Proceedings of Bridge Engineering 2 Conference 2009

April 2009, University of Bath, Bath, UK

A CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF THE DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION OF

BOYNE BRIDGE, IRELAND
Danny Dwyer

UNIVERSITY OF BATH – Civil Engineering

Abstract: This article provides an in depth analysis of the Boyne Bridge built in 2003 in Drogheda just outside
Dublin. This article considers the key influences in design with particular emphasis on aesthetics, form,
construction and potential future changes. Ultimately this article highlights design failings and attempts to find
ways by which they could be improved.

Keywords: Boyne Bridge, Cable Stay, Composite bridge design

1 Introduction: 1.1 History of Bridge:

The Boyne Bridge was completed in 2003 and The area surrounding the Boyne Bridge is of
is located in an area 3km west of Drogheda near huge cultural significance with the bridge being
Dublin. The bridge was constructed to facilitate the situated adjacent to the location of the Battle of the
flow of traffic on the M1 motorway linking Dublin and Boyne. Aside from this the area was also identified as a
Belfast over the river Boyne and was constructed with critical ecological area by an Environment Impact
a 100 year design life in mind. The bridge is 350m long Statement. It was of paramount importance that the
in total and features a maximum clear span of 170m. existing habitats be preserved and so no piers could be
This is achieved through the use of an asymmetric placed with in the river. The river channel is
Cable stayed section which at the time of writing was asymmetric when viewed in elevation and consists of a
the longest of its type in Ireland. The main span is steep valley sides to the south and a more gradual slope
supported by 14 pairs of forestays arranged in a semi on the opposing side. The historic importance of the
harp configuration while the same number of back river valley in addition to the poor underlying soil
stays are used to anchor the pylon into the south conditions (Soft alluvial deposits and mudflats) lent
abutment. The inverted Y pylon supporting the deck itself to the use of an asymmetric cable stay bridge.
was one of the most complex concrete structures ever The use of such a structure caused minimal intrusion
to be undertaken in Ireland and would not have been onto the battle of the Boyne site and interfered least
possible were in not for the use of several innovative with the tidal flow of the river. The final design was
construction techniques. Since completion the Boyne relatively simple in concept and features an inverted Y
Bridge has been presented with several significant pylon which rises 95m and supports a clear span of
honors, most notably the Excellence in Civil 170m using a semi harp cable stay arrangement. The
Engineering Award from the Association of Consulting pylon is anchored by back stays into a concrete
Engineers of Ireland. abutment on the south bank. The bridge is used
exclusively by vehicles and took 4 years to construct at
a cost of €40million. The bridge was designed by a
consortium of engineering consultants; led by Roughan on the pylon making it appear more slender. The
& Donavon Ltd the final design was approved by the character of a bridge is something which is particularly
client Meath County council, in 1999. hard to define; the extensive use of steel and concrete
may give the bridge quite a cold appearance however it
is cleverly illuminated with a combination of blue
2 Aesthetics
spotlights and white fibre optics. These certainly make
Aesthetics were a vital consideration in the the bridge a much more interesting proposition and
construction of the Boyne Bridge due to the create an exciting interaction between shadow and
outstanding natural beauty of the surroundings in light.
addition to the historic significance of the area. The The choice of a harp arrangement may not be as
aesthetic success will be accessed according to Fritz efficient as the fan arrangement at transferring load but
Leonhardt’s 10 points framework published in it does reduce the visual complexity of the bridge as
‘Brücken ’in 1982. This should allow an objective each strand emanates from an independent location.
assessment of the bridge to be generated which is The use of a fan arrangement would draw to much
comparable with other structures. attention to a single point and disrupt the order of the
The Boyne Bridge fulfils its function very well bridge. The back stays are organized in a more
with an elegant and precise form which demonstrates traditional harp configuration and as result are much
clearly how the bridge works. The large inverted Y closer together. The back stays run parallel to each
pylon dominates the relatively flat surroundings and other into the south abutment and as a result appear to
emphasizes its structural importance. The Boyne be quite cluttered and confused. To avoid this the
Bridge provides a sense of stability for the user by designers could have chosen to reduce the amount of
placing stays at 10m centres along the full length of the back stays however this would have detracted from the
largest span. By doing this the deck seems secure with continuity of the bridge.
stays directly supporting the deck. The approach piers are cleverly hidden in such a
The inclination of the back and forestays over the manner to focus attention on the main spans. The way
main spans cleverly mirrors the geometry of the valley in which the pylon legs converge maintains interest in
which it crosses. Not only does this help to improve the the structure when viewed from the road, this is
