Integral sheet-pile abutments for modular composite bridges

The ageing German bridge infrastructure has led to a major need for retrofitting and renewal. In the scope of a renewable usage of resources, the life-cycle- and economic costs have to be factored in alongside the fabrication costs, which has been largely neglected in current designs. Modular composite bridges with integral sheet-pile abutments offer advantages in this respect. Due to a lack of standardized dimensioning rules, however, only parts of this method have been applied in few exceptions. To counteract this, FOSTA research project P1521 aims to establish two concepts for the execution of a quasi-monolithic connection between a precast composite girder and sheet-pile foundations. To allow for as broad of an application as possible a partly-restrained connection for spans up to 25 m and a fully-restrained connection for spans up to 45 m are investigated. Additional to experimental tests, extensive numerical calculations and parametric studies are performed to identify decisive influencing parameters regarding stiffness and load-bearing capacity of the connection detail. The evaluation of the experimental tests shows quite a high load-bearing capacity as well as a good-natured post-failure behaviour of the joint.