Captain Cook Bridge bearing replacement and halving joint strengthening works

The Captain Cook Bridge (CCB) is a vital piece of infrastructure connecting the Brisbane CBD to the City's south. It is a post-tensioned precast concrete box girder bridge 550 m in length. The bridge is an anchor cantilever type structure with “drop-in” suspended spans supported by halving joints providing the articulation. Loading on the structure has increased from three lanes of 33 tonne vehicles to four lanes of traffic, catering to 50 tonne vehicles. Inspections identified live concrete cracks at the halving joints and a set of expansion joint bearings had failed with the sliding material extruding from the bearings. Assessment of the halving joints confirmed insufficient structural capacity to carry current loads. The deteriorating original sliding bearings were replaced with new spherical bearings. Strengthening the halving joints involved thickening the box-girder webs and post-tensioning the existing bridge in three dimensions to form a composite section and provide an adequate load path from the newly placed concrete to the original concrete. Construction would occur under live traffic. The risks associated with coring into, and post-tensioning an existing prestressed concrete bridge were minimized. An ultra-high tensile strength posttensioning bar system was used. Development of early age set, and strength and very low shrinkage super workable concrete mixes were used. BIM and parametric models were also used to address the many construction challenges

• Record URL:
  • https://austroads.com.au/publications/bridges/abc2022-000-22
• Record URL:
  • https://arrbknowledge.com
• Authors:
  • Hourigan, M
  • Moua, P
  • Doherty, C
  • Shaw, P
  • Heywood, R
• Conference:
  • Austroads Bridge Conference, 11th, 2022, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
• Publication Date: 2022-11

Media Info

• Pagination: 20p
• Monograph Title: 11th Austroads Bridge Conference, Adelaide, 15th-18th November 2022

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Bearing capacity; Box girders; Bridge management systems; Bridges; Concrete; Concrete bridges; Joints; Maintenance; Posttensioning
• Geographic Terms: Australia; Brisbane, Queensland
• ATRI Terms: Box girder; Bridge maintenance; Bridge testing; Concrete bridge; Joint; Post tensioning
• ITRD Terms: 2998: Joint (structural)
• Subject Areas: Bridges and other structures; Maintenance and Preservation; I61: Equipment and Maintenance Methods;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01901661
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: ARRB Group Limited
• Files: ITRD, ATRI
• Created Date: Dec 7 2023 2:53PM