Transverse Analysis of a Prestressed Concrete Wide Box

Girder with Stiffened Ribs

Man Zhou, Ph.D.1; Jiandong Zhang2; Dingyi Yang3; Mostafa Fahmi Hassanein4; and Lin An5

Abstract: For concrete box girders with wide anges, a ribbed slab can increase the cantilever length and transverse stiffness while
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reducing the dead weight of the deck. For single box girder bridges with a large width-to-span ratio, the traditional cross section of a
single-cell box girder (the two-web box section) can lose efciency because of the effect of shear lag, cross-section distortion, and
transverse bending moments. A literature search revealed that the prestressed concrete box girder with transverse ribs is already used
in certain countries to meet the requirements of wide bridge decks of single-cell concrete box girders. However, little research has
been conducted on the mechanical properties of this spine-like box girder, although it has been used in many applications. In this pa-
per, the structural forms and dimensions of a concrete box girder with wide anges and a ribbed slab are introduced on the basis of
design experience. A signicant difference in the mechanical performance of ribbed box girders and conventional box girders was
observed in the inuence of the stiffened ribs. Therefore, on the basis of engineering practices, three representative three-dimensional
(3D) nite-element models (i.e., ribbed box girder, equivalent box girder, and ordinary box girder) were established to quantitatively
investigate the inuence of stiffened ribs on transverse stress under the action of gravity and vehicle loads. The results of this investigation
can be used as a reference for designing and constructing similar projects. DOI: 10.1061/(ASCE)BE.1943-5592.0001076. 2017
American Society of Civil Engineers.
Author keywords: Wide box girder; Transverse ribs; Transverse analysis; Stress concentration.

Introduction
With increasing urban populations and trafc ow, prestressed
concrete wide-deck box girders have been increasingly used for
constructing new and reconstructing old bridges. For prestressed
concrete single-cell box girders with wide anges, the space
between the webs and the cantilever length are large. It is obvious
that structural weight will dramatically increase as the concrete
deck width increases. Furthermore, increasing the weight will
signicantly increase transverse stress at the root of the cantilever
and in the middle of the slab, where the transverse rigidity of the
ordinary box section might be insufcient for carrying dead and
live loads. Therefore, the traditional box girder form might not be
the most economical structural form. Common forms of box gird-
ers should be optimized to improve their transverse stiffness with
due consideration for the mechanical performance of the structure
and its economics. To reduce the dead weight of the superstruc-
ture and to improve the stress condition, an improved cross-
1
Ph.D. Student, Dept. of Civil Earth Resources Engineering, Kyoto
Univ., Kyoto 6110011, Japan (corresponding author). E-mail: zhou.man
.67e@st.kyoto-u.ac.jp
2
Professor, College of Civil Engineering, Southeast Univ., Nanjing
210096, China.
3
Professor, College of Architecture Science and Engineering, Yangzhou
Univ., Yangzhou 225127, China.
4
Associate Professor, Faculty of Engineering, Tanta Univ., Tanta
999060, Egypt.
5
Associate Professor, Dept. of Civil Earth Resources Engineering,
Kyoto Univ., Kyoto 6110011, Japan.
Note. This manuscript was submitted on July 27, 2016; approved on
March 6, 2017; published online on June 6, 2017. Discussion period open
until November 6, 2017; separate discussions must be submitted for indi-
vidual papers. This paper is part of the Journal of Bridge Engineering,
ASCE, ISSN 1084-0702.
sectional form, namely a box girder with a ribbed slab, has been
used in Europe since the 1970s. In general, the length of the side
cantilever of a conventional box girder is less than 4 m, and it is
used for pedestrians and cyclists. Once side cantilevers exceed
approximately 4 m, they should be prestressed or include ribbed
or propped slabs. Thus, the length of a ribbed cantilever can be
greatly extended. For instance, the cantilever of the Vejie Fjord
Bridge in Denmark is 8.8 m. Ribbed slabs can be adapted to make
a bridge deck thinner and can effectively reduce transverse nor-
mal stress at the root of the haunch caused by dead load or vehicle
loads. The transverse bending moment capacity is the controlling
factor for the dimensions of a wide bridge deck.
Although this type of ribbed box section has been used in engi-
neering practice in many countries, most existing bridges were
designed on the basis of practical experience. Few scholars have
conducted quantitative studies of the basic mechanical behaviors
of this type of structure. The concept of using ribbed box sections
and their dimensions were briey introduced by Benaim (2007),
but the effects of longitudinally distributed transverse ribs on the
mechanical behavior of the stiffened deck have not been studied.
Rodriguez (2004) noted that the use of a ribbed top slab is an
effective approach to increasing the transverse stiffness of wide
single-cell box girders. Zheng and Liu (2009) briey introduced
the structural forms and mechanical characteristics of wide box
girders as well as their economic factors. Ramakko (1984)
described the design and construction of the Twelve Mile Creek
bridges and noted that a 10% reduction in weight was achieved by
using transverse ribs instead of a haunched slab with variable
thickness. Both the solid top slabs of all segments and the trans-
verse ribs should be transversely posttensioned with straight ten-
dons. The St. Andre de Cubzac Bridge, which has a 17-m-wide
single-cell box girder and ribbed top slab, was designed by world-
renowned bridge designer Jean Muller with segmental prefabrica-
tion (Tassin 2006). These studies only briey introduced this type

