Following development of rectangular prestressed, precast concrete panels (PCP) that could be used as stay-in-place formwork adjacent to expansion joints in bridge decks, the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) initiated a research effort to investigate the use of PCP units at skewed expansion joints. The fabrication of trapezoidal PCP units was studied and the response of skewed panels with 45° and 30° skew angles was obtained. The panels were topped with a 4 in. thick cast-in-place (CIP) slab to complete the bridge deck. Specimens with 45° skew performed well under service and overload levels. The deck failed in diagonal shear at loads well over the design level loads. However, two 30° specimens failed prematurely by delamination between the topping slab and the PCP. The cause of the delamination was insufficient shear transfer capacity between the PCP and CIP topping slab. For the specimens tested at a square end, the failure mode was punching shear at high loads for all specimens. The surface condition of the PCP was specified to have a “broom finish” and the panel was to have a saturated surface dry (SSD) condition so that PCP units would not leach moisture from the CIP topping slab. Neither of these conditions was satisfied in the two panels that failed prematurely. Although the panels were specified to have a broom finish, the panel surface had regions that were quite smooth. The objective of this research project was to reinvestigate the response of 30° PCP at an expansion joint following specified procedures for finish and moisture conditions. One specimen was constructed with a rectangular panel placed between two 30° skewed panels. These panels had a much rougher surface texture than the previously tested panels that failed in delamination. The skewed ends of the specimen were subjected to monotonically increasing static loads at midspan of the panel ends. The panels failed in diagonal shear and the response of the tested specimen confirmed that the panel surface roughness, and not the skew angle, caused delamination with the previously tested specimens. While TxDOT does not currently specify a minimum panel surface roughness, a surface roughness of approximately 1/4 in. is required in some codes for developing composite action. In addition, wetting the panels to a SSD condition prior to placement of the topping slab further enhances shear transfer between the topping slab and the PCP. / text

Three series of tests were conducted on a sandwich plate bridge deck, which consisted of two steel plates and an elastomer core. The first series of testing was conducted by applying a static load on a full scale sandwich plate bridge deck panel. Local strains and deflections were measured to determine the panel's behavior under two loading conditions. Next, fatigue tests were performed on the longitudinal weld between two sandwich plate panels. Two connections were tested to 10 million cycles, one connection was tested to 5 million cycles, and one connection was tested to 100,000 cycles. The fatigue class of the weld was determined and an S-N curve was created for the longitudinal weld group. Finally, a series of experiments was performed on a half scale continuous bridge deck specimen. The maximum positive and negative flexural bending moments were calculated and the torsional properties were examined. Finite element models were created for every load case in a given test series to predict local strains and deflections. All finite element analyses were preformed by Intelligent Engineering, Ltd. A comparison of measured values and analytical values was preformed for each test series. Most measured values were within five to ten percent of the predicted values. Shear lag in the half scale bridge was studied, and an effective width to be used for design purposes was determined. The effective width of the half scale simple span sandwich plate bridge deck was determined to be the physical width. Finally, supplemental research is recommended and conclusions are drawn. / Master of Science

This master thesis is focused for design, respectively for creating counterproposal of existing structure of Motorway Bridge located at D1 motorway between Jánovce and Jablonov in district Levoča in Slovakia. This bridge is over a local road. The main aim of this thesis is design, analysis and assessment of bearing elements of bridge deck. For purposes of this thesis was created three variants of bridge deck. Detailed analysis was performed on bearing construction from post-tensioned precast beam with monolithing concrete slab. Two mathematic models were used for analysis of chosen variant. First model was spatial 3D shell construction. The purpose of this model was determinate cross spreading line of other constant load and live load. Second, flat 2D model, was for determination creep and shrinkage appeared from long-term load. These effects were observed in at advanced defined time nodes. Outcomes from upper mentioned model were used from design and assessment of bearing elements of bridge deck, design prestressed reinforcement cables and concrete reinforcement rods.

This diploma thesis deals with the demolition of a bridge located at the D1 motorway from Prague to Brno. The bridge no longer meets the load and width requirements of today´s standards. The thesis also deals with the construction of a new bridge, which will be expanded into D28/120 category. This expansion will allow for provisory use of the carriageways of one half of the motorway in both directions. The whole reconstruction is very time consuming that is the reason the new bridge is made of prefabricated pre-tensioned girders with a composite bridge deck. This can save time and the new bridge can be open for service in a shorter period of time.