symmetry of the structure when viewed from the valley significant as this is how the bridge will be viewed the
but also enhances the proportions. This is because the most.
spans are not equal so it made sense for the design to
be asymmetric.
The primary structural elements are all clearly
visible and the designers make no attempt to mask how
the bridge works. This has led to the creation of an
easily understood structure which is well defined. The
inverted pylon is especially well proportioned and does
not look overly slender, thus highlighting its structural
importance. The deck is slight but not overly slender so
that users would feel uncomfortable.
Order is hugely important in a Cable Stay structure
as it they can appear cluttered when viewed from
oblique angles and draw attention away from the main
structure. To avoid this the Boyne Bridge features a
reduced number of cable stays so that they rarely Figure 1: Boyne Bridge Perspective
interact with each other. It also evokes a sense of
continuity by featuring the same number of fore stays 3 Structural Concept:
as back stays which emanates from the same
corresponding height on the other side of the pylon. The structural concept of the Boyne Bridge is
This gives the impression of a continuous cable when relatively simple with the forestay cables transferring
in fact it is not. load directly from the deck into the large pylon. This is
A potential failing of the bridge aesthetically was used to support the longest span in the bridge of 170m.
its integration into the environment. The Boyne Bridge The back stays conversely simply anchor the pylon into
is certainly an impressive structure however such a the southern abutment. Despite emanating from the
large structure could seem out of place in the rolling same point on the pylon the back stays are not
Irish countryside. As a result the bridge features a continuous. As a result tension in the back stays is
substantial amount of white cement which lightens the constant as they do not experience any live load. This
appearance of the structure. [1] means that uneven loading on the bridge deck will not
Surface texture was a particularly important cause uplift on one side as the two spans are
feature of the bridge primarily as a large amount of the independent. Tensile force with in the forestays will
façade is left exposed. A smooth finish has been used vary with live load and so the pylon may need to resists
moments induced by bending. The remaining spans in The pylon head is also hollow to allow the stays to
the bridge are formed from a steel frame which acts be stressed internally at the various anchor points. With
compositely with the concrete deck supported by in the pylon head a series of permanent steel liners
internal piers [2]. The Boyne Bridge features a were fitted to provide additional stiffness and transfer
continuous deck from the southern abutment to the the large local bending and tensile forces. The
northern support. At the north abutment a movement installation of the steel liner allowed the amount of
joint was installed to account for temperature effects reinforcement in the pylon head to be reduced as it acts
and creep. Fixed pot bearings were installed on all pier compositely with the pylon walls.
and pylon locations to resist vertical load whilst The pylon was designed longitudinally as a
restraining the deck horizontally. slender reinforced concrete stayed strut which resists
compressive forces and transversely as a triangular
3.1 Pylon Design frame due to the installation of a cross beam [3]. The
geometry of the pylon enhances the effect of the cable
The pylon is required to carry nearly all of the self stay system on the torsional rigidity. This is because
weight and live load with in the structure. As quite a the horizontal component of force with in the cables
slender member this could make it quite unstable if not increases the transverse stiffness of the structure.
designed carefully. Longitudinally the pylon is braced To balance the axial loads in the inclined pylon
by the cable stays, while transverse forces will be legs a post tensioned tie beam was installed, this was
generated by wind action and out of plane stays. The particularly useful as it reduced the horizontal forces
pylon supports the main span via cable stays anchored transferred to the foundations. The tie beam was
in the pylon head, the force generated by the forestays gradually tensioned as loads with in the pylon leg
is counteracted by the back stays which tie the pylon increased during the construction of the bridge.
into the south abutment.
The inverted Y pylon was the principal structural 3.2 Deck Design
component of the bridge and is responsible for
supporting the longest span on the bridge. The 90m The Boyne Bridge features a relatively thin and
high pylon was constructed from a near white flexible deck and will eventually facilitate the
reinforced concrete to enhance its visual impact. The movement of 3 lanes of traffic in each direction. The
legs of the pylon are hollow to allow full access for deck was formed from a steel girder frame which acts
inspection and maintenance. The sloping pylon legs compositely with the 230mm reinforced concrete slab.
intersect at a height of 64m with the pylon head rising The deck essentially consists of a longitudinal ladder
an additional 31m. beam 1750mm deep in the main and back spans which
is intersected by cross girders at 3.333m centers. The
depth of the longitudinal girder increases to 2400mm in
the South abutment and in the approach spans where
the distance between supports is greater. The cross
girders protrude through the longitudinal ladder beam
and pairs of cross beams are connected to the cable
stays at 10m centers.

