Accelerated Construction of Short Span Railroad Bridges in Iran

Abstract

A comparison is made between the three conventional methods used for accelerated bridge construction (ABC) of railroad bridges in Iran: single-piece deck installation by heavy cranes, multisegment deck installation by cranes, and single-piece deck installation by the so-called roll-in or sliding method. Both the safety of the construction and the serviceability of the railway line during the construction process are the main factors influencing the appropriate alternatives. Four railroad bridge construction case studies are demonstrated and compared here. Based on the individual situations, it is shown that the use of the roll-in method, in comparison with installation by crane, can reduce the installation costs significantly, eliminate the fatigue-prone details of the steel connectors, and eliminate the time for concrete casting in conventional multisegment deck installations.