Investigation of premature strip seal joint failures and recommendations for assuring proper strip seal joint installation: Bridge 5/104W.

Details

• Creators:
  Boone, Craig
• Corporate Creators:
  Washington (State). Dept. of Transportation. Bridge and Structures Office
• Subject/TRT Terms:
  Bridges Expansion Joints Failure Analysis Joint Sealers Strip Seal Joints
• Publication/ Report Number:
  WA-RD 858.1
• Resource Type:
  Tech Report
• Geographical Coverage:
  Washington ; United States
• Corporate Publisher:
  Washington (State). Dept. of Transportation. Office of Research and Library Services
• Abstract:
  This document summarizes an investigation that was performed to identify the cause(s) of premature failures of
  
  strip seal expansion joints that were installed on WSDOT Bridge No. 5/104W. The document also includes recommendations
  
  for assuring proper installation of strip seal expansion joints. The investigation found that these
  
  strip seal joints failed in two ways, (1) the rubber gland fell out of the steel extrusions, and (2) the anchorage of
  
  the steel extrusions to the header concrete had failed. The investigation concluded that the rubber glands had fallen
  
  out of the steel extrusions because the glands were never completely seated in the steel extrusions during installation.
  
  The investigation identified three possible causes of the steel extrusion anchorage failures. Of the
  
  three possible causes, the investigation concludes the most likely cause of the steel extrusion anchorage failures
  
  was due to movement of the anchorages in the fresh header concrete before it gained strength. The movements
  
  were due to the steel extrusion on one side of the joint being constrained to the steel extrusion on the opposite side
  
  of the joint when the header concrete was placed. When the bridge expanded/contracted due to temperature
  
  changes, the extrusions in the fresh concrete moved, creating a “sloppy” connection between the anchorage steel
  
  and header concrete. The recommendations for assuring proper installation of strip seal expansion joints include
  
  educating bridge engineers and construction inspection staff, as well as making improvements to contract plans
  
  and provisions.
  
  
• Format:
  PDF
• Collection(s):
  US Transportation Collection
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha256:fb65d72485af219ee30249ca8448a37e8517eddab500d80bcc4b15c1ad79d3c0
• Download URL:
  https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/31064/dot_31064_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 5.48 MB ]