Figure 3: Bridge deck showing Steel arrangement

The bridge deck is built into the south abutment

thus reducing the sagging moment in the back span as
the deck is essentially fixed. In addition to this it
removes the requirement for large thrust bearing to
transmit the horizontal component of the force
generated by the cable stays. The deck is supported by
mechanical pot bearings [4] in the north abutment to
facilitate movement longitudinally whilst restraining
Figure 2: Elevation of inverted Y pylon the deck transversely.
 As a result of the continuous nature of the deck locations, this was achieved with the use of driven piles
large hogging moments are induced over the internal with a pile cap cast in situ on top. Under the Y shaped
supports, to compensate for this additional cross pylon legs a post stressed concrete tie beam was
girders were installed along with a post tensioned constructed to reduce the horizontal loads to the
concrete slab. The use of a composite deck enabled the foundations whilst increasing the stiffness of the
construction team to prefabricate many of the structural structure. The post tensioning with in the beam was
elements; this was particularly advantageous in the gradually increased as the pylon experienced greater
difficult construction conditions which existed in the loading as construction of the bridge progressed.
surrounding area. Underneath each pylon leg a 7m x 7m x 3.5m deep
plinth was constructed on a 17.5m x 16m x 2.5m pile
3.3 Cable Stay Design cap. Each pile cap consisted of 16 piles, 1.5m in
diameter. These were installed to a depth of 33m and
The Boyne Bridge relies on 14 pairs of 36m respectively and had a load bearing capacity of
forestays to support the main span; these cables stays 1350 tonnes.
are arranged in a semi harp configuration meaning that
stays closer to the pylon are more inclined and 4.2 Pylon Construction
therefore more efficient at transferring vertical load. In
addition to this the reduced horizontal component To construct the inclined members of the pylon an
means that less compression is induced in the deck. innovative truss formwork was utilized. The ALUMA
The forestays are fixed to the deck at 10m intervals and truss formwork was initially constructed between the
thus allow a more slender deck to be used as bending is legs on the ground. From this position it gradually
reduced. The back stays are arranged in a more moved up the pylon legs with truss members from the
traditional harp arrangement and run parallel to each bottom being removed and replaced on top as the
other. These stays are used to tie the pylon into the formwork ‘climbs’ the pylon leg. The steep inclination
abutment and thus providing restraint. of the pylon legs (in excess of 20˚) meant that the
The fore stays are responsible for transferring formwork also served the purpose of keeping the legs
forces generated by live load and as a result the tension the correct lateral position. This was particularly useful
they experience will fluctuate over its working life. as it removed the need for subsequent jacking to move
This led to concerns of fatigue in the stays as they will the legs apart. Construction of the pylon legs was
be repeatedly loaded and unloaded. To alleviate these achieved with a series of 6m pours until a sufficient
worries three full size stays were tested with varying platform was created to allow the head to be
flexure loadings for one million cycles. No breakages constructed.
were reported and the stays were deemed to be
acceptable. Ultimately the construction team chose to
use 68# 15.7mm diameter high tensile galvanized steel
in each stay. Each stay was contained with in a HDPE
sheath to provide weather protection and increase the
durability of the stay. HDPE (High Density
Polyethylene) also possesses excellent stress cracking
properties and so is suitable for the vibrations
experienced in the cable.

