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An alternative structural system for short span bridges is presented: a precast segmental double-T with external, unbonded post-tensioning tendons. Single-span designs from 20 to 45 m long show that the system can be implemented over a wide range of spans and that the system’s sensitivity to post-tensioning losses reported in previous literature can be reduced by aligning the prestressing force more concentrically. Designs for multi-span bridges using this system are presented using simply supported spans connected by thin flexible linking slabs made of ultra high-performance fibre-reinforced concrete and using sections made fully continuous over intermediate supports. A simplified method of geometry control is presented to facilitate the proper alignment of precast segments without the use of match casting. The precast segmental double-T bridge is compared to sixteen existing slab on girder bridges and found to be a competitive alternative in terms of material use, cost, construction schedule, and aesthetic merit.

An alternative structural system for short span bridges is presented: a precast segmental double-T with external, unbonded post-tensioning tendons. Single-span designs from 20 to 45 m long show that the system can be implemented over a wide range of spans and that the system’s sensitivity to post-tensioning losses reported in previous literature can be reduced by aligning the prestressing force more concentrically. Designs for multi-span bridges using this system are presented using simply supported spans connected by thin flexible linking slabs made of ultra high-performance fibre-reinforced concrete and using sections made fully continuous over intermediate supports. A simplified method of geometry control is presented to facilitate the proper alignment of precast segments without the use of match casting. The precast segmental double-T bridge is compared to sixteen existing slab on girder bridges and found to be a competitive alternative in terms of material use, cost, construction schedule, and aesthetic merit.

Accelerated bridge construction has quickly become the preferred method for the Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT) as well as many other DOT’s across the United States. This type of construction requires the use of full depth precast panels for the construction of the bridge deck. The segmented deck panels produce transverse joints between panels and have come to be known as the weakest portion of the deck. Cracking often occurs at these joints and is reflected through the deck overlay where water accesses and begins corrosion of the reinforcement and superstructure below. For this reason post-tensioning of the deck panels is becoming a regular practice to ensure that the deck behaves more monolithically, limiting cracking. The current post-tensioning used by UDOT inhibits future replacement of single deck panels and requires that all panels be replaced once one panel is deemed defective. The new curved bolt connection provides the necessary compressive stresses across the transverse joints but makes future replacement of a single deck panel possible without replacing the entire bridge deck. To better understand the behavior of the new curved bolt connection under loadings, laboratory testing was undertaken on both the curved bolt and the current post-tensioning used by UDOT. The testing specimens included full-scale, full-depth, precast panels that were connected using both system. The testing induced typical stresses on the panels and connections, subjecting them to negative bending and shear. The overall performance of the curved bolt proved satisfactory. The moment capacity of both connections surpassed all theoretical calculations. The yield and plastic moments were 17% and 16% lower, respectively, than the UDOT post-tension system while at those moments deflection was relatively the same. Due to the anchorage location of the curved bolts, the reinforcement around the transverse joint received up to 5 times the strain of that of the post-tension connections. Although both systems performed well when subjected to shear forces and as compared to the theoretical capacities, the post-tension connection greatly surpassed the curved bolt in shear capacity.

Post-tensioning tendons in segmental bridge construction are often only anchored within the deviator and pier segments. The effectiveness of the post-tensioning (PT) system is therefore dependent on proper functioning of the anchorages. On August 28, 2000 a routine inspection of the Mid-Bay Bridge (Okaloosa County, Florida) revealed corrosion in numerous PT tendons. Moreover, one of the 19-strand tendons was completely slacked, with later inspection revealing a corrosion-induced failure at the pier anchor location. Anchorage failure caused all PT force to transfer to the steel duct located within the pier segment that in turn slipped and caused the tendon to go completely slack. After the application of PT force, the anchorage assembly and steel pipes that house the tendon are filled with grout. These short grouted regions could, in the event of anchorage failure, provide a secondary anchorage mechanism preventing the scenario mentioned above from occurring. This paper presents the results of a full-scale experimental investigation on anchorage tendon pull-out and a finite element model to support the experimental results and interpretation. The study focuses on the length required to develop the in-service PT force within the pier segment grouted steel tube assembly. Seven, twelve, and nineteen 0.6" diameter strand tendons with various development lengths were considered. Recommendations for pier section pipe detailing and design will be discussed.

