Prestressed concrete continuous bridge girders: comparison of the Chinese and Southern African codes

To provide a reference for designers, taking a 30 m + 40 m + 30 m prestressed concrete continuous beam bridge as an example, this paper compares the differences between Chinese Codes and Southern African Codes in terms of load effect, prestressing requirements and design safety. The results show that the actual number of prestressed strands required by the Southern African Code in the mid-span section is 11.63 %-12.50 % larger than that required by the Chinese Code. The actual number of prestressed strands required by the Southern African Code in the fulcrum section is 16.33 %-30.00 % lower than that required by the Chinese Code. The safety margin factor of the section designed by the Southern African Code is higher than that of the Chinese Code, and has a higher safety reserve.