| Crossframes play an important role in the design and construction of steel bridges. This is especially true of curved, highly skewed steel plate girder bridges where the crossframes are considered primary members. Primary members are designed to carry internal forces determined from analysis. The primary functions of crossframes include providing stability during construction, transferring lateral load, and transferring differential displacements between girders.;This thesis looks at different framing plan configurations that can be used to make crossframes more efficient. It also investigates different configurations of crossframes (x-frame, k-frame) to see if there is a difference in effectiveness.;A staggered radial framing plan configuration was found to induce the least amount of forces within its crossframes. It was concluded that a stiffer transverse system would accumulate more force than a more flexible system. |
