Testing Sand-Lightweight Concrete Bridge Deck Members Reinforced with Glass FRP Bars: Phase I
It is widely recognized by State departments of transportation (DOTs) that bridge decks are one of the most widely known elements in the highway infrastructure needing replacement, especially in the north east and mid-west of the United States due to corrosion imposed by deicing salts. The introduction, success and standardization of the use of Glass Fiber Reinforced Polymer (GFRP) bars in various structural elements, especially those prone to corrosion, represents a value added to the life cycle cost of these members since the estimated service life of GFRP bars is 75-100 years. This type of innovative reinforcing material, when combined with lightweight concrete to produce bridge decks represents a new advancement and breakthrough in structural engineering innovation. Very little has been done in research on lightweight concrete bridge decks when combined with GFRP bars. Phase I of this study will be comprised of the following distinct tasks: 1. Mix design calibration for sand lightweight concrete: Using 1L Cement (Portland-Limestone), which has approximately 10% (+/- 2%) raw natural unprocessed Lime Stone inter-ground with the clinker, from Ashgrove or Monarch, trial batches will be performed with standard cylinder tests for compressive strength and standard prisms for flexural tension. Lightweight aggregates will be acquired from either Buildex or Arcosa. Water reducer with slightly higher w/c ratio (around 0.4) will be initially targeted. Mix design will target 5,200 psi concrete (+/- 800 psi) to yield 4000 psi as a minimum in all cases. Use of synthetic fibers in another trial mix will also be examined. 2. Bond tests using the hinged beam test: Five bond tests will be performed using the finalized mix designs cast into the standard hinged (RILEM) beam specimen. At least three bond tests will be performed on sand lightweight concrete while the other two tests will be reserved for a sand lightweight concrete reinforced with synthetic fibers plus a GFRP bar to improve bond and another one with epoxy-coated bar. A single size GFRP bar (#4) will be acquired from Mateen Bars and used in the four bond tests. The last test will be the control using #4 epoxy-coated bar. 3. Full Scale flexural deck tests: Based on the results of the bond tests, the mix design will be finalized and applied in casting the full-scale specimens. These deck specimens will have a cross section of 20 in. width by 8.5 in. depth. The full length will be 7’ 11” with 4” bearing plates at each support leaving 7’ 3” of clear span. Both ends will be fixed to induce negative moments. The end fixities will be achieved by sandwiching the 4” of beam support ends in between two thick plates tightened together by two side threaded rods with pre-tensioned applied torque to each. Two-point loads will be applied on both sides of the mid-span to generate a moment diagram closest to that of a distributed load by spacing them a distance to achieve that. The deck sections will be reinforced with #5 GFRP bars on top and #4 GFRP bars on the bottom at a spacing to be computed by design to achieve a moment capacity equivalent to that of a standard KDOT deck design using epoxy-coated steel bars. Five different deck specimens will be constructed as follows: Specimen 1: Control deck specimen with epoxy-coated steel bars. Specimen 2: Deck specimen with #5 top and #4 bottom GFRP bars. Specimen 3: Identical to Specimen 2 for redundancy. Specimen 4: Identical to Specimen 2 using 3#3 top and 2#3 bottom bundled GFRP bars. Specimen 5: Identical to Specimen 4 for redundancy.
Language
- English
Project
- Status: Active
- Funding: $61,855.00
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Contract Numbers:
K-TRAN: KSU-26-3
RE-0921-01
C2253
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Sponsor Organizations:
Kansas Department of Transportation
Eisenhower State Office Building
700 SW Harrison Street
Topeka, KS United States 66603-3754 - Performing Organizations: Manhattan, KS United States 66506
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Principal Investigators:
Rasheed, Hayder
- Start Date: 20250801
- Expected Completion Date: 20261001
- Actual Completion Date: 0
Subject/Index Terms
- TRT Terms: Bridge decks; Bridge members; Glass fiber reinforced plastics; Lightweight concrete; Mix design; Test procedures
- Subject Areas: Bridges and other structures; Design; Highways; Materials;
Filing Info
- Accession Number: 01976240
- Record Type: Research project
- Source Agency: Kansas Department of Transportation
- Contract Numbers: K-TRAN: KSU-26-3, RE-0921-01, C2253
- Files: RIP, STATEDOT
- Created Date: Jan 13 2026 3:59PM