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 of structure and its mechanical properties; thus, the structural
analysis and quantitative evaluation of these special box girders
in previous studies are insufcient. However, there are signicant
differences between wide box girders with ribbed slabs and con-
ventional box girders, because the transverse ribs change the path
of the load transmission. Therefore, certain additional design fac-
tors in this spine-like box section should receive greater attention
from engineers.
The inuence of stiffening ribs on transverse mechanical behav-
ior and the differences between ribbed box girders and conventional
box girders were determined in this study for the rst time. In addi-
tion, in this report, the authors summarize rational structural forms
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and their dimensions as well as some notable proceedings in their
design and application. The results of this work can serve as a refer-
ence for those designing similar engineering projects.
Structural Forms and Applications
The prestressed concrete wide ange box girder with transverse ribs
was widely used in highway bridges and urban viaducts in Europe
and the United States in the 1960. This structure has also seen recent
widespread use in Japan. Some bridges constructed using it are
shown in Table 1 (Grattesat et al. 1982; Bassi et al. 1984; Prade
1990; Leonhardt 1994; Podolny and Muller 1994; Jaeger et al.
2000; Tanis et al. 2002; Murugesh 2008). The sectional forms and
structural features of this type of bridge are discussed later in this
paper.
Ribbed Cantilever Slabs
For a wide-body box girder with a side cantilever longer than
approximately 4 m, a ribbed slab can be used to increase the rein-
forced concrete lever arm while reducing the dead weight of the
deck, as shown in Fig. 1. The dimensions and spans of transverse
stiffeners are determined by the live design load. The deck slab
for a ribbed side cantilever will generally be 200 mm thick with
ribs at the centers of approximately 35 m. The rib height at the
root of the cantilever is generally
1/7 to 1/9 of the length of the
cantilever slab. Transverse ribs are usually set in the middle (or at
both ends) of the segments. The most common arrangement is to
Table 1. Examples of Box Girder Bridges with Ribbed Cantilever Slabs
Name Location Depth (m)
Vejie Fjord Bridge Denmark
2.56
Sallingsund Bridge Denmark
2.55.9
Twelve Mile Creek bridges Canada 2.82
Viaduc du Lac de Gruyre Switzerland 4 23.7
Saint-Andre-de-Cubzac Bridge France
2.55.5
New Benicia-Martinez Bridge America
4.511.4
Fig. 1. Cross-sectional forms of a box girder with a ribbed cantilever slab: (a) Section 1; (b) Section 2; (c) Section 3
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provide ribs across the full width of the deck, as shown in Fig. 1(a).
However, this arrangement is not necessary; as long as the webs
and slabs are designed correctly, the ribs under the top slab
between two webs can be removed [Fig. 1(b)]. The rib might also
be deepened to directly apply bottom ber compression to the
bottom ange of the box, as shown in Fig. 1(c). Note that the
stress concentration is distinct in the ribbed slab, because the sec-
tion stiffness varies periodically along the longitudinal direction.
A reasonable design should ensure that the concentrated moment
in the ribs can be accepted by the webs of the deck or by the over-
all structure. In practical engineering, a transverse prestressing
tendon is usually set in the ribs.
Coffered Cantilever Slabs
For long-span cantilever slabs subjected to gravity and concentrated
live loads, solid slabs can become uneconomically heavy. In this
case, it is worth exploring the use of a coffered slab, as shown in
Fig. 2. The longitudinal and transverse cross stiffeners are consid-
ered to be reasonable when they are 4060 cm tall and 2050 cm
thick. The stiffening ribs can be located at centers of approximately
1.54 m in the longitudinal direction and 1.5 m in the transverse
direction. The thickness of the top slab can be reduced to between
170 and 180 mm in this case. The transverse ribs need to locally
increase in depth at the junction with the deck to control shear
stresses and to reduce maximum reinforcement density over the top
of the web. This type of ribbed slab reduces the disparity in the stiff-
ness in the transverse and longitudinal directions, improving the
spread of the concentrated load.
Case Study: Project Background
The approach of the Second Yangtze River Bridge in Wuhu, located
in the southern region of Anhui Province in China, was chosen as a
case study. This bridge is the rst precast segmental prestressed
concrete box girder bridge with transverse ribs under construction
in China. The superstructure is a prestressed concrete continuous
box girder with a 16.25-m-wide and 0.24-m-thick top slab and a
0.2-m-thick bottom slab, a depth of 2.6 m, a cantilever length of 4.5
m, a 6.08-m-wide bottom slab and a 0.4-m-thick web. Each span is
Width (m) Web distance (m) Cantilever (m)
27.6
10.011.96
7.828.8
16.1
6.08.1
45.05
13.5 7.6 2.95
6 8.85
17
24 16.7 3.65
J. Bridge Eng.
 Fig. 2. Cross-sectional form of a box girder with a coffered cantilever slab: (a) elevation; (b) plane
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Fig. 3. Elevation and cross-sectional dimensions: (a) overall size of the structure; (b) dimensions of the cross-section (Note: Units are millimeters)

