The Analysis of Thermal Effect on Concrete Box Girder Bridge

Abstract Thermal load, especially vertical temperature gradient is an important factor that should be considered during the bridge design procedure. In the world several researches focusing on thermal influences was performed, mostly in USA and China, but only a few analyzed real measured cross-section temperature gradient at European bridges. In this paper, short overview of thermal loading on concrete bridge structures was analyzed. The measurement of real temperature gradient along the cross-section of concrete box girder bridge realized by balanced cantilever method has been analyzed and compared to the five different bridge design codes.