Buried Steel Bridge Designed for 100-Year Service Life

Topics: Accelerated, Buried Bridge, Case Study, Durability

Article provided by the National Corrugated Steel Pipe Association (NCSPA)

NCSPA Project Spotlight: Bauda River Bridge – Poland

Located in a rural area of Gardyny Leśniczówka, a tiny village in the Warminsko-Mazurskie district in north-east part of Poland, an aging culvert was no longer capable of carrying traffic. After years of after widespread flooding the culvert had finally deteriorated past the point of recovery. After much deliberation it was decided that the old culvert over the Bauda River need to be replaced by a new bridge.

The project is located in a rural area of Gardyny Leśniczówka, a tiny village in the Warminsko-Mazurskie district in north-east part of Poland.

Due to the lack of other access point to the village, the project had to be finished very quickly. The new bridge was formed by using an open bottom, deep corrugated structural plates and mechanically stabilized earth retaining walls which enabled safe vehicle traffic as well as free water flow of the Bauda River.

The 25 foot corrugated structural plate bridge has a life expectancy of over 100 years.

This new bridge was designed for the Class A Live Load vehicle (4x200kN spaced at 1.2m) Acc. to PN-85/10030 Bridge structures loads. Additionally each plate in the structure was galvanized Acc.to EN-1461 standard (“Hot deep galvanizing”), and inside epoxy painted 120 microns to assure the life time of 100 years.

Just above the structure (6″) a watertight “umbrella” was installed to protect against the leakages of the rainwater. The bridge structure was built with reinforced concrete footings 8.2021 FT wide. The total length of the bridge is 25 FT..

ViaCon was active at various stages of the project starting from designing phase, manufacturing process, delivery and assembly at a jobsite.

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What are buried steel bridges?

Buried steel bridges provide an economical choices for bridge replacement or bridge rehabilitation.

They essentially are a corrugated steel pipe or structural plate pipe systems that is “buried” with backfill to carry loads through soil-structure interaction. This means the bridge structure itself and the backfill soils surrounding the structure interact with each other to support the loads. In effect, the backfill material is part of the bridge.

Because of this interaction, the bridge structure is typically lighter, and there can be significant savings in structure costs.

There are also many cases where buried bridges can carry heavier loads than traditional bridges because of the benefits of spreading vehicle loads through the fill. Buried bridges do not require abutments; and unless foundation soil conditions are poor, do not typically
require deep foundations.

An additional benefit with buried bridges is that they can be tailored to site conditions and geometric requirements. The design includes inputs for site soils and backfill, meaning that locally available materials can often be used in construction and the structure can be tailored to fit the needs of the site and the owner’s requirements.

Learn more about buried steel bridges→

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Buried Steel Bridge Riverside Iowa Lane Enterprises

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Buried Steel Bridge Preserves Streambed While Supporting Heavy Loads

A new galvanized buried steel bridge in Riverside, Iowa, supplied by SSSBA member Lane Enterprises, replaced a weight-restricted structure and restored direct access for local farmers. Its open-bottom steel design preserves the natural streambed, enhances durability, and provides a cost-effective solution for rural infrastructure.