High Performance Concrete Bridge Deck Investigation

Federal Highway Administration2009PDFTech ReportMokarem, D.Russell, H.Khan, M.United States. Federal Highway Administration. Office of Infrastructure Research and DevelopmentProfessional Service Industries, Inc.Beshah, FassilGraybeal, BenUnited States. Federal Highway Administration. Office of Infrastructure Research and DevelopmentUnited StatesBridgesCast in place concreteCrackingBridge decksHigh performance concretePrecast concreteWater cement ratioBridgescast-in-place concretecementitious material contentcracksdeckcrack densityhigh-performance concreteHPCprecast concretewater-to-cementitious material ratioFHWA-HRT-10-028DTFH61-04-C-00029Beshah, Fassil;Graybeal, BenFHWA Contracting Officer Technical Representative: Fassil Beshah; FHWA Technical Advisors: Joey Hartmann and Ben GraybealIn 1993, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) initiated a national program to implement the use of high performance concrete (HPC) in bridges. The program included the construction of demonstration bridges and dissemination of the technology and results at showcase workshops. Eighteen bridges in 13 States were included. In addition to the joint State-FHWA HPC initiative, State Departments of Transportation started implementing the use of HPC on their bridges. These bridges demonstrate practical application of high performance concretes. In addition, construction of these bridges provided opportunities to learn more about the placement and actual behavior of HPC in bridges. Many of the bridges were instrumented to monitor their short- and long-term performance. Concrete material properties were measured for most of the bridges. Following completion of the demonstration bridges, information about each bridge was collected and compiled into a single source compact disc (CD). After the bridges had been in service for several years, they were inspected and their performance evaluated relative to the compiled data. The measured properties of the HPC used in the bridges showed that the concrete met design specifications. Field surveys on the individual bridge decks, the major focus of this study, found that the material was generally performing well with no indication of any significant deterioration due to material properties. The study demonstrated that HPC can be designed and fabricated in a cost effective and efficient manner to produce durable concrete bridges. Parameters of HPC mixture design have been identified that can produce relatively crack free concrete bridge decks.96