Investigation of the Causes of Transverse Bridge Deck Cracking

There have been multiple recent occurrences of transverse bridge decks cracks occurring shortly after construction. This situation is very problematic because these cracks can provide a direct pathway for the intrusion of water and chlorides. In the worst case, these early age cracks could lead to a reduced bridge deck service life. In some instances, the development of cracks occurs in only one of twin side-by-side bridges. This situation proves to be very confusing as, on the surface, the two structures should be constructed and behave the same. The goal of this research is to try to identify factors that consistently lead to the formation of these early age cracks such that in the future they can be mitigated. To accomplish this, a detailed review of conditions (environmental, structural, material, etc.) needs to be conducted with the goal of identifying factors consistently "in play" when the cracks formed.

• Supplemental Notes:
  • add 503

Language

• English

Project

• Status: Active
• Funding: $59,986.00
• Contract Numbers:

  RB04-014

  ISU project 127425

  Add 503

• Sponsor Organizations:

  Iowa Department of Transportation

  800 Lincoln Way
  Ames, IA  United States  50010
• Project Managers:

  Abu-Hawash, Ahmad

• Performing Organizations:

  Iowa State University, Ames

  Bridge Engineering Center
  2711 South Loop Drive, Suite 4700
  Ames, Iowa  United States  50010-8664

  Iowa State University, Ames

  Institute for Transportation
  Ames, IA  United States  50011-8664
• Principal Investigators:

  Wang, Kejin

  Phares, Brent

• Start Date: 20140501
• Expected Completion Date: 20191031
• Actual Completion Date: 0
• Source Data: RiP Project 36451

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Bridge decks; Bridge members; Chlorides; Moisture content; Service life; Transverse cracking
• Subject Areas: Bridges and other structures; Construction; Highways; Maintenance and Preservation;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01555738
• Record Type: Research project
• Source Agency: Iowa Department of Transportation
• Contract Numbers: RB04-014, ISU project 127425, Add 503
• Files: RIP, STATEDOT
• Created Date: Feb 28 2015 1:00AM