Wing wall

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The entrance to Hassenplug Covered Bridge in Mifflinburg, Pennsylvania is flanked by wing walls. Hassenplug Covered Bridge entrance.jpg
The entrance to Hassenplug Covered Bridge in Mifflinburg, Pennsylvania is flanked by wing walls.

A wing wall (also "wingwall" or "wing-wall") is a smaller wall attached or next to a larger wall or structure.

Contents

Bridges

In a bridge, the wing walls are adjacent to the abutments and act as retaining walls. They are generally constructed of the same material as those of abutments. The wing walls can either be attached to the abutment or be independent of it. Wing walls are provided at both ends of the abutments to retain the earth filling of the approaches. Their design depends upon the nature of the embankment and does not depend upon the type or parts of the bridge. [1]

The soil and fill supporting the roadway and approach embankment are retained by the wing walls, which can be at a right angle to the abutment or splayed at different angles. The wing walls are generally constructed at the same time and of the same materials as the abutments.

Classification of wing walls

Wing walls can be classified according to their position in plan with respect to banks and abutments. The classification is as follows:

  1. Straight Wing walls: used for small bridges, on drains with low banks and for railway bridges in cities (weep holes are provided).
  2. Splayed Wing walls: used for bridges across rivers. They provide smooth entry and exit to the water. The splay is usually 45°. Their top width is 0.5 m, face batter 1 in 12 and back batter 1 in 6, weep holes are provided.
  3. Return Wing walls: used where banks are high and hard or firm. Their top width is 1.5 m and face is vertical and back battered 1 in 4. [2] Scour can be a problem for wing walls and abutments both, as the water in the stream erodes the supporting soil. [3]

Other uses

Wing walls provide smooth entry of water into the bridge site and provide support and protect the embankment. Wing walls can serve as buttresses to support walls. [4] They can also be purely decorative. [5]

Related Research Articles

Geotechnical engineering scientific study of earth materials in engineering problems

Geotechnical engineering, also known as geotechnics, is the application of scientific methods and engineering principles to the acquisition, interpretation, and use of knowledge of materials of the Earth's crust and earth materials for the solution of engineering problems and the design of engineering works. It is the applied science of predicting the behavior of the Earth, its various materials and processes towards making the Earth more suitable for human activities and development.

Levee Ridge or wall to hold back water

A levee, dike, dyke, embankment, floodbank or stopbank is an elongated naturally occurring ridge or artificially constructed fill or wall that regulates water levels. It is usually earthen and often parallel to the course of a river in its floodplain or along low-lying coastlines.

Dam A barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface or underground streams

A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use, aquaculture, and navigability. Hydropower is often used in conjunction with dams to generate electricity. A dam can also be used to collect water or for storage of water which can be evenly distributed between locations. Dams generally serve the primary purpose of retaining water, while other structures such as floodgates or levees are used to manage or prevent water flow into specific land regions. The earliest known dam is the Jawa Dam in Jordan, dating to 3,000 BC.

Retaining wall structure designed to restrain soil to unnatural slopes

Retaining walls are relatively rigid walls used for supporting soil laterally so that it can be retained at different levels on the two sides. Retaining walls are structures designed to restrain soil to a slope that it would not naturally keep to. They are used to bound soils between two different elevations often in areas of terrain possessing undesirable slopes or in areas where the landscape needs to be shaped severely and engineered for more specific purposes like hillside farming or roadway overpasses. A retaining wall that retains soil on the backside and water on the frontside is called a seawall or a bulkhead.

A washout is the sudden erosion of soft soil or other support surfaces by a gush of water, usually occurring during a heavy downpour of rain or other stream flooding. These downpours may occur locally in a thunderstorm or over a large area, such as following the landfall of a tropical cyclone. If a washout occurs in a crater-like formation, it is called a sinkhole, and it usually involves a leaking or broken water main or sewerage pipes. Other types of sinkholes, such as collapsed caves, are not washouts.

Culvert Structure that allows the passage of water or organisms under an obstruction

A culvert is a structure that allows water to flow under a road, railroad, trail, or similar obstruction from one side to the other. Typically embedded so as to be surrounded by soil, a culvert may be made from a pipe, reinforced concrete or other material. In the United Kingdom, the word can also be used for a longer artificially buried watercourse.

Abutment

In engineering, abutment refers to the substructure at the ends of a bridge span or dam whereon the structure's superstructure rests or contacts. Single-span bridges have abutments at each end which provide vertical and lateral support for the bridge, as well as acting as retaining walls to resist lateral movement of the earthen fill of the bridge approach. Multi-span bridges require piers to support ends of spans unsupported by abutments. Dam abutments are generally either side of a valley or gorge but may be artificial in order to support arch dams such as Kurobe Dam in Japan.

Sankey Viaduct Grade I listed bridge in Cheshire, UK

The Sankey Viaduct is a railway viaduct in North West England. It is a designated Grade I listed building and has been described as being "the earliest major railway viaduct in the world".

Canton Viaduct

Canton Viaduct is a blind arcade cavity wall railroad viaduct built in 1834–35 in Canton, Massachusetts, for the Boston and Providence Railroad (B&P).