4 Construction Process
The construction of the Boyne Bridge was
particularly challenging. Not only was the pylon one of
the most complex concrete structures to be attempted
in Ireland; much of it would also have to be
constructed at height where wind speeds were
particularly high. The construction team were
hampered further in that interaction with the river was
forbidden leading to the development of a unique Figure 4: Pylon construction – ALUMA formwork
construction plan.
Construction of the pylon head was one of the
4.1 Foundation Construction most challenging parts of the construction process; this
The use of trial boreholes identified the existence was principally due to the height and high wind speed.
of karstic limestone throughout the proposed site. This These factors in addition to the crane being
made the construction of foundations particularly predominantly used to construct the deck ruled out the
difficult as Karstic Limestone is highly changeable, use of traditional formwork. To overcome this the
often containing a large amount of sinkholes and voids. construction team used RMD Kwikform’s auto-climb
Initially pile groups where installed under all pier formwork [5], this is essentially a hydraulically
operated self climbing formwork which is fully temporary stays were constantly adjusted to minimalise
automated and removes the requirement for cranage. bending in the deck. In addition to this location of the
This allowed construction of the deck to continue deck was continuously surveyed to ensure that it was
simultaneously with construction of the pylon. The being launched on line. As launching progressed an
pylon head was constructed in 3m pours in 5 day additional pair of temporary stay was installed at the
cycles; each cycle consisted of fixing the reinforcement top of the pylon to support the deck. The full number
immediately after concrete had been poured, rolling the of permanent stays were not required to support the
formwork into position and raising the auto climb deck because without the concrete slab and road
brackets which allowed the formwork to proceed. After surface the deck was substantially lighter.
this the next concrete section could be poured. This When the deck reached the correct position it was
process was completed 10 times until the full height of lowered into place and the steel girders at the end
the pylon was attained. The inner core of the pylon locations were welded to the south abutment and
head was constructed with permanent steel liners. approaching span cantilever. This then allowed the
These steel units were prefabricated in 1.5m high concrete slab to be poured to a depth of 230mm.
sections and featured anchorage points to allow the
installation of the cable stays. The steel liner was 4.3 Installation of Cable Stays
particularly useful as it restrained the pylon head
against wind action and acted as a permanent As the concrete slab was poured the permanent
formwork which acts compositely with the concrete stays were installed to account for the increased load.
through the installation of shear studs. The main span was poured in 20m segments with two
pairs of forestays and backstays installed with each
4.3 Deck Construction cycle. To install the stays the construction team
employed the Freyssinet Iso-tension system to stress
When building the deck the deck the construction each strand in the stay. Firstly the HDPE sheath is
team chose to adopt a steel girder design. To construct assembled on the deck and then lifted into place with
the 4 smaller approach spans the contractor simply the first strand. The strand is attached to the
welded the steel frame together on the ground and corresponding anchor point on the deck and is then
lifted it into place. Precast OMNIA formwork plates stressed to a predetermined force set by the designer.
were fitted to the steel frame to act as a permanent The strand is stressed using a monostrand jack while a
formwork, thereby allowing the cast insitu concrete to load cell monitors the forces with in it. The remaining
be poured. Post tensioning was installed above pier strands are then installed in the same manner and are
locations where hogging moments were expected to be all subject to the same amount of stress. Following this
excessive. procedure the level of the deck was surveyed and the
Construction of the main and back span of the length of the stays was adjusted accordingly.
bridge was conducted simultaneously with the erection The backstays were stressed from within the south
of the four approach spans. The steel work for the deck anchorage abutment, however the length of the stays
was assembled behind the south abutment in line with was not adjusted following installation as it was felt
the motorway prior to be launched over the river. A that the pylon was sufficiently stiff and not exposed to
pair of permanent back stays were also installed to live load. To compensate for the increased loads post
stabilize the pylon during the launching process. tensioning in the deck was also adjusted to ensure the
Following this temporary stays were installed on the stability of the structure. Once complete the precast
leading edge of the steel work, this consisted of a post edge beam was fitted along with the GRP enclosure
locating on the south abutment with temporary stays upon which the road surface was laid.
attached. This in effect created a miniature cable stayed
bridge which served the purpose of supporting the deck 5 Refinements
until it reached the pylon. To launch the deck a hauling
line was established on the north abutment on the other There are several refinements with in the design of
side of the river. This was in turn attached to the deck the Boyne Bridge which have improved its
allowing it to be pulled along hydraulically. The steel architectural impact. The bridge makes use of
work was placed on a computer controlled trailer extensive architectural lighting in the form of fibre
which would guide the deck into place and provide a optic cables and blue filtered lighting along the deck
braking force. The deck was then launched by a and pylon. These both serve the purpose of enhancing
combination of stand jacking the trailers and pulling on the visual impact of the bridge and emphasize the
the hauling line [6]. simplicity of the structure. The line of light emitting
Once the steelwork had reached the pylon the fibre optics along the side of the deck help to mark the
temporary post and stays were removed and temporary outline of the deck and create an interesting contrast
forestays were installed from the very top of the pylon with the shadows underneath the deck. Deep blue
to the leading edge of the deck. Launching of the main spotlights focused on the cable stays highlight their
span continued using the same techniques as structural importance whilst also helping to define the
previously described however the length of the pylon shape. The lighting scheme ensures that the
structure is highly visible in what is a predominantly durability properties and is not susceptible to
rural error. The pylon also forms a dramatic arch for atmospheric corrosion. The GRP creates an almost air
motorists enhancing the experience further. tight covering around the deck steelwork which also
provides access for inspection of the deck. This is
particularly useful as it removes the need for temporary
5.1 Wind
access systems during inspections and maintenance.
It was found during the design of the bridge that The use of the protective GRP enclosure was found to
some of the larger vehicles may be susceptible to reduce the rate of corrosion of untreated steel to around
overturning due to the unimpeded wind which travels 0.02mm per annum. This equates to a total corrosion of
through the Boyne Valley. To counter this the design 2mm over the life span of the bridge and thus allowed
team chose to install a protective wind shield at a the steel work to be left untreated. .0
height of 2.1m. This wind shield was constructed from In addition to the corrosion resistance properties of
a series of polycarbonate sheets with clear vertical GRP it also provides excellent fire resistance to the
spacings of 380mm between panels. This ensured that structure. This is significant as it ensures the structure
the Boyne valley was still visible from the bridge deck exceeds the requirements of the fire regulations.
whilst also providing sufficient protection for
motorists. 6 Loadings
When detailing the wind shield the sheeting was
angled at 20˚ to the vertical, the same angle as the The Boyne Bridge was designed according to limit
cable stays to which it runs alongside. This helps to state theory. This entails checking the bridge at
improve the continuity of the structure without Ultimate Limit state to ensure that it is fit for purpose
obscuring any views of the surrounding area. The and not in danger of collapse. The serviceability Limit
inclusion of air gaps with in the wind shield was key to State of the bridge must also be checked to confirm the
reducing the destabilizing effect the creation of a blunt bridge is servable. The bridge was designed in
edge would have on the bridge deck. By increasing the accordance with the relevant sections of BS: 5400 for
porosity of the wind shield it is much less likely to bridge design and makes particular reference to part 2
cause issues of wind excitation. This is critical because which deals with steel, concrete and composite bridges.
the prevailing wind travels along the Boyne valley The designer also made use of draft versions of the
normal to the edge of the bridge deck. Any wind soon to be published Eurocodes. In addition to this the
excitation in such a flexible strucutre could lead to the designers had to account for the large wind loads which
possible failure of the bridge so its effects had to be occur in the Boyne Valley and the effect that
mitigated. temperature changes will have on the structure

