ABSTRACT
This paper presents the evaluation of an alternative for the construction of short bridges with Guadua a. as structural material. In the proposed model, the construction of bridges must be as easy as possible, in order to be developed by the community in a short time, taking advantage of existing guadua in the area. The bridges are composed by structural modules with a length of 5 m, which can be precast. The structure of bridge is composed of two planar trusses which are connected using horizontal members that support the board and give stability to the structure. On the top of the bridge, a roof is placed to provide protection from the weather and increase lateral stiffness, reducing the buckling of the top chords. The design was made considering that live loads will be applied inside the structure, and consequently will also be applied on the bottom chord of the trusses. Load values specified by the Colombian Bridges Code have been used for the footbridge design.
An experimental program was carried out to test the performance of the bridge. Firstly, a study of mechanical properties of materials was made, especially for the Guadua a. used in the research. Secondly, in a later stage load test, the strengths of joints and primary structural members were determined. Finally a real scale prototype of the bridge composed of four structural modules was built and tested, first under service loads, then it was loaded up to failure. In conclusion this modular structure allow us to construct a bridge with a span up to 25 m in 6 weeks, that has sufficient strength to support the loads listed on the Colombian Code of Bridges for pedestrian bridges, and that eventually can operate as a provisional vehicular bridge to deal with an emergency, as long as the traffic is composed of low weight vehicles. Modular Bridge Configuration. https://s3-euw1-ap-pe-df-pch-content-public-p.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/9781315207681/cd556cd4-4dcf-4efe-8e29-56fc67b8bfbd/content/fig334_1.tif"/>