Mechanically stabilized earth

Mechanically stabilized earth is soil constructed with artificial reinforcing. It can be used for retaining walls, bridge abutments, seawalls, and dikes. Although the basic principles of MSE have been used throughout history, MSE was developed in its current form in the 1960s. The reinforcing elements used can vary but include steel and geosynthetics.

Weep small opening that allows water to drain from within an assembly

A weep, a weep hole, or a weep-brick is a small opening that allows water to drain from within an assembly. Weeps are located at the bottom of the object to allow for drainage; the weep hole must be sized adequately to overcome surface tension.

Meghna Bridge bridge in Bangladesh

Meghna Bridge is a road bridge in Bangladesh. It was built with the assistance of Japan and officially named Japan Bangladesh Friendship Bridge 1, but it is popularly known as Meghna Bridge. According to a study conducted in 2004 by the Embassy of Japan in Bangladesh, residents living around the Meghna Bridge recognized several positive impacts after the construction of the bridge.

Sonestown Covered Bridge covered bridge in Davidson Township, Sullivan County, Pennsylvania

The Sonestown Covered Bridge is a covered bridge over Muncy Creek in Davidson Township, Sullivan County, Pennsylvania built around 1850. It is 110 ft (34 m) long and was placed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) in 1980. It is named for the nearby unincorporated village of Sonestown in Davidson Township, and is also known as the Davidson Covered Bridge. It was built to provide access to a grist mill which operated until the early 20th century.

Bridge scour

Bridge scour is the removal of sediment such as sand and gravel from around bridge abutments or piers. Scour, caused by swiftly moving water, can scoop out scour holes, compromising the integrity of a structure.

Chesters Bridge bridge in United Kingdom

Chesters Bridge was a Roman bridge over the River North Tyne at Chollerford, Northumberland, England, and adjacent to Chesters Roman fort on Hadrian's Wall. The fort, mentioned in the Notitia Dignitatum, and now identified with the fort found at Chesters, was known as Cilurnum or Cilurvum.

Hereford Road Skew Bridge disused railway bridge in Ledbury, Herefordshire

Hereford Road Skew Bridge is a disused railway bridge in Ledbury, Herefordshire. Built in 1881 to carry the Ledbury and Gloucester Railway across the Hereford Road at an angle of approximately 45°, it was built as a ribbed skew arch with stone spandrels and wing walls, and ribs of blue brick. The railway line was closed in 1959 and the bridge is now used as part of the Ledbury Town Trail footpath.

Main Range Railway

Main Range Railway is a heritage-listed railway from the end of Murphys Creek railway station, Murphys Creek to the Ruthven Street overbridge, Harlaxton, Queensland, Australia. It forms part of the Main Line railway and was built from 1865 to 1867 by railway builders Peto, Brassey and Betts. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 5 February 2009.

Integral bridge

An integral bridge contains no expansion joints to accommodate enlargement due to increased temperature. Horizontal (axial) movements due to thermal expansion and braking loads are instead transferred to the fill adjacent to the abutment. The omission of the expansion joint removes a pathway for the penetration of chloride-bearing road salts to the bridge's sub-structure. In the United Kingdom there is a presumption that most new short to medium length bridges will be of the integral type.

Liverpool Weir dam in Liverpool

Liverpool Weir is a heritage-listed weir on the Georges River at Heathcote Road near Newbridge Road, Liverpool, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It was designed by David Lennox and built from 1836 by convict labour, directed by Captain W. H. Christie. It is also known as Bourke's Dam. It was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 13 August 2010.

Great North Road (Mount Manning to Wollombi Section)

Great North Road is a heritage-listed road alignment, partly in use and partly abandoned, between Mount Manning and Wollombi, New South Wales, Australia. It built from 1830 to 1832 by convict road gangs, having been surveyed by Heneage Finch (1830–1831) and thereafter by L. V. Dulhunty. It was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 2 June 2009.

References

  1. "Wing Walls". David Childs. Retrieved June 23, 2015.
  2. Pierce, Phillip C.; Brungraber, Robert L.; Lichtenstein, Abba; Sabol, Scott; Morrell, J.J.; Lebow, S.T. (April 2005). "Covered Bridge Manual: Publication No. FHWA-HRT-04-098" (PDF). US Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration, Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 24, 2006. Retrieved February 1, 2009.
  3. Melville, Bruce; van Ballegooy, Sjoerd; Coleman, Stephen; Barkdoll, Brian (2006). "Scour Countermeasures for Wing-Wall Abutments". Journal of Hydraulic Engineering. 132 (6): 563–574. doi:10.1061/(ASCE)0733-9429(2006)132:6(563) . Retrieved February 1, 2009.
  4. Mahan, Dennis Hart (1873). Descriptive Geometry, as Applied to the Drawing of Fortification and Stereotomy. New York: John Wiley & Son. pp.  26–27. Retrieved February 1, 2009. wing wall buttress.
  5. "Two wing walls make all the difference". Sunset. January 1989. Retrieved February 1, 2009.