Bridge design and construction are an exercise in optimizing opposing forces. As part of this, structural detailing must balance design demands with practicality. The construction engineer’s role, and specifically the detailing of integrated shop drawings, provides a unique perspective into the interface between design and construction. This experience allows us to explain why some things work “on paper” but prove to be problematic in the field. Constructability—how well things go together—is a subjective term, but there are some fundamental aspects to good detailing.
The foremost consideration should be tolerances. Just as design requires safety factors, construction also requires a margin for error. How great a margin depends on the nature of the details. Apart from the people who build them (who also require some tolerance), concrete segmental bridge construction has three key ingredients: concrete, post-tensioning, and reinforcement….
READ THE REST OF THE ARTICLE HERE: Aspire Article – Detailing Segmental Concrete Box Girders for Constructability