5.2 Detailing 6.1 Dead Loads:

There are several examples of careful detailing The size of the steel members and the concrete
with in the design of the Boyne Bridge which enhance slab which it supports were used to calculate the dead
the visual appeal of the structure. A prominent example weight of the deck. The 34.5m wide bridge features
of this is the way in which the pylon legs taper as they 1750mm steel girders braced with transverse girders
increase in height. This serves the purpose of giving the same size at 3.33m centres upon which rests a
the pylon a more slender appearance. The design also 230mm slab. This equates to the following loadings.
stipulated that the pylon be constructed from CGBS The 1750mm deep girder is a 100mm thick, this is
near white concrete. The choice to leave the concrete roughly the equivalent of two 914 x 419 x 388 which
face exposed meant that a dull finish could have have a mass per unit length of 388kg/m. Therefore
diminished the impact of the structure. In addition to its each longitudinal girder weighs 776kg/m. [7]
aesthetic qualities CGBS concrete also achieves early
strength slower then traditional concrete, this helps to Weight of Steel
reduce the influence of temperature on the curing Long 2 x 776 kg/m = 1552kg/m
process and therefore reduces the possibility of Trans (1/3.333) x 34.5m x 776 = 8032kg/m
cracking.
Concrete Slab
5.3 Durability The concrete slab is 230mm thick with an assumed
density of 2400kg/m3t for reinforced concrete.
The Boyne Bridge uses several innovative 0.23m x 34.5m x 2400 = 19044kg/m
techniques to increase the durability of the structure. Hence total mass of deck = 28628kg/m
This is most evidently demonstrated by the decision to This is equivalent to 280.8KN/m or 8.1KN/m 2
wrap the deck steel work in a protective GRP encasing.
The system was developed by Faber Maunsell and 6.2 Superimposed Dead load
employed with great success on the Tees Viaduct
refurbishment. The GRP encasing has excellent
The superimposed dead loads on the structure consist Dead Concrete: 186.8KN/m x 1.15 = 214.8KN/m
of the road surface required to create a flexible The factored Ha loading was applied to two central
pavement. It is assumed that 100mm of sand fill notional lanes on the deck in the areas where they had
(saturated) is over lain by 180mm of Asphalt. This the greatest adverse effect, the remaining lanes in the
generates the following loads. structure have a third Ha loading applied. In addition a
knife edge load of 120KN was applied at midspan
Asphalt 0.18 x 34.5 x 2000kg/m3 = 12,420kg/m between stays. To find the ultimate stress bending was
Sand 0.10 x 34.5 x 2300kg/m3 = 7,935kg/m considered in the transverse and longitudinal direction.