The introduction of fibre-reinforced polymers (FRPs) to the field of civil engineering has led to numerous research efforts focusing on a wide range of applications where properties such as high strength, light weight or corrosion resistance are desirable. In particular, FRP materials have been especially attractive for use as internal reinforcement in reinforced concrete (RC) structures exposed to aggressive environments due to the rapidly deteriorating infrastructure resulting from corrosion of conventional steel reinforcement. While FRPs have been successfully implemented in a variety of structural applications, little research has been conducted on the use of FRP reinforcement for short span slab bridges. Furthermore, the behaviour of FRP-RC flexural members cast with self-consolidating concrete (SCC) is largely absent from the literature. The present study investigates the behaviour of an all-FRP reinforcement system for slab bridges which combines lower cost glass FRP (GFRP) reinforcing bars with high performance carbon FRP (CFRP) prestressed tendons in SCC to produce a structure which is both cost-efficient and characterized by excellent structural performance at the serviceability, ultimate and fatigue limit states. An extensive experimental program comprised of 57 large or full-scale slab strips was conducted to investigate the effects of reinforcement type, reinforcement ratio, prestressing level and shear reinforcement type on the flexural performance of slab bridges under both monotonic and fatigue loading. The proposed reinforcement system was found to display excellent serviceability characteristics and high load capacities as well as significant deformability to allow for sufficient warning prior to failure. Lastly, the use of post-tensioned CFRP tendons limited the stresses in the GFRP reinforcing bars leading to significantly longer fatigue lives and higher fatigue strengths compared to non-prestressed slabs. Analytical models were used to predict the behaviour of the slab bridge strips at service and at ultimate. Where these models failed to accurately represent the experimental findings, simple modifications were proposed. The results from ancillary tests were also used to modify existing analytical models to predict the effects of fatigue loading on the deflection, crack width, shear resistance and flexural capacity of each of the tested slabs.

The introduction of fibre-reinforced polymers (FRPs) to the field of civil engineering has led to numerous research efforts focusing on a wide range of applications where properties such as high strength, light weight or corrosion resistance are desirable. In particular, FRP materials have been especially attractive for use as internal reinforcement in reinforced concrete (RC) structures exposed to aggressive environments due to the rapidly deteriorating infrastructure resulting from corrosion of conventional steel reinforcement. While FRPs have been successfully implemented in a variety of structural applications, little research has been conducted on the use of FRP reinforcement for short span slab bridges. Furthermore, the behaviour of FRP-RC flexural members cast with self-consolidating concrete (SCC) is largely absent from the literature. The present study investigates the behaviour of an all-FRP reinforcement system for slab bridges which combines lower cost glass FRP (GFRP) reinforcing bars with high performance carbon FRP (CFRP) prestressed tendons in SCC to produce a structure which is both cost-efficient and characterized by excellent structural performance at the serviceability, ultimate and fatigue limit states. An extensive experimental program comprised of 57 large or full-scale slab strips was conducted to investigate the effects of reinforcement type, reinforcement ratio, prestressing level and shear reinforcement type on the flexural performance of slab bridges under both monotonic and fatigue loading. The proposed reinforcement system was found to display excellent serviceability characteristics and high load capacities as well as significant deformability to allow for sufficient warning prior to failure. Lastly, the use of post-tensioned CFRP tendons limited the stresses in the GFRP reinforcing bars leading to significantly longer fatigue lives and higher fatigue strengths compared to non-prestressed slabs. Analytical models were used to predict the behaviour of the slab bridge strips at service and at ultimate. Where these models failed to accurately represent the experimental findings, simple modifications were proposed. The results from ancillary tests were also used to modify existing analytical models to predict the effects of fatigue loading on the deflection, crack width, shear resistance and flexural capacity of each of the tested slabs.

This master‘s thesis deals with the behaviour of strengthened reinforced concrete beams. The aim was to evaluate different types of strengthening in comparison not only with each other, but also with the reference beam. Three reinforced concrete beams were fabricated for the purpose of the thesis. The first served as a reference beam, the second was strengthened with carbon lamella glued to the lower edge of the reinforced concrete beam, and the last one was strengthened with unbonded post-tensioning system. Subsequently, they were all loaded by a four-point bending. An evaluation was then carried out which shows that the two strengthened reinforced concreate beams resist the load much better than the reference beam. In the conclusion, different utilization possibilities of both methods are listed, as well as the disadvantages that must be taken into account when designing.

