There use of soil-steel shell
structures in bridge
construction is growing. This is due to their numerous advantages
such as: simple and uncomplicated assembly, quick
construction, high bearing
capacity and durability. Together with the commencement of use of the said
structures in Polish bridge practice, the Road and Bridge Research Institute in
Żmigród started tests of such structures in natural scale on a Bridge Test
Stand. Internal forces in the steel walls of the structures and stress in soil
were analyzed. Fatigue tests were performed. The tests showed high stiffness
and durability of the structures also due to considerable soil- structure
interaction in terms of load carrying. As the said structures are very flexible
at the stage of their construction, they tend to be very ‘sensitive’ to any
deviations from the technological regime during completion. Therefore, even if
not very frequently, they happened to fail, mainly at the construction stage.
This paper presents examples of failure together with a description and
analysis of causes.