Precast Bridge Girder Details for Improved Performance

Precast/prestressed double tee bridge girders are widely used for accelerated bridge construction on local roads in South Dakota. A common issue among existing double tee bridges in South Dakota is the rapid deterioration of longitudinal joints (shear keyways) between adjacent girders. Deteriorated joints allow moisture and deicing chemicals to reach the deck reinforcement, leading to premature corrosion of reinforcing steel and spalling of concrete. The structural performance of conventional and proposed longitudinal joints between precast double tee bridge girders was examined experimentally under cyclic and monotonic loading. Two 40-ft. long full-scale bridge superstructure specimens, each consisting of two joined double tee girders, were tested at the Lohr Structures Laboratory at South Dakota State University (SDSU). Each specimen represented two adjacent interior girders of a two-lane bridge having a width of an approximately 31 feet. The proposed continuous joint with overlapping steel mesh reinforcement in a grouted shear keyway exhibited substantially improved serviceability and strength performance characteristics over the conventional grouted joint with discrete welded connections.

• Record URL:
  https://www.ugpti.org/resources/reports/downloads/mpc17-340.pdf
• 
• Summary URL:
  https://www.ugpti.org/resources/reports/downloads/mpc17-340-brief.pdf
• Supplemental Notes:
  • This document was sponsored by the U.S. Department of Transportation, University Transportation Centers Program.
• Corporate Authors:

  South Dakota State University, Brookings

  Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
  Brookings, SD  United States  57007

  InfraStructure LLC

  Omaha, NE  United States 

  Mountain-Plains Consortium

  North Dakota State University
  Fargo, ND  United States  58108

  South Dakota Department of Transportation

  700 East Broadway Avenue
  Pierre, SD  United States  57501

  Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology

  University Transportation Centers Program
  Department of Transportation
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Authors:
  • Wehbe, Nadim I
  • Konrad, Michael
• Publication Date: 2017-12

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Features: Appendices; Figures; Photos; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 119p

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Bridge construction; Deterioration; Girders; Load tests; Longitudinal joints; Precast concrete; Prestressing; Service life
• Geographic Terms: South Dakota
• Subject Areas: Bridges and other structures; Construction; Design; Highways;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01658216
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: MPC 17-340
• Files: UTC, TRIS, ATRI, USDOT, STATEDOT
• Created Date: Jan 29 2018 10:19AM