Spliced Texas Girder Bridges

Spliced girder technology continues to attract attention due to its versatility over traditional prestressed concrete highway bridge construction. By joining multiple precast concrete girders using post-tensioning, spliced girder technology effectively extends the application of low-cost precast construction to uncharacteristic span lengths. Although various connection methods have been devised over the years, the cast-in-place (CIP) splice region has emerged as the preferred connection between precast I-girder segments. Relatively limited data are available in the literature, however, for large-scale shear tests of post-tensioned I-girders, and only a few studies have examined the behavior of the CIP splice regions of spliced girder bridges. The goal of this project was to develop a better understanding of spliced girder behavior. To accomplish this task, the project was divided into two phases. The Phase I research was aimed at evaluating the effect of post-tensioning ducts contained in the thin webs of spliced I-girders. Phase II examined the behavior of the CIP splice regions of spliced I-girders.