Total Superimposed = 20,355kg/m 6.5 Transverse Bending

This is equivalent to 200KN/m or 5.8KN/m2.
In the transverse plane the deck is assumed to be
6.3 Live Loads: simply supported between stays, this has a profound
effect on the shape of the bending moment diagram as
The effect of traffic on the bridge is there are no hogging moments.
considered in the form of live load. The width of the
Boyne Bridge is 34.5m however the usable
carriageway width is 25.6m. This equates to 7 notional
lanes with an average lane width of 3.65m. In
accordance with BS5400 the resistance to Ha and Hb
loading was checked. The Ha loading consisted of a
UDL acting over the notional lanes in addition to a
Knife Edge Load spread across the notional lanes. The
unfactored Ha loading for the Boyne Bridge is
9.1KN/m based on the total loaded length of the
bridge, 370m.
Hb loading considers the influence of abnormal bridge The deck is not symmetrically loaded and so to enable
load on the bridge. The Hb loading is considered as a the maximum moment in the deck to be found a free
series of axles where the length between each axle unit body diagram should be used.
can be varied so that they act in the area where they B

have the greatest adverse effect. This can lead to large

moments being generated in the deck as a result of A B
unsymmetrical loading. After further investigation it
was however found that Ha loading gave the critical
loading scenario.

6.4 Load Combinations:

The Maximum moment in the deck is therefore
BS:5400 requires that partial factors be applied to the
calculated by taking moments from B:
loads on the structure to ensure that the design is
conservative and safe. These partial factors vary
Mmax = (9974 x 10.95) – (701 x 3.65 x 1.825) – (676 x
depending on the material and the load type and are
7.3 x 7.3) => 68.5MNm
then used to find the worst case loading scenario
required for ultimate limit state. The Ultimate and
6.6 Longitudinal Bending
serviceability state of the Boyne bridge were calculated
according to load combination one. This considers all
In the longitudinal plane the deck is assumed to act as a
dead and permanent loads applied to the structure in
continuous beam with stays acting as supports at 10m
addition to the all primary live loads. (Ha loading)
centres. The KEL is applied at midspan to find the
The factored loads which the structure are as follows.
greatest moment which occurs in the deck.
The maximum moment occurs in hogging above the
Dead Steel: 94KN/m x 1.05= 98.7KN/m
stays and is calculated as follows.

wl 2 540 x10 2
M max = = = 4500 KNm
12 12
The maximum sagging moment is found as a
combination of the bending induced by the UDL and
the point load.
 wl2 pl 540x102 120x10 deck 152.5m from the pylon, with the other end located
Mmax = + = + = 2400KNm at the top of the pylon, 76m above the bridge.
24 8 24 8

72
α= tan −1 = 25.3°
152.5
The stay could be required to support a loaded length
of 13.75m in addition to a KEL of 120KN. This
equates to a vertical load of 7545KN which must be
resisted by the stay.

7 Strength

The stress induced in the deck as a result of bending

can be calculated based on the maximum moment and
the geometry of the deck.
My
σ bending =
I
Where I, the second moment of area, was calculated
per metre length of the deck to take into account the
effect of transverse girders located at 3.333m centres. Hence:

I = 2.00 x 1011 mm4 /m x sin 25.3˚ = 7545KN

x = 17.6MN
To find the bending stress the max moment must be
divided by the length of the bridge to find the moment This means that a force of 17.6MN in present in this
per metre length of the deck. The moment per metre pair of stays, equivalent to 8.8MN of force in each
length is therefore cable. This value can be used to find the area of steel
required based on the cables being loaded to 50% of
Mmax / Span = 68.5MNm/170m = 403KNm/m their ultimate stress.

