Design Charts for Reinforced Concrete Girder Bridges

Design of bridge structure is a complex engineering problem, which includes design of bridge systems, selection of design manuals and standards. During design process of bridges, an internationally accepted manuals and standards has to be exercised. In line with this, deck design of reinforced concrete slab bridges and longitudinal girders of T- and Box- girder bridges may be computed by either the traditional or empirical design method set in Bridge Design Manuals. To simplify the design problem of slab and girder bridges, a spreadsheet is used in the country as a design tool. A further work on this problem is important to minimize the effort and time required for the design of reinforced concrete bridges. In this study, design charts for reinforced concrete bridges have been developed following standard specifications, technical requirements and ERA Bridge Design Manual. These charts enable bridge engineers to reduce the time effort during design and to optimize concrete bridges. By using these charts, one can design different alternatives for a particular bridge problem.