Investigation of Bridge Deck Cracking in Various Bridge Superstructure Systems

Frosch, Robert J.; Blackman, David Todd; Radabaugh, Roger Dwight

doi:10.5703/1288284313257

Cited by 47 publications

(41 citation statements)

References 4 publications

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“…Therefore, the top of the deck tends to shrink more than the bottom. This differential shrinkage causes the deck to curl, which is resisted by the composite action of the deck and the superstructure (Frosch et al 2003). Restrained curling introduces higher stresses in the upper portion of the deck than would otherwise be observed due to shrinkage alone (Krauss and Rogalla 1996).…”

Section: Stay-in-place Formsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Control and Repair of Bridge Deck Cracking

Gutiérrez¹

2011

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Cracking of bridge decks poses a significant threat to the lifespan of our nation's bridges. Cracking has been shown to occur in various climates and geographical areas and can be seen on various types of superstructures. Often these cracks appear before or shortly after opening the bridge to live loads. Cracks in the deck create a path for water and deicing salts to reach the steel, often leading to corrosion of the reinforcement, greatly reducing the durability of the deck. Measures must be taken during design and construction to control bridge deck cracking and prolong the lifespan of bridges. In addition, there is a need to develop effective methods to repair cracks in existing bridge decks. This project consisted of four phases of research to investigate methods to control and repair deck cracking. The first phase of the study was a field investigation of a new bridge that is experiencing significant deck cracking. The second phase was an evaluation of previous recommendations regarding curing and concrete mix design and their effect on the control of deck cracking. The third phase of the study evaluated the effectiveness of a variety of commercially available crack repair products. The fourth phase evaluated the influence of the design and layout of the deck reinforcement in controlling crack widths. Based on the findings of this study, inadequate deck reinforcement and poor construction practices, particularly deck casting during poor weather conditions, were identified as major causes of bridge deck cracking for the structure investigated. Recommendations are provided for the design and construction of new bridge decks as well as for the repair of existing bridge decks. In particular, a minimum 7 day minimum wet cure is recommended along with alterations to the concrete mix to reduce bridge deck cracking through the reduction of concrete shrinkage. Recommendations are also provided regarding the amount of reinforcement required to optimally control crack widths and improve the durability of bridge decks. Finally, guidance is provided regarding both the selection and application of deck repair materials. .

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Section: Stay-in-place Formsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Control and Repair of Bridge Deck Cracking

Gutiérrez¹

2011

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“…With this economy from the use of reduced reinforcement steel, many highway agencies preferred to use the empirical method. However, immediate cracks formation have been noticed in many USA bridges [45,46,47,48,49,50,51] prior to opening to traffic, though there is no any evidence that the system would resist other load combinations like thermal and shrinkage stresses. Petrou and Perdikans [52] reported that total deflection of bridge deck is not really flexural but also highly influenced by small girder spacing and/or large deck thickness.…”

Section: Conventional Design Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Transverse Slab Reinforcement Design of Concrete Bridge Deck: A Review

et al. 2018

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This paper reviews the current design practices of transverse slab reinforcement design in concrete bridge deck, which consist of concrete deck slab on wide concrete T-beams. The conventional bridge design method results in the provision of excessive transverse steel reinforcement in the concrete bridge deck slab due to the fact that, the slab is assumed to bear the applied vehicular loadings alone without considering the contribution of the wide T-beam flanges. Thus, the design which is based on bending and failure proved to be too conservative. Through critical review, issues regarding some design approaches were discussed. It has been found that, designing the deck slab in transverse direction would enable the vehicle wheel loads to be supported by the wide T-beam flanges and performance enhancement can be achieved by compressive membrane action resulted from the natural stiffness of the wide girder flanges. The presence of this membrane forces provides a punching shear capacity, which is far beyond the flexural design capacity for the new bridge deck system. This capacity would result in substantial reduction of the transverse reinforcement within the slab.

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“…Numerous factors can lead to transverse deck cracking in highway bridges including time dependent material properties, restraints, casting sequence, formwork, and environmental factors. Several studies investigated the issue of deck cracking (ACI 2001;Altoubat and Lange 2000;Cady et al 1971;Eppers et al 1998;Frosch et al 2003;Krauss and Rogalla 1996;PCA 1970;Purvis et al 1995;Saadeghvaziri and Hadidi 2002;Schmitt and Darwin 1995;Xi et al 2003). Also, the development of cracking increases the effect of freeze and thaw cycles, which may lead to spalling of concrete and thus resulting in corrosion of steel reinforcement.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…From a research sponsored by the Indiana Department of Transportation, researchers conducted a field study and constructed laboratory specimens to investigate the behavior of transverse cracks (Frosch et al 2003). Using these specimens, the researchers evaluated the effect of differing bridge deck designs on the control of overall shrinkage and evaluated the contribution of stay-in-place (SIP) steel forms to the formation of transverse cracking.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Investigation of Likelihood of Cracking in Reinforced Concrete Bridge Decks

ElSafty

Abdel-Mohti

2013

Int J Concr Struct Mater

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One of the biggest problems affecting bridges is the transverse cracking and deterioration of concrete bridge decks. The causes of early age cracking are primarily attributed to plastic shrinkage, temperature effects, autogenous shrinkage, and drying shrinkage. The cracks can be influenced by material characteristics, casting sequence, formwork, climate conditions, geometry, and time dependent factors. The cracking of bridge decks not only creates unsightly aesthetic condition but also greatly reduces durability. It leads to a loss of functionality, loss of stiffness, and ultimately loss of structural safety. This investigation consists of field, laboratory, and analytical phases. The experimental and field testing investigate the early age transverse cracking of bridge decks and evaluate the use of sealant materials. The research identifies suitable materials, for crack sealing, with an ability to span cracks of various widths and to achieve performance criteria such as penetration depth, bond strength, and elongation. This paper also analytically examines the effect of a wide range of parameters on the development of cracking such as the number of spans, the span length, girder spacing, deck thickness, concrete compressive strength, dead load, hydration, temperature, shrinkage, and creep. The importance of each parameter is identified and then evaluated. Also, the AASHTO Standard Specification limits liveload deflections to L/800 for ordinary bridges and L/1000 for bridges in urban areas that are subject to pedestrian use. The deflection is found to be an important parameter to affect cracking. A set of recommendations to limit the transverse deck cracks in bridge decks is also presented.

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Investigation of Bridge Deck Cracking in Various Bridge Superstructure Systems

Cited by 47 publications

References 4 publications

Control and Repair of Bridge Deck Cracking

Control and Repair of Bridge Deck Cracking

Transverse Slab Reinforcement Design of Concrete Bridge Deck: A Review

Investigation of Likelihood of Cracking in Reinforced Concrete Bridge Decks

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