Prestressed Concrete Bridges: Advanced Construction Methods Including Segmental Construction, Incremental Launching, and Balanced Cantilever; Inspection, Maintenance, and Durability

  • Unique Paper ID: 187076
  • Volume: 12
  • Issue: no
  • PageNo: 64-68
  • Abstract:
  • Prestressed concrete bridges have become a mainstay for medium- to long-span highway and railway structures because of their material efficiency, high durability potential, and adaptability to diverse construction environments. This paper reviews three advanced construction methods commonly used for prestressed concrete bridges — segmental construction (both precast and cast-in-place), incremental launching, and balanced cantilever construction — and examines their applicability, construction sequence, advantages and limitations. The paper further outlines inspection techniques, maintenance strategies, and durability considerations that extend service life and mitigate common deterioration mechanisms. Practical guidance and recommended best practices for design detailing, quality control, inspection frequency, and intervention criteria are provided to help bridge owners and engineers achieve long-term performance with minimized life-cycle costs.

Copyright & License

Copyright © 2025 Authors retain the copyright of this article. This article is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

BibTeX

@article{187076,
        author = {Ms. Seema Arun Mahadik and Dr. M.N. Bajad},
        title = {Prestressed Concrete Bridges: Advanced Construction Methods Including Segmental Construction, Incremental Launching, and Balanced Cantilever; Inspection, Maintenance, and Durability},
        journal = {International Journal of Innovative Research in Technology},
        year = {},
        volume = {12},
        number = {no},
        pages = {64-68},
        issn = {2349-6002},
        url = {https://ijirt.org/article?manuscript=187076},
        abstract = {Prestressed concrete bridges have become a mainstay for medium- to long-span highway and railway structures because of their material efficiency, high durability potential, and adaptability to diverse construction environments. This paper reviews three advanced construction methods commonly used for prestressed concrete bridges — segmental construction (both precast and cast-in-place), incremental launching, and balanced cantilever construction — and examines their applicability, construction sequence, advantages and limitations. The paper further outlines inspection techniques, maintenance strategies, and durability considerations that extend service life and mitigate common deterioration mechanisms. Practical guidance and recommended best practices for design detailing, quality control, inspection frequency, and intervention criteria are provided to help bridge owners and engineers achieve long-term performance with minimized life-cycle costs.},
        keywords = {Prestressed concrete, segmental construction, incremental launching, balanced cantilever, inspection, maintenance, durability, life-cycle},
        month = {},
        }

Related Articles