40 m long, and each precast segment is 3 m long. The transverse
ribs are located at the middle of the segment and are 0.3 m wide and
0.2 m deep near the cantilever end and 0.9 m deep near the web.
The cross-sectional dimensions of the bridge are shown in Fig. 3. A
wide box girder with a long cantilever and transverse ribs has many
benets, such as its lighter weight, fewer materials, and lower cost.
In addition to broadening the bridge deck, both sides of the long
cantilever can provide enough headroom for ground transportation.
A double-column pier and bored pile foundation are used for the
substructure. The dimensions of the bridge with an elevation and
for a cross section are shown in Fig. 3.
Finite-Element Model: Calculation Models
The 40-m-long simply supported beam of the approach was built in
Abaqus, as shown in Fig. 4. A 3D 8-noded hexahedral element
(C3D8R) was used to simulate a box girder with transverse ribs,
and a truss element (T3D2) was used to simulate the prestressing
tendons. The prestressing force effect was applied by using the
equivalent lowering temperature method, and the prestressing ele-
ments were embedded into the solid elements by coupling nodal
degrees. End displacement was constrained to form a simply sup-
ported beam.
To evaluate the effects of the transverse ribs on the mechanical
performance of the wide box girder, three types of box girder mod-
els with different cross sections were established.
Model 1: ribbed box girder based on the design scheme of the
actual bridge, as shown in Fig. 5(a).
Model 2: equivalent box girder for which the volume of the
transverse ribs is redistributed to the top slab, as shown in Fig.
5(b).
Model 3: ordinary box girder for which the transverse ribs in
Model 1 are removed, as shown in Fig. 5(c).
The thickness of the cantilever root section and the middle slab
of Model 2 are 10 cm and 2 cm thicker than those of Model 3,
respectively.
Model Parameters
Prestressed concrete beams typically use C50 concrete with a com-
pressive strength of 50 MPa. In this study, concrete box girders
were assumed to be homogeneous elastic bodies with a density of

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Fig. 4. Finite-element model of a box girder with transverse ribs

Fig. 5. Three types of box girder models with different cross sections: (a) Model 1 (ribbed box girder); (b) Model 2 (equivalent box girder); (c) Model
3 (ordinary box girder)

