Strength, Durability, and Application of Grouted Couplers for Integral Abutments in Accelerated Bridge Construction

As accelerated bridge construction (ABC) has gained the attention of the bridge community, certain bridge types, such as integral abutment bridges, have seen limited use. Integral abutments eliminate the expansion joint from the bridge superstructure by rigidly connecting the superstructure and foundation. The integral abutment is therefore often large and heavily reinforced, which presents challenges for ABC projects. This research investigated integral abutment details for use in ABC projects through mechanical splicing of the integral diaphragm and the pile cap. Two ABC details, the grouted reinforcing bar coupler detail and the pile coupler detail, were evaluated in the laboratory for constructability, strength, and durability. A typical cast-in-place detail was also constructed and tested as a baseline. For the grouted reinforcing bar coupler detail, a plywood template was used to “match cast” the pile cap and the integral diaphragm. The template was simple to construct and resulted in the successful alignment of 17 spliced steel bars and grouted couplers over an 8 foot specimen. Though the grouting of two couplers was obstructed, more than adequate strength was created by the connection, and the crack width at the precast joint was comparable to that of the cast-in-place specimen. The pile coupler reduced the number of spliced connections between the pile cap and integral diaphragm sufficiently to facilitate adequate construction tolerances. The splicing system worked well during construction, but the detail’s strength and durability were less than ideal. Several lessons were learned from these tests that could improve the structural performance of the pile coupler detail.

• Record URL:
  • https://abc-utc.fiu.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/52/2016/01/ABC_integral_abutments_w_cvr.pdf
• 
• Supplemental Notes:
  • This research was sponsored by the U.S. Department of Transportation, University Transportation Centers Program.
• Corporate Authors:

  Iowa State University, Ames

  Bridge Engineering Center
  2711 South Loop Drive, Suite 4700
  Ames, Iowa  United States  50010-8664

  Accelerated Bridge Construction University Transportation Center (ABC-UTC)

  Florida International University
  10555 W. Flagler Street
  Miami, FL  United States  33174

  Iowa Department of Transportation

  800 Lincoln Way
  Ames, IA  United States  50010

  Federal Highway Administration

  1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
  Washington, DC  United States  20590

  Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology

  University Transportation Centers Program
  Department of Transportation
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Authors:
  • Hosteng, Travis
  • Phares, Brent
  • Redd, Sam
• Publication Date: 2016-10

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Edition: Final Report
• Features: Figures; Photos; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 89p

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Bridge abutments; Bridge construction; Couplers; Diaphragms (Engineering); Durability; Jointless bridges; Pile caps; Splicing; Strength of materials
• Subject Areas: Bridges and other structures; Construction; Highways;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01719086
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: Part of InTrans Project 12-441
• Contract Numbers: DTRT13-G-UTC41
• Files: UTC, TRIS, ATRI, USDOT, STATEDOT
• Created Date: Oct 3 2019 6:54PM