Abstract
The Higashi-Kobe Bridge is a three-span continuous cable-stayed steel bridge adopting a Warren truss as its main girder. The main span is 485 meters, which is one of the longest spans of this type in the world. An experimental study was carried to ascertain the rigidity and stress concentration around the gusset plate of truss panel points designed to the existing provisions. Through the experiments, the folloing results were obtained; (1) the rigidity of panel points satisfies the design requirement, (2) the fatigue strength corresponding to a hot spot stress in the gusset plate is not sufficient under dynamic vehicle loading. Based on the experimental results, we improved a design of structural. details in truss panel points in order to reduce the stress concentration.
