Performance Monitoring of Two-Course Bridge Deck Utilizing Ultra-High-Performance Concrete

Project Details
STATUS

In-Progress

PROJECT NUMBER

23-842, TR-820

START DATE

01/01/23

END DATE

06/30/26

FOCUS AREAS

Infrastructure

RESEARCH CENTERS InTrans, BEC
SPONSORS

Iowa Department of Transportation
Iowa Highway Research Board

PARTNERS

Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates, Inc.

Researchers
Principal Investigator
Justin Dahlberg

Director, BEC

Co-Principal Investigator
Behrouz Shafei

Structural Engineer, BEC

Co-Principal Investigator
Brent Phares

Bridge Research Engineer, BEC

About the research

Bridge decks are often the first bridge component requiring major repair or complete replacement. Since the early 2000s, a new class of cementbased materials, known as ultra-high performance concrete (UHPC), has become available. UHPC is nearly impenetrable and has many other highquality attributes. A bridge will soon be constructed that has a deck comprised of traditional concrete plus a UHPC overlay course. The objective of this study is to monitor and evaluate the construction of the twocourse deck as well as the performance of the deck for 2 years postconstruction. The study will consist of a literature review of twocourse decks and UHPC overlay construction to determine best practices; field monitoring during construction to document construction quality; a laboratory investigation of the twocourse deck system to assess its durability; load tests and field monitoring for 2 years; and service life and lifecycle cost analyses to compare the performance of the twocourse deck system with that of more typical deck systems. The final deliverables will communicate the lessons learned from the project and provide guidance for future design, construction, and QA/QC practices regarding bridge deck construction using a UHPC top course.

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