The selection of box girders for cable-supported railroad bridges

Dedicated to Dipl.-Ing. Dr.-Ing. E.h. Reiner Saul on the occasion of his 80th birthday
This paper describes the selection of box girders for cable-supported railroad bridges from the point view of structural behaviour, fabrication, transportation and erection. There is a review of the use of wide single box girders and vented box girders with dual and triple separate boxes. The number of cable planes and the different transverse locations of pylon legs and main girders are also studied. A cable-stayed bridge with a main span of 520 m and a triple separate box girder accommodating four high-speed railway tracks and a six-lane carriageway is researched as a case study. The result reveals that the triple separate box girder is very suitable for long-span cable-supported railroad bridges with multiple railway tracks and traffic lanes.