Pitted Against the Potomac: Strength of High-Performance Concrete Will Battle Tough Waters

This article describes the reconstruction of the Woodrow Wilson Bridge in Washington D.C., including its two bridges and the four major interchanges that feed into them. The bridge project was especially difficult due to special conditions for the underwater pile caps and pier zones susceptible to splash- as the water in the Potomac River is, at the Woodrow Wilson Bridge, brackish. The article gives detailed specifications on how the bridge was rebuilt. The piers used pre-cast high-strength concrete and, as these pier ribs are beyond the splash zone, plain reinforcing steel was used to save costs. The cast-in-place bascule piers required a great attentiveness to chloride permeability, strength, percent pozzolans, mass concrete temperature, and water to cementitious material ratio in order to make sure it was stable in the brackish waters. Using Fick’s Second Law of Diffusion, contractors believe the bridge will be stable for 60 years before chloride ingress.

• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/oclc/11660022
• Authors:
  • Kite, Alan
  • Jarrett, Rodney
  • Holt, James
• Publication Date: 2006-2

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Print
• Features: Photos;
• Pagination: pp 36-38
• Serial:
  • Roads & Bridges
  • Volume: 44
  • Issue Number: 2
  • Publisher: Scranton Gillette Communications
  • ISSN: 8750-9229
  • Serial URL: http://www.roadsbridges.com/rb/

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Bridge engineering; Concrete bridges; Corrosion resistant steel; Girders; High performance concrete; Precast concrete; Steel plates
• Identifier Terms: Woodrow Wilson Memorial Bridge
• Geographic Terms: Washington (District of Columbia)
• Subject Areas: Bridges and other structures; Design; Highways; Materials; I24: Design of Bridges and Retaining Walls; I32: Concrete;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01020973
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: UC Berkeley Transportation Library
• Files: BTRIS, TRIS
• Created Date: Apr 3 2006 7:35AM