Repair of Steel Beam/Girder Ends with Ultra High Strength Concrete – Phase II
Funded by: Connecticut Department of Transportation (ConnDOT)
Date: 2015 to June 2018
The leakage of deck joints in simple span steel bridges subjects the bridge beam/girder ends to corrosive environments. Corrosion at the ends of beams/girders continues to pose a major challenge on the State’s transportation infrastructure. The conventional repair designs are costly, time-consuming, disruptive to traffic flow, and ineffective in preventing the progression of the corrosion; the development of simple alternative methods to address these shortcomings will lead to significant cost savings, reduction of labor intensive activities, and increase in the longevity of steel bridges. To respond to the need for an alternative repair strategy, three repair concepts (partial height encasement, full height encasement, and L-shaped encasement) making use of ultra-high performance concrete (UHPC) are being investigated in the course of this research project as less costly, more time-efficient alternative repair strategies that restore the capacity of corroded beam/girders, while reducing the rate of future deterioration. The proposed project is the second phase of an extended four-phase project. The overall goal of the Phase II project is to expand on the scope of the first phase to address several technical aspects to optimize the design and facilitate the implementation of the repair. The outcomes of this study will ideally speed the implementation of the repair on actual bridges and significantly reduce the costs. Phase II mainly focuses on:(1) Demonstrating that jacking is not required for this repair method. (2) Identifying the minimum time, if any, needed before the bridge can be opened to traffic. (3) Further optimizing the design and develop standard drawings and a practice guide. (4) Proving the durability of the repair system. (5) Assisting Connecticut Department of Transportation (ConnDOT) in the design of repair for a field implementation.
Animation illustrating repair concept
Large-scale experimental setup for 54″-tall plate-girder specimens
Left) Experimental setup for push-off test, Right) Failure mode of studs in UHPC
