At an average age of 42 years, 10% of the nation’s over 607,000 bridges are posted for load restrictions, with an additional 15% considered structurally deficient or functionally obsolete. While there are major concerns with decks in 75% of structurally deficient bridges, often weight and geometry of the deck further limit the load rating and functionality of the bridge. Traditional deck systems and construction methods usually lead to prolonged periods of traffic delays, limiting options for transportation agencies to replace or widen a bridge, especially in urban areas. The purpose of this study was to develop a new generation of ultra-lightweight super shallow solid deck systems to replace open grid steel decks on movable bridges and as well serve as a viable alternative in bridge deck replacements across the country. The study has led to a lightweight low-profile asymmetric waffle deck made with advanced materials. The asymmetry comes from the arrangement of primary and secondary ribs, respectively perpendicular and parallel to the direction of traffic. The waffle deck is made with ultrahigh performance concrete (UHPC) reinforced with either high-strength steel (HSS) or carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) reinforcement. With this combination, the deck weight was limited to below 21 psf and its overall depth to only 4 inch, while still meeting the strength and ductility demands for 4 ft. typical stringer spacing. It was further envisioned that the ultra-high strength of UHPC is best matched with the high strength of HSS or CFRP reinforcement for an efficient system and the ductile behavior of UHPC can help mask the linear elastic response of CFRP reinforcement and result in an overall ductile system. The issues of consideration from the design and constructability perspectives have included strength and stiffness, bond and development length for the reinforcement, punching shear and panel action. A series of experiments were conducted to help address these issues. Additionally full-size panels were made for testing under heavy vehicle simulator (HVS) at the accelerated pavement testing (APT) facility in Gainesville. Detailed finite element analyses were also carried out to help guide the design of this new generation of bridge decks. The research has confirmed the superior performance of the new deck system and its feasibility.

Roofs are the most vulnerable part of the building envelope that often get damaged when subjected to hurricane winds. Damage to the roofs has a devastating impact on the entire structure, including interior losses and service interruptions. This study aimed at the development of a novel light-weight composite flat roof system for industrial, commercial and multi-story residential buildings to withstand Category 5 hurricane wind effects based on the Florida Building Code requirements for hurricane-prone regions, the strictest wind design code in the United States. The proposed roof system is designed as a combination of two advanced materials: ultra-high performance concrete (UHPC), reinforced with high strength steel (HSS). The novel combination of these two materials in a specially designed cross section led to a lightweight low-profile ultra-thin-walled composite roof deck, with only 17 pounds per square foot self-weight, 4-inch overall depth and only ¾-inch thick flanges and webs, with no shear reinforcement or stirrup. Two groups of specimens, single-cell and multi-cell, were fabricated and tested in four-point flexure to determine the ultimate bending capacity and ductility of the system. Each group of specimens included two short-span (9 ft.) samples (due to the laboratory constraints) -- one specimen subjected to positive bending and the other one subjected to negative bending, representing the critical loading conditions including the effects of wind pressures. All specimens exhibited pure flexural failure in a ductile behavior and with no sign of shear failure. Finite element models of laboratory specimens were also developed and calibrated based on experimental data in order to project the performance of the system for larger and more realistic spans. The experimental work and the finite element analyses showed that the proposed roof system with its given section has adequate flexural and shear strength, and also meets serviceability requirements for a 20-foot long span. Moreover, connections for the roof system were proposed, including panel-to-panel connections and roof-to-wall connections. In addition to safety, the other advantages of the proposed roof system in comparison to the equivalent reinforced concrete roofs include a three-fold reduction in self-weight, a three-fold reduction in overall profile height, and a five-fold reduction of steel reinforcement. Together, these advantages may lead to an increased span length beyond what is typically feasible for the conventional reinforced concrete slabs. All these features translate the proposed deck to a sustainable roof system.