00789735

Component

https://doi.org/10.3141/1696-60

http://scholar.google.com...urns&publication_year=2000

Two prestressed concrete highway overpass structures, the Louetta Road Overpass and the North Concho River Overpass, were recently constructed in Texas. The structures were built with high strength-high performance concrete (HS-HPC) with nominal strengths of up to 61 MPa (8,800 psi) at release of prestress and 97 MPa (14,000 psi) at 56 days. The use of HS-HPC, in addition to the use of prestressing strands that measured 15 mm (0.6 in.) in diameter, allowed for the accommodation of longer spans and larger girder spacing than are typical for similar designs with conventional concrete. As a result, the structural designs were extremely efficient when compared with the conventional designs. In addition, use of HPC in bridge decks is expected to result in reduced maintenance requirements and a longer service life for each bridge, thereby reducing life-cycle costs. Although HPC is used in both structures to increase structural efficiency and reduce projected life-cycle costs, the structures are quite different and represent unique applications of HPC. Both structures were instrumented as part of an extensive research program, and data were collected on prestress losses, camber and deflections, concrete strains, and concrete temperatures in several actual bridge girders. These data, in combination with observations regarding practical issues such as fabrication, handling, and overall construction costs, are used to compare and contrast the use of HPC in the two bridges. A brief set of recommendations for the use of HPC in future highway bridge projects is also presented.

This paper appears in Transportation Research Record No. 1696, Fifth International Bridge Engineering Conference, April 3-5, 2000, Tampa, Florida, Volume 2. The revised name of this series is Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board.

English

p. 179-187

2000

Transportation Research Record

Fifth International Bridge Engineering Conference

0309071224

Figures (5) ; Photos (1) ; References (12) ; Tables (2)

Bridge decks; Cargo handling equipment; Construction; Costs; Curvature; Data collection; Deflection; Diameter; Girders; High performance concrete; High strength concrete; Life cycle costing; Overpasses; Prestressed concrete bridges; Recommendations; Service life; Strain (Mechanics); Structural design; Temperature

Prestress losses; Prestressing strands; Structural efficiency

Texas

Bridges and other structures; Construction; Design; Finance; Highways; Materials; Research; I24: Design of Bridges and Retaining Walls; I32: Concrete

TRIS, TRB, ATRI

Mar 9 2001 12:00AM