Strength, Durability, and Application of Grouted Couplers for Integral Abutments in ABC Projects

Accelerated bridge construction (ABC) projects are becoming more commonplace and often critical to bridge designers and contractors meeting the needs and demands of the traveling public. Through the development of various ABC designs and techniques, several technologies have been important for accelerating the process or to provide for greater bridge sustainability. At the same time, significant steps have been made in improving bridge durability by moving towards bridges with integral abutments. However, to date, the two have not been paired together for ABC and, in general, integral abutments have seen limited (if any) use in ABC despite widespread use in typical bridge construction for decades. Development of an integral abutment design utilizing grouted couplers has the potential to make bridges constructed using ABC techniques more efficient, economical, and increase service life by eliminating expansion joints. Furthermore, these designs will allow all the benefits conventional bridges with integral abutments have realized to be transferred and applied to ABC projects. In addition to the integral abutment design using grouted couplers, there is a need for more information regarding the strength and durability of the grouted rebar coupler in these specific applications. Testing and validating these characteristics, in a capacity directly related to ABC projects and integral abutments, would ensure ABC bridges constructed using these technologies meet or exceed the strength and serviceability requirements of their cast-in-place counterparts. The focus of this project is to expand on work currently ongoing to further understand the strength and durability characteristics of grouted couplers for use in ABC projects, specifically, integral abutments for ABC projects. In addition, to investigate other means for developing an integral abutment connection suitable for ABC projects. To accomplish this, developed details for integral abutments utilizing grouted couplers and other connection details will be constructed and evaluated through laboratory testing.

• Record URL:
  http://abc-utc.fiu.edu/index.php/research/project/strength-durability-and-application-of-grouted-couplers-for-integral-abutme

Language

• English

Project

• Status: Completed
• Sponsor Organizations:

  Accelerated Bridge Construction University Transportation Center (ABC-UTC)

  Florida International University
  10555 W. Flagler Street
  Miami, FL  United States  33174

  Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology

  University Transportation Centers Program
  Department of Transportation
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Performing Organizations:

  Iowa State University, Ames

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

  Hosteng, Travis

  Phares, Brent

  Wipf, Terry

  Greimann, Lowell

• Start Date: 20140501
• Expected Completion Date: 0
• Actual Completion Date: 20161001

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Abutments; Bridge construction; Couplers; Design; Durability; Laboratory tests
• Subject Areas: Bridges and other structures; Construction; Design; Highways;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01590785
• Record Type: Research project
• Source Agency: Accelerated Bridge Construction University Transportation Center (ABC-UTC)
• Files: UTC, RIP
• Created Date: Feb 22 2016 3:35PM