About Vierendeel Truss and its examples

1. Spurthi G
Sandhya S
Aadarsh

2.  THE VIERENDEEL FRAME, or truss as it is more popularly but inappropriately
called, is a series of rectangular frames which achieves stability by the rigid
connection of the vertical web members to the top and bottom chord.
 Contrary to the typical pin-connected truss in which all members are axially
loaded and shear is transferred axially through diagonals, the Vierendeel
transfers shear from the chords by bending moments at the joints and
finally by bending moments in the vertical webs.
 As a result, all members are combined stress members in which axial, shear,
and bending stresses exist.
INTRODUCTION

3. • Such trusses do not have the usual triangular voids seen in a pin–joint truss bridge, rather
employing rectangular openings and rigid connections in the elements, which (unlike a
conventional truss) must also resist substantial bending forces.
• Owing to a lesser economy of materials and the difficulty of design before the advent of
computers, this truss is rarely used in bridges outside Belgium. The form is more commonly
employed in building structures where large shear walls or diagonal elements would interfere
with the building's aesthetics or functionality.
• The first such bridge was built in steel at Avelgem, Belgium in 1902, following development of
the truss form and a method to calculate its strength in 1896 by Arthur Vierendeel. There are
many more examples in Belgium, also constructed in concrete, mostly designed by Vierendeel's
many students in a long career as professor in civil engineering.

4. • Despite the structural disadvantages surrounding
the Vierendeel, it was in the area of civil
engineering rather than architecture that it was
first utilized-specifically for short-span bridges.
• The Vierendeel's origin dates to I896. The Belgian
engineer Arthur Vierendeel, then professor at the
University of Louvain, unveiled the concept in his
book Longerons en Treillis et Longerons a Arcades.
At that time steel trusses required extremely large
gusset plates to accommodate rivet groups;
members were generally oversized and rarely did
the center lines of all joined members intersect.
• Therefore, the pin-jointed theory which ignored
moments, due to these eccentricities, led to errors
on the critical side, approaching fifteen percent
when office calculations were compared to field
measurements.
HISTORY

5. • These discrepancies between simplified analytical methods and
reality are what led Professor Vierendeel to propose the
rectangular rigid-jointed system where these eccentricities could
be eliminated and accuracy between analysis and reality kept in
close accord.
• A smaller factor of safety could be used, due to this improved
accuracy, so that in the early I900s Vierendeel bridges did weigh
less than alternative truss solutions.
• The first Vierendeel bridge was experimental. It spanned 96 feet
and was tested in 1897 at Tervueren with an assimilated railway
loading pattern.
• The riveted framework responded by carrying 2.73 times the
design live load and prompted the Belgian Bridge and Highway
Department to state in their official report that, "In the present
state of the question, the portal frame truss is, generally
speaking, a system nearly equivalent to the triangulated truss.“
• The first actual usage of a Vierendeel bridge occurred in I901
with a 128-foot span of riveted construction at Avelghem,
Belgium, followed by the I36-foot span at Ousselghem in I910,
also riveted.

6. • Decline Mishaps (cracks and dislocations), primarily due to insufficient knowledge of the ramifications
of welding procedures, poor workmanship, and low steel quality, resulted in increasing skepticism
about the Vierendeel system.
• The collapse of a 245-foot-span bridge at Hasselt in 1938 was the most total and dramatic.
• A Belgian committee assigned to investigate the collapse, together with outside consultants,
concluded that the welded Vierendeel system, although considered to be adequately designed, was
sensitive to external influences, such as cooling, heating, vibration, or impact.
• By reason of its inherent joint rigidity, the system also attracted internal residual stresses and
demanded an extensive knowledge of the art of welding. Similar problems with welded plate girder
bridges were occurring in other countries of Europe.
• It was apparent that welding technology needed to catch up with welding demand
DECLINATION

9. EXAMPLES

10. • The Albert Canal was constructed from 1930 through 1939. The German construction
company Hochtief AG worked on the canal between 1930 and 1934, but it was completed by
Belgian companies. The Albert Canal was used for the first time in 1940 but, because of World
War II and the German occupation, intensive use only began later, in 1946.
• During World War II, the Albert Canal functioned as a defense line. The crossing of the canal
by the German forces and the destruction of Fort Eben-Emael on 11 May 1940 was a
milestone in the German invasion of Belgium.
• During the Liberation of Belgium by the Allies in September 1944, the Second Canadian
Division was the first Allied unit to cross the Albert Canal.
• The British Army also crossed the Albert Canal on its way north across Belgium and into The
Netherlands and the U.S. Army entered Belgium further to the east on its way to liberate the
rest of Belgium, and Luxembourg, and then proceed east to invade Nazi Germany. Hence,
Belgium was liberated from the south by three different armies, two of which needed to cross
the Albert Canal.
ALBERT CANAL

11. • In 2002, the canal carried a record 43 million tons of goods of various kinds,
amounting to more than half the Belgian waterway total.
• The canal is also a popular leisure and cycling destination, with well paved
service roads on both sides traversing picturesque farm land, particularly
around Smeermass, Lanaken and Maasmechelen.

13. Vierendeel bridge
at Grammene, Belgium

14. Geneva St. bridge
in Glendale
• The city of Glendale, California has three
Vierendeel truss bridges: the Geneva Street,
Kenilworth Avenue, and Glenoaks Boulevard
bridges, all two-lane bridges spanning 95 feet.
They were built in 1937 as part of the Verdugo
Flood Control Project, the first project of
the United States Army Corps of Engineers after
passage of the Flood Control Act of 1936.
• The double-deck cable-stayed Kap Shui Mun
Bridge in Hong Kong uses a Vierendeel truss.
Opened in 1997, the lower deck carries both rail
and traffic, with the lack of diagonal members in
the cross section allowing vehicles to drive
through the openings provided by the
Vierendeel design.

15. Gutsav-Heinemann Brucke

16. BIBLIOGRAPHY
REFERNCES
• The Vierendeel Author(s): David J. Wickersheimer Source: Journal of the Society
of Architectural Historians, Vol. 35, No. 1 (Mar., 1976), pp. 54- 60 Published by:
University of California Press on behalf of the Society of Architectural Historians
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/988971 . Accessed: 10/07/2013 10:19
• Book: Building structures
Author: Ching
• www.arch.mcgill.ca
• www.Wikipedia.com

17. THANK YOU