Understanding the performance of bridge decks through full-scale accelerated testing

Abstract

Understanding the long-term performance of bridges plays a major role in the selection of appropriate asset management strategies, which eventually reduce life-cycle costs and extend the service life of a bridge. To better understand bridge performance, the Federal Highway Administration initiated a research project utilizing accelerated testing of full-scale bridge superstructure systems subjected to cyclic moving wheel loads and freeze-thaw environmental conditions. As a part of the research project, complementary nondestructive evaluation (NDE) techniques were used to assess the performance of a full-scale bridge deck during the curing and loading period. NDE results, shortly after construction, revealed a smaller cover depth of rebars in the middle section of the deck. This has likely created a preferential path for the subsequent deterioration of the deck. It was suggested to use a scaled version of the electrical resistivity (ER) values to improve the consistency between temporal ER measurements of the deck, and it was shown that combining construction information with NDE results can improve the interpretation of results. Overall, results showed the importance of NDE for quality assurance of new construction and provided a better understating of the long-term bridge deck performance.