Physical model of an Integral Abutment bridge: Numerical and experimental analyses

Integral Abutment Bridges (IABs) are characterized by the absence of bearing supports and expansion joints between the deck and the abutments/piers, thus reducing the construction and maintenance costs of these structures. This type of connection leads to more complex Soil-Structure Interaction (SSI) with respect to conventional bridges, therefore the static and dynamic effects of the SSI should be taken into account in the design. Despite the large number of IABs worldwide, and the numerical studies about them, only few experimental tests were performed and, moreover, there is a lack of design prescriptions in seismic codes including Eurocodes. This work presents results regarding the experimental campaign carried out at the EQUALS-BLADE Laboratory of the University of Bristol under the auspices of SERENA-SERA-TA Project, featuring shaking table tests on a scaled physical model of a single span IAB, tested into a large shear soil container to reproduce natural soil conditions and simulate the SSI between the abutments and the backfill soil. Different configurations were tested, varying i) the type of connection between the abutment footing (connected and disconnected) and ii) the introduction of one or more layers of a compressible inclusion material between the abutments and the backfill soil.