The Development and Researches of Steel Bridge Towers in China

Abstract

Steel bridge towers have been widely applied in the countries like the United States and Japan for many years. However, in recent years, China has begun to use steel bridge towers in the bridge construction because of the national situation. In this paper, the development, application and related researches of steel bridge towers in China are presented. Two tests on the local buckling behaviors of steel bridge towers are introduced. Through the tests, the local buckling modes and mechanical characteristics of steel bridge towers are summarized and analyzed, and the mechanical behaviors between steel bridge towers with different cross sections are also demonstrated. The new achievements have been adopted by the new edition of China highway steel bridge design code. At last, the prospects of steel bridge towers are discussed.