Chapter 8: Analysis of concrete bridges

Modern methods of static and dynamic analysis make it possible to express geometric and physical non-linearity of concrete structures, and to determine their failure in the limit state. However, the requirements for preparing input data, evaluating results and the capacity of computers are such that these calculations are performed only in special and/or study cases. An elastic analysis of a structure supplemented by checking its ultimate capacity using a strut-and-tie method is usually satisfactory.

In the opinion of some engineers, recently developed software allows everything to be calculated. The availability of these programs and the improvement in of computer technology is such that a complex analysis of a complex structure can be done in an extremely short time. However, this does not mean that the calculations are done correctly, or that the models used really reflect the function of the structures. The main problems in static and dynamic structural analysis are to determine the appropriate computational model, to understand the method used to reach the solution, to correctly determine the input parameters and to correctly interpret the results.