The benefits of a precast spliced girder system are

Economy
Fewer piers result in lower overall cost, especially where soil conditions are problematic.

Safety
For overpasses, fewer piers result in longer sight distances and more spacious horizontal clearances. There is less likelihood of vehicle collisions with supporting columns.

Navigation
Across waterways, fewer piers allow improved navigation, better movement of ice and debris and minimal disruption to the natural environment.

Deck Joints
Fewer joints result in a smoother driving surface and less maintenance.

Aesthetics
Long span bridges are more attractive.

Up until the mid 1960’s, transportation equipment and available cranes limited the length of precast pretensioned girders to around 34 m. Some innovative designers began to look for ways to use the economy and high quality of plant produced precast girders for longer span bridges.

Canadian engineers led the way in constructing long span prestressed precast girder bridges using spliced beams. Precast girder segments or manageable weight and length are transported to the site. Girder segments are either spliced and post-tensioned on the ground and launched or the girder segments are erected on temporary supports in their final position and post-tensioned together.

Normally, precast girders can be fabricated and transported in lengths of 40 to 50 m and weights of up to 75 to 90 tonnes. The spliced girder method of construction has extended the practical use of precast beams to span lengths of 75 m or more by joining and post-tensioning girder segments at the site.

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