Retrofit of an orthotropic steel deck with compact reinforced reactive powder concrete

Compact reinforced reactive powder concrete (CRRPC) was proposed to retrofit deteriorated asphalt overlays and to strengthen orthotropic steel deck (OSD) bridges. The resultant OSD-CRRPC composite deck is also referred to as a light-weight composite deck (LWCD) system. This paper provides experiences and lessons learned from the first application of CRRPC to retrofit the deficient asphalt overlay of an existing steel bridge in China. The paper includes information relating to finite element (FE) model analyses, a fatigue loading test, construction processes and a field measurement. FE analyses revealed that a 50-mm CRRPC layer decreased the vehicle-induced stresses in the OSD by 34–83% relative to an OSD with an 80-mm asphalt overlay. As a result, the fatigue life of the OSD could be extended significantly. The static and fatigue safeties of CRRPC were proved by comparing the predicted and experimental stresses, and field construction demonstrated the feasibility of the proposed system. CRRPC developed no shrinkage cracks after hot-steam treatment in field application. In addition, a field measurement verified that CRRPC outperformed an asphalt overlay in reducing the vehicle-induced stresses in the OSD. The results demonstrate the safety and feasibility of retrofitting and strengthening OSD bridges with CRRPC.

[1]  Guo-bin Tang,et al.  Coupled Effect of Loading and Environment of Concrete Bridge in Service Life , 2014 .

[2]  Marwan Nader,et al.  Design of Orthotropic Decks for the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Self-Anchored Suspension Bridge , 2014 .

[3]  Roman Wolchuk,et al.  Empirical Design Rules for Effective Utilization of Orthotropic Decks , 2014 .

[4]  Bin Chen,et al.  Basic Performance of the Composite Deck System Composed of Orthotropic Steel Deck and Ultrathin RPC Layer , 2013 .

[5]  Robert J. Connor,et al.  Manual for Design, Construction, and Maintenance of Orthotropic Steel Deck Bridges , 2012 .

[6]  Robert J. Connor,et al.  Proposed Revisions to AASHTO-LRFD Bridge Design Specifications for Orthotropic Steel Deck Bridges , 2011 .

[7]  Kentaro Yamada,et al.  Fatigue Evaluation of Rib-to-Deck Welded Joints of Orthotropic Steel Bridge Deck , 2011 .

[8]  Carl Huang,et al.  The Excellent Seismic Performance of Steel Orthotropic Bridges , 2009 .

[9]  Charles Sikorsky,et al.  Effects of Fabrication Procedures on Fatigue Resistance of Welded Joints in Steel Orthotropic Decks , 2009 .

[10]  Ya Cheng Feng,et al.  Fatigue Damage Evaluation and Retrofit of Steel Orthotropic Bridge Decks , 2009 .

[11]  Markus Hamme,et al.  Strengthening of Orthotropic Bridge Decks by SPS Technology , 2008 .

[12]  R. Vergoossen.  Tailor made bridge design with Ultra-High-Performance Concretes , 2008 .

[13]  Eugen Brühwiler,et al.  Model for predicting the UHPFRC tensile hardening response , 2008 .

[14]  E. Lappa.  High strength fibre reinforced concrete: Static and fatigue behaviour in bending , 2007 .

[15]  H. Stang,et al.  Analysis of an Orthotropic Deck Stiffened with a Cement-Based Overlay , 2007 .

[16]  John W. Fisher,et al.  Consistent Approach to Calculating Stresses for Fatigue Design of Welded Rib-to-Web Connections in Steel Orthotropic Bridge Decks , 2006 .

[17]  C. Andrade,et al.  Experimental Study of Durability of Reactive Powder Concretes , 1996 .