Evaluation of High Performance Concrete in Louisiana's First HPC Bridge

The Charenton Canal Bridge is a 11.3-m (365-ft) long structure made up of five 22.3-m (73-ft) spans, each incorporating five AASHTO Type III girders at 3.1-m (10-ft) spacing. High-performance concrete (HPC) with a design compressive strength of 68.9 MPa (10,000 psi) was used in the precast concrete piles and girders of the structure. Conventional strength HPC was used in the cast-in-place pile caps, approach slabs, bridge deck slab, barrier rail and wing walls. One of the five spans of this bridge was instrumented and monitored to measure and evaluate both early-age and long-term performance. In addition to the instrumentation and monitoring of the bridge superstructure, a concrete material testing program was also conducted.