EVALUATION OF BRIDGE DECK INSULATION

ICE FREQUENTLY FORMS ON BRIDGE DECKS PRIOR TO ITS FORMATION ON ADJACENT PAVEMENT APPROACHES DUE TO THE DIFFERENCE IN MASS BETWEEN A BRIDGE DECK AND THE EARTH- SUPPORTED APPROACHES. TO CORRECT THIS HAZARDOUS SITUATION, THE HIGHWAY COMMISSION UNDERTOOK AN EXPERIMENTAL PROJECT TO EVALUATE THE INSULATION OF A BRIDGE WITH URETHANE FOAM. THE BRIDGE SELECTED WAS BUILT ON A COMBINED HORIZONTAL AND VERTICAL CURVE, AND HAD EXHIBITED THIS EARLY ICING CONDITION. THE INSULATION WAS APPLIED TO THE UNDERSIDE OF TWO OF THE TEN SPANS OF THE STRUCTURE TO PROVIDE A COMPARISON BETWEEN INSULATED AND UNINSULATED DECK SURFACES. TEMPERATURES OF THE INSULATED AND UNINSULATED DECK SURFACES, AND THE TOP AND BOTTOM OF THE APPROACH PAVEMENT WERE MEASURED CONTINUOUSLY DURING PART OF THE WINTER OF 1962-63 AND AGAIN IN 1963-64. THE RESULTS OF THIS INVESTIGATION SHOW THE INSULATIVE MATERIAL WAS NOT EFFECTIVE IN REDUCING THE POTENTIAL FOR ICING OF THE BRIDGE DECK PRIOR TO THE APPROACH PAVEMENT. NO APPARENT BENEFITS COULD BE DERIVED FROM THE APPLICATION OF THIS MATERIAL TO OTHER BRIDGE DECKS. /AUTHOR/

• Supplemental Notes:
  • Whc-77-741-64, EXPERIMENTAL PROJECT
• Corporate Authors:

  Wisconsin Department of Transportation

  Materials Center, 3502 Kinsman Boulevard
  Madison, WI  United States  53704
• Publication Date: 1967

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Approach lanes; Bridge decks; Bridge superstructures; Curves (Geometry); Electric insulating materials; Evaluation; Foams; Icing; Insulating materials; Temperature measurement; Urethane
• Uncontrolled Terms: Bridge spans; Horizontal curvature; Vertical curvature
• Old TRIS Terms: Approaches
• Subject Areas: Geotechnology; Highways; Maintenance and Preservation; Materials;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00218016
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: Bureau of Public Roads /US
• Files: TRIS, STATEDOT
• Created Date: Jan 16 1994 12:00AM