STUDY ON ERECTION CONTROL SCHEME FOR LONG SPAN STEEL ARCH BRIDGE AND ITS APPLICATION ON CHAOTIANMEN YANGTZE RIVER BRIDGES

arch bridge currently under construction. By the time of its completion at the end of 2008, it will become the longest steel arch bridge in the world with a record span of 552 m. This paper describes some of its design characteristics and challenges in the construction control. Time dependent analyses with 3D models were carried out to study the structure behavior at each erection stage and to identify potential problems as well as applicable solutions during erection. Based on the results from analyses, a reasonable and practical scheme of erection stages and controlling procedures was proposed for structure to safely and accurately achieve its final design configuration at closure