Repair of Steel Beam/Girder Ends with Ultra High Strength Concrete – Phase I
Funded by: Connecticut Department of Transportation (ConnDOT)
Date: June 2013 to Aug 2014
Deterioration at the ends of girder webs and flanges and diaphragms is a very common type of damage to the steel bridges that are constructed with joints in their superstructure. Deck joints allow water penetrating into the bridge deck and transport corrosive chemicals, such as chlorides, to exposed steel surfaces. The current repair procedures are typically complex and, in many cases, cost prohibitive and may not prevent recurrent corrosion process. To address the need for an alternative repair strategy, three repair concepts making use of ultra-high performance concrete (UHPC) will be investigated in the course of this research project as a less-costly, more time-efficient alternative repair strategy that restores the capacity of corroded beam/girders and reduces the probability of recurrent deterioration. The proposed project is the first phase of an extended four phase project, which is focused on development of novel repair concepts using UHPC. In the course of the second phase of the project, extensive large-scale experimental validation will be conducted to verify the efficiency of the proposed repair design, as well as accuracy of the proposed design methodology. The third and fourth phases of the project will be focused on the field implementation of the optimized repair techniques and long-term monitoring requirements of the repaired bridges, respectively.
Load Frame and Girder Specimen
Appearance of the Failed Girders (a) Undamaged, (b) Damaged, (c) Repaired, (d) UHPC Cracking
Load Displacement Relations for the Three Tested Girders