Interaction diagrams were used to find the depth of the

Force 8.8MN
neutral axis. This was calculated to be 245.7mm below Area = = 2
= 10,350mm 2
the top of the deck. σ 0.5 x1700 N / mm
6 The Boyne Bridge features 68# 15.7mm diameter high
403 x10 x10 x 245mm
∴σ bending = 11
= 4.93 N / mm 2 strength steel cables which equates to an area of
2.00 x10 13,164.3mm2 and is therefore suitable.

7.1 Force in Forestays 7.2 Compression induced by Cable Stays

As one of the principal structural members in the The horizontal component of the stays induces a
design the strength of the forestays is critical. The force compression force in the deck. The total force is equal
in the stays is calculated according to the area which it to the sum of the horizontal component of each cable
must support and the inclination of the cable. The on the deck. This will vary according to the inclination
inclination of the cable gives rise to a horizontal of the cable however it is possible to assume that the
component of force which places the deck under central stay represents the average force in all the
significant compression, this compression force should cables. The 8th stay is located 92.5m along the deck and
be accounted for to ensure the deck is capable of fixed to the pylon at a height of 59.4m. It has an
sustaining it. The force in the most onerous stay will be inclination of 32.7˚ and a horizontal component of
calculated to ensure that the design is conservative. force of 8.6MN for that pair of stays. The total
This occurs in the final stay which is attached to the compression in the deck is therefore120.4MN. The
stress due to compression in the deck is calculated in become blocked but is unlikely to happen in the Boyne
the following manner. Ignoring the presence of the Bridge due to the use of the protective GRP wrap.
transverse girders the area of the Cross section is Temperature could vary as much as 21˚C based on an
8.33m2 . expected average temperature of 11˚C. The amount the
Force 8.6 x10 6 bridge expands is proportional to its length.
σ= = = 1.03 N / mm 2
Area 8.33 x10 6 ε T = α ∆T L
This is a relatively low stress value which is distributed ∴ Expansion = 12 x10 −6 x 21° x170m = 0.0428m
by the combination of concrete and steel. Compressive forces induced due to the expansion of
the deck being restricted are.
7.3 Temperature Effects

Temperature changes can have a significant

(12 x10 −6 ) x 21° x(30 x10 3 ) = 7.56 N / mm 2
impact on large structures such as the Boyne Bridge. (12 x10 −6 ) x 21° x(200 x10 3 ) = 50 N / mm 2
This principally relates to strains induced as result of Despite the total compression in the deck being greater
temperature variations between the top and underside then the capacity of the concrete there is no cause for
of the structure or an overall temperature change. concern as the additional stress is transferred by the
Ultimately these variances can induce strains in the steel girders.
deck. It is unlikely that the Boyne Bridge will be
subjected to as extreme weather variances as other 7.4 Natural Frequency
locations around the world, however there could
potentially be large temperature differences between It is important that the fundamental natural
the underside and the top of the deck. A temperature frequency of the bridge is calculated to ensure that the
difference of 20ºC would represent the worst case bridge feels safe for the user with out being at risk of
scenario which possible could occur. This may occur if excitation. To achieve this a fundamental natural
the underside was frozen at -5ºC while the top of the frequency with in a range of 5Hz and 75Hz must be
deck was heated to 15ºC. Only the expansion of the achieved, below this region resonance due to the wind
bridge in the longitudinal direction is considered as the may occur while above it psychological effects may
bridge is not restrained transversely and therefore will arise. The natural frequency of the Boyne Bridge can
not induce stress. Longitudinal temperature effects be calculated as follows.
were calculated as follows.
ε T = α∆T EI
f 0 = (β n l ) 2
Stress is then calculated as ml 4
σ = Ecε T Where f0 is the fundamental natural frequency
of the bridge measured in Hertz. The Boyne Bridge has
The strain varied linearly with the change in a 130m clear span from the pylon to the north abutment
temperature, while the different Young’s modulus of where it is fixed. The bridge therefore has a fixed-
steel and concrete also resulted in variances in the pinned configuration with a (βn l)2 value of 15.42.
stress. The temperature difference, strain and stress is To estimate the natural frequency the transverse second
represented diagrammatically below, where Esteel= moment of area was calculated to be 5.22m2.
200KN/mm2 and Econ= 30KN/mm2.

210 x10 9 x5.22

∴ f 0 = 15.42 = 5.71Hz
28,000 x130 4
A value of 5.71Hz was obtained, therefore the
fundamental natural frequency of the bridge can be
deemed to be acceptable.

