Experimental Thin-Walled U-Profile Footbridge Made of UHPFRC

This paper presents design, production and installation of an experimental thin-walled U-profile footbridge made of ultra-high performance fiber reinforced concrete (UHPFRC) with dispersed steel fibers without any conventional reinforcement. Properties of UHPFRC leads to the design of very thin structures. In this case an experimental thin-walled U-profile footbridge with horizontal and vertical curvature was designed and manufactured. Single-span bridge has span of 10 m, clear width of 1.5 m with thickness of shell structure of 30 mm on the side guards and 45 mm on the deck. The paper presents a lots of calculation versions for optimization of the proposal bridge. Self-compacting character of UHPFRC with high flowability allowed casting the final structure in one piece without any vibration. Extensive research was done before production of footbridge. Large-scale specimens were casted and tested in laboratory. A technology of casting and production of formwork were tested and optimized many times because of complexity of whole experiment. Finally the paper presents detailed course on installation of the bridge in landscape and setting and results of static loading tests.