When designing a bridge it is of high importance that the geometry for the cross section is optimized for the structure. This is partly due to the influence of the amount of material needed and its impact on the budget and environment. The influence of choosing the right amount of each material lies in the unit-price of the different material, where they can differ significantly. The Swedish Transport Administration, Trafikverket, has ordered the construction of Stockholm Bypass which is one of Swedens largest infrastructure project and is valued to 27.6 billion SEK according to the price index of the year 2009. The infrastructure project is divided into multiple projects where one of them is assigned to Implenia and Veidekke through a joint venture (Joint venture Hjulsta, JVH) and is valued to nearly 800 MSEK. The reference bridge that is used in the analysis of the master’s thesis is a part of the project. The aim of this masters thesis was to analyze and compare the two construction methods, mov- able scaffolding system (MSS) and incremental launching for the reference bridge with respect to amount post-tensioning and slenderness. Furthermore, an economical comparison between the two construction methods was carried out based on the obtained results. The analysis of the MSS was carried out by modeling the reference bridge structure in the finite element software SOFiSTiK AG. The bridge was modeled with different cross section height, i.e. different slenderness where the optimal amount of post-tension tendons could be determined by iteration until stress conditions from the Eurocode were fulfilled. For the incremental launching method, a numerical analysis was performed. The optimal amount of required post-tensioning was evaluated in the construction stages and final stages with different construction heights i.e. different values of slenderness. A cost analysis was also performed where the aim was to analyze how the total cost of the construc- tion of the bridge would be influenced by the different slenderness of the bridge as a comparison for the two construction methods. This was done by dividing the costs into fixed costs and variable costs. The results showed that the structural rigidity had a large influence on the required amount of prestressing steel for both construction methods. In other words, the smaller the cross section the more prestressing steel was required. Incremental launching proved to require a much greater amount of (PT) tendons compared to the MSS although the identical cross sections and properties for both methods, except for the PT. The prestressing for incremental launching is generally by centrical prestressing during the construction stages. A intersection point was obtained in the cost analysis for the construction methods. The incremental launching was the cheaper solution for slenderness smaller than the intersection point at slenderness between 17 and 18. The MSS was cheaper than the incremental launching for slenderness larger than the intersection point. / Vid dimensionering av tvärsektioner i broar är det av stor vikt att optimera geometrin avseende materialåtgång då mängden material har stor på verkan på ett projekts budget samt miljö. Eftersom konstruktioner ofta består av olika byggnadsmaterial gäller det vid optimering att välja byggnadsmaterialen genom optimerad proportionalitet. Förbifart Stockholm, beställt av Trafikverket, är ett av Sveriges största infrastrukturprojekt och värderas till 27,6 miljarder kronor enligt 2009 års prisnivå. Infrastrukturprojektet är uppdelat i flera mindre entreprenader eller så kallade etapper. Den entreprenad som omfattar trafikplats Hjulsta Södra har blivit tilldelat till Implenia och Veidekke genom ett konsortium (Jointventure Hjulsta, JVH) och värderas till cirka 800 miljoner kronor. Den förspända betongbro som byggs i trafikplats Hjulsta ligger till grund för analysen i detta examensarbete och har använts som referens under vår studie. Syftet med examensarbete var att analysera och jämföra två de två olika produktionsmetoderna, Movable scaffolding system (MSS) och etappvis lansering med hänsyn till erforderlig mängd förspänningskablar och slankhet. Vidare, baserat på erhållna resultat, utfördes en ekonomisk analys och jämförelse mellan produktionsmetoderna. Analysen av MSS utfördes genom att modellera brokonstruktionen i mjukvaruprogrammet SOFiSTiK AG som bygger på finita elementmetoder. Konstruktionen modellerades för olika slankheter, där slankheten definieras som kvoten mellan maximala spannlängden och brons tvärsnittshöjd. Spannlängden hölls konstant medan tvärsnittshöjden varierade för att erhålla olika slankheter. Den optimala slankheten bestämdes genom iterering av mängd förspänningskablar tills spänningsvillkoren var uppfyllda enligt Eurocode. För analysen av etappvis lansering utfördes en numerisk analys vars den optimala mängden förspänningskablar utvärderades i byggskedet (construction stages) samt i slutskedet (final stage). Analysen utfördes på samma sätt för de olika slankheterna. Slutligen genomfördes en konstandsanalys för de olika metoderna. Syftet var att jämföra hur den totala kostnaden för uppförandet av brokonstruktionen skiljde sig för de olika slankheterna. Jämförelsen genomfördes genom att dela upp de olika kostnaderna i fasta kostnader samt rörliga kostnader. Resultaten från analysen visade att den erforderliga mängd förspänningskablar som behövs i en förspänd betongbro är beroende av den strukturella styvheten i tvärsektionen. En högre slankhet, alltså lägre tvärsnittshöjd, ger lägre styvhet och därav mer erforderlig förspänningskablar. Etappvis lansering visade sig vara den metod som krävde mer mängd förspänningskablar. I resultaten för kostnadsanalysen uppmättes en skärningspunkt, för en slankhet mellan 17-18, mellan de två olika metoderna. För förspända betongbroar med slankhet lägre än skärningsupunkten vid 17-18 är etappvis lansering det billigare alternativet. För slankheter högre än 17-18 är MSS det mer ekonomiskt lönsamma alternativet.