2,500 kg/m3. A linear stress-strain relationship was used in the
nite-element model to represent the concrete material with a mod-
ulus of elasticity of 32.5 GPa and a Poissons ratio of 0.2. Because it
is a high-grade structural material, 1,860-MPa, low-relaxation pre-
stressing steel strands are used in bridge design. In the elastic stage,
the constitutive relation for prestressing tendons has linear elastic-
ity. The elastic modulus of the prestressing tendons is 206 GPa,
and their Poissons ratio is 0.3. The density and linear expansion
coefcients of the prestressing tendons are 7,800 kg/m3 and 1.0 
105/C, respectively.
Calculation Loads
A dead load and worst-case live load were used in the nite-element
models. The dead load includes the structural weight of the beam
and the prestressed reinforcement effect. In general, vehicle loads
are a dominating load that controls the design of the top slab. To
comprehensively evaluate the inuences of the transverse ribs on
the transverse stress of the ribbed cantilever and the ribbed top
ange slab, a ve-axle heavy vehicle with a weight of 55 t (Ministry
of Communications of the Peoples Republic of China 2004) was
selected for use as the live load, and four load cases were estab-
lished with various vehicle load positions, as shown in Fig. 6(a).
The worst loading arrangement along the longitudinal direction was
determined by the bending moment inuence lines when the mid-
span moment reached its maximum, as shown in Fig. 6(b).
Results of Calculation and Comparisons
Under dead and live loads, the transverse stresses of points A and B
were selected to represent the mechanical characteristics of the hog-
ging moment region near webs. The stress and deection of point C
were selected to represent the sagging moment region at the middle
of the upper ange, as shown in Fig. 7. The transverse stress and
deection of a longitudinal calculation path located along points A,
B, and C were extracted from the results of the nite-element calcu-
lation, and the numerical results are shown in Figs. 814.
Under the Action of Gravity
The numerical results of the transverse stress and the deection
along Paths A, B, and C for each nite-element model under gravity
are shown in Figs. 8 and 9.
Finite-element analysis indicated that the transverse ribs can
effectively reduce the transverse stress of the wide box girder with a

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Fig. 6. Arrangement of vehicle load: (a) transverse arrangement of vehicle loads; (b) longitudinal arrangement of vehicle loads (Note: Units are
meters)

Fig. 7. Positions of calculated points (Note: Units are meters)

stiffened slab under gravity in the sagging moment region or the
hogging moment region. This study also found that the phenom-
enon of stress concentration and mutation is most serious around
the stiffened ribs, which obviously differs from that of conventional
box girders. Considering the numerical computation results of
Model 3 (ordinary box girder) as a reference, the average transverse
stress of Path A in Model 1 under gravity was 33.3% less than the
stress in Model 3; however, the transverse stress of Path A in Model
2 increased by 19.0% as a result of increasing self-weight, as shown
in Fig. 8(a). In this study, it was observed that part of the bending
moment is concentrated in the discrete stiffened ribs; thus, the maxi-
mum transverse tensile stress near the root of the cantilever can be
effectively reduced and the cantilever can be widened. Moreover,
the same phenomenon occurs inside the box girder. The longitudi-
nal distribution of transverse tensile stress under the slab is not uni-
form. The average transverse stress of Path C in Model 1 under
gravity was 59.7% less than the stress in model-3. The transverse
stress of Path C was similar in Model 2 and Model 3, as shown in
Fig. 8(b). It should be noted that the stress concentration is more
obvious in the internal ribs, as shown in Fig. 8(b) (the peak tensile
stress under the internal ribs is approximately four times the average
stress under the top ange). As shown in Fig. 8(c), under self-
weight, the maximum deection of the midspan of Model 1
approaches the deection value of Model 2, and the midspan

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 deection of Model 3 without stiffening ribs is slightly smaller than
the midspan deection of Model 1 and Model 2. In addition,
because of the discontinuity of section stiffness, there are obvious
uctuations in the top stress Path A, as shown in Fig. 9(a). In addi-
tion, stress is distinctly concentrated around the internal stiffened
ribs; thus, the same phenomenon of stress mutation occurs in stress
Path C [Fig. 9(b)].

Under the Actions of Vehicle Loads

The numerical results of the transverse tensile stress and the deec-
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tion along Paths A, B, and C for each nite-element model under

different vehicle load conditions are shown in Figs. 1013.

