Evaluation of continuity detail for precast prestressed girders.

Details

• Creators:
  Okeil, Ayman M. ; Cai, Steve C. S. ; Chebole, Veeravenkata ; Hossain, Tanvir
• Corporate Creators:
  Louisiana State University. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
• Corporate Contributors:
  Louisiana. Dept. of Transportation and Development
• Subject/TRT Terms:
  • Continuous girder bridges
  • Girder bridges
  • Prestressed concrete bridges
  • Concrete bridges
  • Creep
  • Deformation
  • Environmental impacts
  • Bridge design
  • Structural design
  • Bridge construction Continuous bridges--Louisiana
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• Publication/ Report Number:
  FHWA/LA.11/477
• Resource Type:
  Tech Report
• Geographical Coverage:
  Louisiana
• Edition:
  Final report; March 2008-Dec. 2010.
• Corporate Publisher:
  Louisiana Transportation Research Center
• Abstract:
  The construction of highway bridges using precast prestressed concrete (PSC) girders is considered one of the most ; economical construction alternatives because of the advantages they offer (e.g. reducing formwork and rapid construction). ; Constructing multi-simple span bridges is an easy alternative for precast PSC girder bridges. However, the existence of ; expansion joints often leads to a host of problems in their vicinity due to drainage leaks and debris accumulation. The ; maintenance of expansion joints is, therefore, an activity that bridge owners would rather avoid by eliminating these joints by ; building connections between precast elements that are capable of resisting the forces resulting from establishing continuity. ; Several continuity details have been used over the years for slab-on-girder bridges with the goal of avoiding the ; aforementioned maintenance issues and reaping the benefits of continuity without the drawbacks of introducing it in large ; structures such as bridges (e.g. thermal movements). A new continuity detail is adopted in the John James Audubon Bridge ; that differs from the current standard detail in Louisiana. The new detail is based on the recommendation of the National ; Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) Report 519 1. ; A 96-channel monitoring system was installed to provide information that can be used to assess the performance of the ; continuity detail. Embedded and surface-mounted sensors of different types were installed to measure strains, temperatures, ; rotations, and gap openings in critical locations in the monitored segment. Data from about 24 months of monitoring was ; collected. The data, its processing, and interpretation are presented in this report. Analyses based on NCHRP Report 519 ; model and finite element models were also conducted to further understand the behavior of the new detail. Results from the ; analyses were also used to recommend girder age at continuity to meet prespecified design criteria. A live load test was also ; conducted to assess the performance of the new detail. ; Recommendations based on the findings of the project are drawn. It can be said that the continuity detail is capable of ; transferring forces between girder ends. However, girder ends may be subjected to high localized strains, especially due to ; thermal variation, which can cause cracking. Such cracks are detrimental to the shear strength of PSC girders. Therefore, ; thermal gradients need to be considered in the design of this detail.
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• Format:
  PDF
• Funding:
  LTRC Project Number: 08-1ST;SIO Number: 30000150
• Download URL:
  https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/23071/dot_23071_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 7.11 MB]
• Collection(s):
  US Transportation Collection
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:78d83d242bf7ba089b3f54d14766bcdc7d0cf327bf5f11f96904b0eabdfc37f19281250f4a626bbe2d8c4129c416324a134acfa023e7de8ea16b7ed9c55c64a6