A platform for research: civil engineering, architecture and urbanism
A platform for research: civil engineering, architecture and urbanism
Failure of Reinforced Concrete Bridges in California
Routine inspections lead to the discovery of never-before documented fatigue failure of reinforced concrete bridges in California. During bridge inspections on Interstate 40 near Needles, California, Caltrans inspectors observed movement along the horizontal cold joints between the decks and girders in several normally reinforced, cast-in-place, concrete, T-girder bridges constructed in the early 1970s. Inclined cracks and a fractured stirrup at one of the cracks were also found, leading to closure of the bridges. Later destructive investigations conducted just prior to demolition of the bridges revealed that many of vertical stirrup legs crossing the construction joints had fractured. With many similarly vulnerable concrete T-girder and box-girder bridges in service elsewhere in California, an investigation was conducted to determine the cause of the failures and develop recommendations to mitigate this type of failure in the future. Based on the investigation, it was concluded that the bridges failed due to cyclic degradation of the horizontal construction joint. This paper highlights important aspects of the investigation.
Failure of Reinforced Concrete Bridges in California
Routine inspections lead to the discovery of never-before documented fatigue failure of reinforced concrete bridges in California. During bridge inspections on Interstate 40 near Needles, California, Caltrans inspectors observed movement along the horizontal cold joints between the decks and girders in several normally reinforced, cast-in-place, concrete, T-girder bridges constructed in the early 1970s. Inclined cracks and a fractured stirrup at one of the cracks were also found, leading to closure of the bridges. Later destructive investigations conducted just prior to demolition of the bridges revealed that many of vertical stirrup legs crossing the construction joints had fractured. With many similarly vulnerable concrete T-girder and box-girder bridges in service elsewhere in California, an investigation was conducted to determine the cause of the failures and develop recommendations to mitigate this type of failure in the future. Based on the investigation, it was concluded that the bridges failed due to cyclic degradation of the horizontal construction joint. This paper highlights important aspects of the investigation.
Failure of Reinforced Concrete Bridges in California
Sasaki, K. K. (author) / Paret, T. F. (author)
Sixth Congress on Forensic Engineering ; 2012 ; San Francisco, California, United States
Forensic Engineering 2012 ; 65-74
2012-11-13
Conference paper
Electronic Resource
English
Failure of reinforced concrete bridges in prussia
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