Case 1: Eccentric Load Acting on the Cantilever Slab

One vehicle was applied to the cantilever slab according to the inu-
ence line for the bending moment at midspan, as shown in Fig. 10.
The extrema of the transverse tensile stress appear at the 12- and
14-t wheel positions along Path A. Under this condition, the phe-
nomenon of stress disturbance near the stiffener ribs is no longer
obvious. However, the peak stresses obtained from each calculation
model were different. Similarly, considering the numerical compu-
tation results of Model 3 (conventional box girder) as a reference,
the peak tensile stress of Path A in Model 1 under Case 1 was 2%
less than the stress in Model 3; however, the peak tensile stress in
Model 2 was only 8.7% lower than that of Model 3.

Case 2: Symmetrical Load Acting on the Top Slab

between the Webs
For a wheel load symmetrically applied to the top slab between the
webs, the tensile stress elds of Path B (hogging moment region)
and Path C (sagging moment region) are shown in Fig. 11. For the
hogging moment region, the peak tensile stress of Path B in Model
1 under Case 2 was 34.5% less than the stress in Model 3, and the
peak tensile stress in Model 2 was only 13.8% less than the maxi-
mum stress in Model 3, as shown in Fig. 11(a). For the sagging
moment region, the peak tensile stress of Path C (on the underside
of the top ange) was 36.8% less than the result in Model 3, and the
peak tensile stress of Model 2 was 21% lower than that of Model 3,
as shown in Fig. 11(b). The stress is distinctly concentrated in the
stiffened ribs near the wheel loads. The maximum transverse tensile
stress under the stiffened rib (Path C0 ) is approximately ve times
greater than the stress under the top slab (Path C). In addition, the
structural stiffness of the box girder with discrete stiffened ribs also
increased to some extent. From Fig. 11(c), the maximum vertical
deformations of Model 1 and Model 2 are approximately 88.4%
and 92.3% that of Model 3, respectively.

Case-3: Eccentric Load Acting on the Top Slab between

the Webs
Fig. 12 shows a case where wheel loading was eccentrically applied
to the top slab between the webs. The values and the law of stress
and deformation were the same as those for Case 2. Specically, in
Case 3, the peak tensile stress of Path B in Model 1 was 40.8% less
than the stress in Model 3, and the peak tensile stress in Model 2
Fig. 8. Transverse stress eld of the ribbed box girder under was only 11.3% less than the maximum stress in Model 3, as shown
gravity in Fig. 12(a). For the sagging moment region, the peak tensile stress
of Path C (on the underside of the top ange) was 43.2% less than
the result in Model 3, and the peak tensile stress of model-2 was
27.6% lower than that of Model 3, as shown in Fig. 12(b). From

