Strengthening of Route 378 bridge over Wynantskill Creek in New York using FRP laminates

Details

• Creators:
  Hag-Elsafi, Osman ; Kunin, Jonathan ; Alampalli, Sreenivas ; Conway, Timothy
• Corporate Contributors:
  United States. Federal Highway Administration ; New York (State). Dept. of Transportation
• Subject/TRT Terms:
  Cost Effectiveness Fiber Reinforced Plastics Laminates Load Tests Reinforced Concrete Bridges South Troy (New York) Strengthening (Maintenance)
• Publication/ Report Number:
  FHWA/NY/SR-01/135
• Resource Type:
  Tech Report
• Abstract:
  This report describes application of Fiber-Reinforced Polymer (FRP) composite laminates to strengthen an aging reinforced-concrete T-beam bridge in South Troy, Rensselaer County, New York. Leakage at the end joints of this single-span structure led to substantial moisture and salt infiltration in the bridge superstructure. Presence of efflorescence was observed, and freeze-thaw cracking and concrete delamination at some locations on the beams were noted. Concerns about integrity of the steel reinforcing and overall safety of the bridge were raised. These concerns were heightened by the absence of any documents pertaining to the bridge design, such as rebar size, steel type, concrete strength, and design loads. Thus, a decision was made to strengthen the bridge using bonded FRP-laminates. Load tests were conducted before and after the laminates were installed to evaluate effectiveness of the strengthening system, and investigate its influence on structural behavior of the bridge. Results from these tests and those obtained using classical analysis are compared in the report. Based on these results, it was concluded that under service loads, the laminate system slightly reduced main steel rebar stresses and moderately improved transverse live load distribution to the bridge beams. Use of an FRP laminate system in this project demonstrated cost-effectiveness of such systems in strengthening applications, with the benefit of minimal to no interruption to traffic.
• Format:
  PDF
• Collection(s):
  US Transportation Collection
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha256:cde96fd497765bb85cd2d375fe43b08c87b0ae4a250a0924e62e0147e3872747
• Download URL:
  https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/14512/dot_14512_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 758.97 KB ]