Evaluation of cracking of the US 331 bridge deck.

Details

• Creators:
  Schindler, Anton K. ; Hughes, Mary L. ; Barnes, Robert W. ; Byard, Benjamin E.
• Corporate Creators:
  Auburn University. Highway Research Center
• Corporate Contributors:
  Alabama. Department of Transportation
• Subject/TRT Terms:
  • Bridge decks
  • Cracking of concrete pavements
  • Concrete bridge deck, cracking, thermal effects, cracking
  • tendency, coefficient of thermal expansion
• Publication/ Report Number:
  FHWA/ALDOT 930-645
• Resource Type:
  Tech Report
• Geographical Coverage:
  Alabama
• Corporate Publisher:
  Auburn University. Highway Research Center
• Description:
  The focus of this report is a three-span, continuous, skewed bridge that was constructed in the
  
  summer of 2003 as the northbound roadway bridge on US 331 in Montgomery County,
  
  Alabama. This bridge deck exhibited extensive transverse and horizontal cracking and was
  
  replaced in 2005 before being opened to traffic. The primary objective of this study was to
  
  evaluate the mechanisms that may have contributed to horizontal cracking in this bridge deck.
  
  The concrete satisfied all standard slump, total air content, and compressive strength
  
  requirements. Core results revealed adequate in-place compressive and splitting tensile
  
  strengths. Finite-element analyses were used to rule out excessive skew and differential
  
  support settlement as causes of the cracking. Horizontal cracking in this deck was most likely
  
  caused by excessive early-age temperature gradients combined with drying shrinkage
  
  gradients that produced large shear and normal stresses at the top reinforcement mat location
  
  in a concrete with a high coefficient of thermal expansion and high modulus of elasticity. The
  
  effect of supplementary cementing materials, water-cement ratio, and placement temperature
  
  conditions on the early-age cracking tendency of bridge deck concrete was evaluated by rigid
  
  cracking frame testing techniques. Use of either fly ash or ground-granulated blast-furnace
  
  slag was found to significantly reduce thermal stresses at early ages. Coefficient of thermal
  
  expansion values were determined for concretes made with aggregates found in Alabama.
• Format:
  PDF
• Funding:
  ALDOT Project 930-645
• Download URL:
  https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/18541/dot_18541_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 4.58 MB]
• Collection(s):
  US Transportation Collection
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha256:26c43970c072fcae843f48475e8744eb21eb642be17fc1f75f5679a38ca4126b