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Fig. 9. Transverse stress elds: (a) Path A (root of the cantilever slab); (b) Path C and C0 (middle of the upper ange)
Fig. 10. Transverse tensile stress of Path A in Load Case 1
Fig. 12(c), the maximum vertical deformations of Model 1 and
Model 2 are approximately 89.4% and 95.4% of the maximum ver-
tical deformation of Model 3, respectively.
Case 4: Eccentric Load Acting on the Top Slab
(Three Vehicles)
The stress and deformation of each nite-element model were
studied under multiple vehicle loads, as shown in Fig. 13. The
transverse stress in the hogging and sagging regions of the top
ange was the focus of this study. For the hogging moment region
in Case 4, the peak tensile stress of Path A in Model 1 was 46.9%
less than the stress in Model 3, and the peak tensile stress in
Model 2 was only 6.6% less than the maximum stress in Model 3,
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as shown in Fig. 13(a). In Case 4, the peak tensile stress of Path B
in Model 1 was 40.5% less than the stress in Model 3, and the
peak tensile stress in Model 2 was approximately 16.5% less than
the maximum stress in Model 3, as shown in Fig. 13(b). For the
sagging moment region in Case 4, the peak tensile stress of Path
C in Model 1 was reduced by 51.7% compared with the stress in
Model 3, and the peak tensile stress in Model 2 was approxi-
mately 21.8% less than the maximum stress in Model 3, as shown
in Fig. 13(c). Similarly, very obvious concentrations of stress and
strain elds were observed in the stiffened ribs between the webs.
In load Case 4, the maximum vertical deformations of Model 1
and Model 2 are approximately 92.7% and 95.4% that of Model
3, respectively [Fig. 13(d)].
Vehicle Load and Transverse Prestressing under the
Action of Gravity
According to the studies discussed earlier, the stress concentrations
in the stiffened ribs should receive sufcient attention in engineer-
ing design. Therefore, the transverse prestressed steel wire should
be set not only in the top slab but also in the stiffened ribs. Three-
ply high-strength low-relaxation prestressing steel strands with a di-
ameter of 15.2 mm were evenly applied to the top slab, and the
space between two adjacent prestressing steel strands was 750 mm.
Tension control stress was determined to be 1,395 MPa, and the
same prestressing tendons were also arranged in the discrete stiff-
ened ribs. The numerical results of the transverse tensile stress
along Pats A and C of Model 1 under the actions of gravity, vehicle
load (Case 2) and transverse prestressing are shown in Fig. 14.
Fig. 14 shows that the transverse prestressing tendon reduced the
stress concentration in the stiffened ribs. In addition, the maximum
transverse tensile stresses in the hogging moment region (Path A)
and the sagging moment (Path C) were very close. These results
indicate that the arrangement of double-layer prestressed reinforce-
ments can improve stress states and make stress conditions more
reasonable.
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Fig. 11. Transverse tensile stress and vertical displacement of each Fig. 12. Transverse tensile stress and vertical displacement of each
calculation path in Load Case 2 calculation path in Load Case 3

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Fig. 13. Transverse tensile stress and vertical displacement of each calculation path in Load Case 4
Conclusions
A new type of wide prestressed concrete box girder with transverse
ribs was studied in this paper. First, the structural characteristics
and the general demand for this ribbed box girder in construction
are introduced. Then three types of 3D nite-element models were
established in Abaqus according to a practical engineering case
study to investigate the inuences of transverse stiffened ribs on
the transverse mechanical behavior of this irregular box girder.
On the basis of this study, the following conclusions can be
drawn:
1. Stiffened ribs can effectively improve the stress state at the root
of the cantilever as well as at the middle of the top slab. To
quantitatively analyze the effects of stiffened ribs on the me-
chanical performance of the structure, three representative
nite-element models were established in Abaqus: the ribbed
box girder (Model 1), the equivalent box girder (Model\ 2) and
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the ordinary box girder (Model 3). The results of numerical cal-
culation showed that the average transverse tensile stress at the
root of the cantilever in Model 1 under gravity was 33.3% less
than the stress in Model 3. However, the transverse stress at the
root of the cantilever was actually greater by 19.0% in Model 2
than in Model 3. Similarly, the average transverse stress of the
lower edge path of the top slab in Model 1 under gravity was
59.7% less than the stress in Model 3, and the transverse stress
of the middle section of the top slab in Model 2 was similar to
the results of Model 3. The investigated structure presented the
same mechanical behavior under vehicular loads.
2. The overall structural stiffness of the box girder with transverse
ribs was also improved. The maximum deection of Model 1 was
10% less than that of Model 2 when subjected to symmetrical ve-
hicle loads. Therefore, this spine-like box girder can obtain a
larger cross-sectional moment of inertia than Model 2, in which
the volume of these stiffened ribs was redistributed to the top slab.
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Fig. 14. Transverse tensile stress and vertical displacement of Paths A
and C
3. Although the average transverse tensile stress was reduced in
Model 1, the stress concentration and mutation were the most
serious around the stiffened ribs. This result obviously dif-
fers from the results obtained for conventional box girders.
The peak tensile stress in the stiffened ribs is approximately
four to ve times larger than the average tensile stress. This
phenomenon means that a considerable portion of the bend-
ing moment is concentrated in these thin stiffening ribs and
can also explain why the stiffening ribs improve the stress
state.
Acknowledgments
The authors express their gratitude for funding from the Priority
Academic Program Development of Jiangsu High Education
Institution (Grant CE02-1-12). This study was also supported by
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the National Nature Science Foundation of Peoples Republic of
China (Grant 51578479). This nancial support is gratefully
acknowledged.
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