Construction, Monitoring, and Evaluation of Pedestrian Arch Bridge with a Precast Deck System

The Iowa Department of Transportation has recently constructed three steel basket-handle arch pedestrian bridges with spans varying from 229-262 ft (70?80 m). These bridges utilize a hanger system consisting of high-strength threaded steel rods to support the precast, post-tensioned concrete deck system. This paper presents a description of the bridges, the staged construction sequence which was utilized to minimize traffic disruptions and the results of monitoring and evaluation which were performed both during construction and one year later. The results of this work show the value of structural monitoring during construction and indicate that some moderate changes in structural behavior occurred after the bridge entered service.