The actual compressive force which these stresses

generate is based on the area of the ‘stress block’.
7.5 Wind Loading:
5.4 + 4.56
Fcon = x 230mmx34,500mm = 3.4 MN
2 Due to the natural funneling effect of the valley wind
loading was a critical component of the design. Wind
30.4 − 12
Fsteel = x0.395m 2 = 3.6 MN loading calculations were undertaken in accordance
2 with BS 5400 which takes into account the effect of
It is also important to consider the stresses factors such as geographical location and height above
induced if the bridge is prevented from expanding the ground. To allow the wind load to be calculated it
longitudinally. This may occur if expansion joints was important to first establish the design wind speed.
 Vd = S g V s structure comprising of circular hollow sections. The
square nature of the top chord would allow designers to
Values for Sg and Vs were obtained from the standards use two way slab spanning theory in the design of the
while a mean wind speed for the area (Vb) of 24m/s slab thus allowing a thinner deck to be installed. A
was used. space frame system would be around 30% lighter then
∴Vd = 24.633 x1.602 = 39.46m / s a steel girder frame, greatly increasing the efficiency of
The design wind load can then be used to calculate the the structure whilst also reducing the vertical load on
nominal transverse load which acts on the bridge. [8] the foundations. This type of bridge deck would also be
more suitable for cantilever construction.
Pt = qA1C d
2
q = 0.613 Vd
q = 0.613 x39.46 2 = 954.5
The coefficient of drag Cd was estimated to be 1 as
the bridge effectively has a solid cross section due to
the installation of the GRP protective extrusion around
the structural members.

Pt = 954.5 x 438.6 x1 = 418.6 KN

Figure 5: Alternative Bridge deck design
The bridge experiences a nominal load of 418.6KN
which is equivalent to a load of 2.46KN/m being 9 Conclusion
applied uniformly along the length of the bridge. As the
bridge is 34.5m wide it is expected to be capable of This paper provides an overview of the design and
resisting this load. construction of the Boyne Bridge built in accordance
Longitudinal wind pressure is calculated in a similar with BS:5400. Since opening in 2003 the bridge has
manner acting along the length of the deck. As a result operated very successfully and as yet there are no
the longitudinal wind load can be expected to have the intentions to increase the number of lanes on each
greatest impact on pylon. A nominal wind load of carriageway from two to three.
286KN was calculated at the top of the pylon. This will The use of a cable stayed structure to overcome
induce a minimal moment in the pylon and will not the environmental issues which exist in the Boyne
result sufficient deflection which may cause a valley represent how an innovative approach to bridge
reduction in tension of the stays. design can be successfully implemented. As a result of
the success of the Boyne Bridge there are plans to
7.6 Nominal Vertical Wind Load construct several other cable stay bridges in the country
with the River Suir bridge in Waterford set to become
As a cable stayed structure the potential for uplift the longest spanning bridge in Ireland when it opens in
must be accounted for. The nominal vertical wind load late 2009.
is calculated based on the plan area of the deck and the
coefficient of lift (CL). This was estimated to be 0.15 Acknowledgements
according to data in the standards. Tim Ibell Bridge Engineering Lecture Notes
Pv = qA3C L Mark Evernden – Structures Lecturer
A3 = 34.5 x170 = 5865m 2 References
q = 954.5
[1] www.ecocem.ie/index. - Lighter Coloured
∴ PV = 954.5 x5865 x0.15 = 840 KN Concrete
This equated to a load of 4.9KN/m acting along the [2] Joe O’Donovan, The Design and
length of the deck. This value is not large enough to Construction of the Boyne Bridge
overcome the dead load of the deck and therefore is not [3] Rene Walther, Cable Stay Bridges: Thomas
a critical design condition. Telford
[4] www.ekspan.co.uk/Support - Guided
8 Possible Improvements Bearings and expansion Joints
[5] www.rmdkwikform.net/rmd_projects/ -
A possible design failing of the Boyne Bridge was Pylon Construction
the decision to install a traditional girder deck as [6] www.dormanlongtechnology.com - Deck
opposed to using a steel space frame. There are several construction and Launching.
advantages associated with the use of a space frame [7] Corus, Advanced UK Beam Sections
however the most obvious is the reduction in weight of [8] BS 5400-2:2006 - Steel, concrete and
the deck. A steel space frame is a lightweight rigid composite bridges. Specification for loads.