Destructive Testing of a Decommissioned Reinforced Concrete Bridge
Publication: Journal of Bridge Engineering
Volume 18, Issue 6
Abstract
A destructive field testing of a simply supported channel-beam bridge was carried out to gain insight into the ultimate load-carrying capacity of existing RC bridges. Based on a field inspection and assessment of the material strength, structural damage, and structural degradation before testing, a detailed test program was developed. It was observed from the testing that the field bridge exhibited local nonlinearities owing to its beam-to-beam bolted connections and initial damages. The failure mode of the tested bridge was the typical flexural failure characterized by the yielding of rebars and concrete crushing. Some concrete failures were also observed at the location of bridge bearings. The observed load-carrying capacity was much higher than that of the original design of the tested bridge and many more studies are needed to understand the real performance of field bridges.
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Acknowledgments
This research was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 50878031, 51008036) and the Ministry of Transport of the People’s Republic of China (Contract Nos. 2010318000006, 2011318824140). The writers thank their colleagues and students for providing support to this project.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Bridge Engineering
Volume 18 • Issue 6 • June 2013
Pages: 564 - 569
Copyright
© 2013 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Sep 18, 2011
Accepted: Apr 24, 2012
Published online: Apr 26, 2012
Published in print: Jun 1, 2013
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