Evaluation and Repair of a Deep Transfer Girder

This paper summarizes the structural evaluation and repair procedure applied to a deep reinforced concrete transfer girder. The girder exhibited cracking immediately following construction. However, this first distress indication was not properly addressed and was followed by the formation of additional diagonal cracks indicative of shear-flexural problems. In order to determine the cause(s) of the cracks, field investigation, review of the construction process, design review and detailed structural analysis were carried out. The review found several design and construction deficiencies and concluded that the girder needed to be strengthen. Different repair schemes were investigated and the scheme that presented the best retrofit potential (defined by cost, constructability and structural reliability) was implemented.