Improving Tomorrow's Infrastructure: Extending the Life of Concrete Structures with Solid Stainless Steel Reinforcing Bar

Stainless steel reinforcing has been used in numerous structures throughout North America, including the Progreso Port Authority Bridge, Yucatan, Mexico, in 1937; the Haynes Inlet Slough Bridge, North Bend, OR, USA, in 2002; the Belt Parkway Bridge over the Ocean Parkway, Brooklyn, NY, USA, in 2004; and Woodrow Wilson Memorial Bridge on the Capitol Beltway, Washington, DC, USA in 2006. Recent advances in concrete technology have provided structural designers with materials which can easily last more than 100 years, and the life of many concrete structures today is limited by the reinforcing. Improvements in the life of the reinforcing can translate directly into extended life of the structure. Current projections by several transportation agencies show that the use of solid stainless steel reinforcing bar in bridge decks will more than double the life of the bridge deck. While solid stainless steel reinforcing bar can increase the cost of the bridge deck by as much as 12% (compared to carbon steel reinforcing), the economic value of the longer life outweighs the initial higher cost. In most cases, the additional cost of solid stainless steel reinforcing bar represents less than 1.5% of the total cost of the structure. Most concrete structures are designed with minimum concrete cover over the reinforcing bar which is required to protect the reinforcing bar from corrosion. Where the reinforcing bar is completely resistant to corrosion, the cover can be reduced, saving costs of concrete and reducing the total weight of the structure. In some structures, design savings made possible by the use of solid stainless steel reinforcing bar will offset as much as 100% of the initial cost increase from using the stainless reinforcing.

• Corporate Authors:

  Multidisciplinary Center for Earthquake Engineering Research

  State University of New York, 107 Red Jacket Quadrangle, P.O. Box 610025
  Buffalo, NY  United States  14261-0025
• Authors:
  • Schnell, R E
  • Bergmann, M P
• Conference:
  • Sixth National Seismic Conference on Bridges and Highways
  • Location: Charleston SC, United States
  • Date: 2008-7-28 to 2008-7-30
• Publication Date: 2008

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Features: References; Tables;
• Pagination: 10p
• Monograph Title: Sixth National Seismic Conference on Bridges and Highways: Seismic Technologies for Extreme Loads

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Bridge decks; Bridge design; Concrete structures; Corrosion resistance; Material reinforcement; Reinforcing bars; Reinforcing steel; Service life; Stainless steel
• Subject Areas: Bridges and other structures; Highways; I24: Design of Bridges and Retaining Walls;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01356852
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Nov 16 2011 2:51PM