Design; Engineering tolerance; Precast concrete; Significance (Statistics); Structural design
• Old TRIS Terms: Tolerances
• ITRD Terms: 3455: Bridge; 3482: Bridge deck; 146: Contract; 224: Cost; 9011: Design (overall design); 4792: Precast concrete; 6532: Significance (stat)
• Subject Areas: Administration and Management; Bridges and other structures; Construction; Design; Finance; Highways; I24: Design of Bridges and Retaining Walls; I53: Construction of Bridges and Retaining Walls;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00145357
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: Transport and Road Research Laboratory (TRRL)
• Files: ITRD, TRIS
• Created Date: Apr 13 1977 12:00AM