Comparison of Main Girder Schemes for Main Bridge of China-Maldives Friendship Bridge

The main bridge of the China-Maldives Friendship Bridge is a continuous rigid frame bridge which has a structure of V-shaped supporting legs and 6-span arrangement of (100+2×180+140+100+60) m. According to the actual engineering conditions at the bridge site, three schemes of main girder are proposed as follows: a scheme of concrete V-leg rigid frame + composite girder (weathering steel), a scheme of concrete girder, and a scheme of concrete girder + composite girder (UHPC deck). The three schemes are compared and analyzed in terms of structural stress, durability, construction difficulty, construction period, and economy. The comparison results show that application of the main girder scheme of concrete girder + composite girder (UHPC deck) can effectively reduce the dead weight of the main girder, the adverse effect of shrinkage and creep, and the impair on the stress of foundation. The application of the scheme also has advantages of good durability in the bridge structure, small maintenance workload for the bridge, flexible method in construction, being able to guarantee the construction period and obviously high project economy. Therefore, the concrete girder + composite girder (UHPC deck) scheme is adopted to implement the construction of the main girder for the main bridge of the China-Maldives Friendship Bridge. © 2019, Journal Press, China Railway Bridge Science Research Institute, Ltd. All right reserved.