Post-Earthquake Bridge Damage Mitigation – Post-Earthquake Damage Repair of Various Reinforced Concrete Bridge Components

The main objective of the present study was to develop repair methods using carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) for various reinforced concrete (RC) bridge components. A detailed review of damage and repair in past earthquakes was conducted and the data were compiled in tables and gaps in available repair methods were identified. Practical methods were developed to access the condition of an earthquake damaged bridge structural components in terms of apparent damage states (DS’s). For this approach to be successful, internal earthquake damage was quantified and correlated to a series of visible DS’s. DS’s defined for bridge columns were used as the framework for other components. Repair design recommendations and design examples were developed to aid bridge engineers in quickly designing the number of CFRP layers based on the apparent DS. Repair methods to repair bridge components such as abutments, shear keys, girders, and cap beam-column joints were developed. To simplify repair, a new equation was developed to calculate the effective strain in the CFRP for side-bonded CFRP configuration. In cases where the extent of damage precludes an economically feasible repair, reconstruction of damaged bridge component is recommended. Because the available data base for components other than columns is limited, many simplifying and conservative assumptions were made about the residual capacity of damaged components.