Historical development and description of box girder:
The first box girder cross section possessed deck slabs that cantilevered out only slightly from the box portion shown in figs a to e. With the prestressed concrete the length of cantilever could be increased. The high form work costs caused a reduction in the number of cells fig (f, g, h). In order to reduce the construction loads to minimum possible extent or to require only one longitudinal girder in working states even with multiple traffic lanes.
It was only with the development of high strength prestressing steel that it became possible to span longer distances. The first prestressed concrete bridges, most of I-cross sections were built towards the end of the 1920’s.The great breakthrough was achieved only after 1945. “THE SCLAYN” bridge over the river Maas, which was built by Magnel in 1948, was the first continuous prestressed concrete box-girder bridge with 2 spans of 62.70m. In following years the ratio of wages to material costs climbed sharply. This thereby shifted the emphasis of development of construction method. The box girder cross-section evolved structurally from the hollow cell-deck bridge or T-beam Bridge. The widening of the compression zone that began as a structural requirement at the central piers was in the extended throughout the entire length of bridge because of advantages transverse load-carrying characteristics.