Phased Bridge Construction
Phased Bridge Construction
(OP)
I'm currently in the process of designing a single span, simply supported highway bridge to be constructed in two phases (one phase construction is not possible). The proposed superstructure will be a concrete deck supported by steel girders.
My concern has to do with the concrete deck placement for the second phase. Because one half of the new bridge will be open to traffic during the deck placement, I have concerns about the differential deflection between the two sections of deck slab during concrete placement & curing. To put it another way, the newly placed phase II section of deck will see no live load, and therefore no deflections, while the phase I section of deck will likely see thousands of live load deflection cycles during the cure period. Typically, we have tied the two secitons of deck together using mechanical rebar splicers.
I'm interested to find out how others have approached this problem in the past.
Thanks,
Tim
My concern has to do with the concrete deck placement for the second phase. Because one half of the new bridge will be open to traffic during the deck placement, I have concerns about the differential deflection between the two sections of deck slab during concrete placement & curing. To put it another way, the newly placed phase II section of deck will see no live load, and therefore no deflections, while the phase I section of deck will likely see thousands of live load deflection cycles during the cure period. Typically, we have tied the two secitons of deck together using mechanical rebar splicers.
I'm interested to find out how others have approached this problem in the past.
Thanks,
Tim





RE: Phased Bridge Construction
Traffic cones and human flaggers are sometimes used, to "squeeze" traffic away from the temporary barrier at the longitudinal construction joint. An added benefit is to slow down vehicles during concrete placement. After the concrete has taken it's intitial set, even these measures can be discontinued.
RE: Phased Bridge Construction
Phased decks likley loose some of their service life due to live load during construction, but this has to be weighed against the disruption of traffic and public safety if the bridge were closed completly.
RE: Phased Bridge Construction
RE: Phased Bridge Construction
TTK - wouldn't you want your cross frames/diaphragms located at the construction joint to be fully torqued? I would think that this would help transfer LL deflections to the phase II superstructure, thereby reducing differential deflections.
RE: Phased Bridge Construction
Another option is to close the bridge over a weekend using the Friday before and the Monday after. Using accelerators.
If you do not do either option, that longitudinal "joint" is already going thru failure. You might as well schedule a deck rehab at the joint now. In which case, you will be cutting out that strip and puitting in a delayed closure pour.
RE: Phased Bridge Construction
I think the bottom line is this, good sound engineering decisions should come first with economy and schedule being a secondary consideration. Fuchsjr, I agree. Its no sense saving 10% if the deck only lasts 10 years.
RE: Phased Bridge Construction
I'm curious, what state are you working in? In New York, the DOT allows precast panels but I've never seen them used; same goes for the other states I've worked in.
Also, in NY closure pours are normally used with staged [phased] construction.
RE: Phased Bridge Construction
The bridge is being constructed in Maine. The precast panels work well from a construction standpoint, they install quickly and eliminate the need to shield the interior bays of the bridge during construction. The use of the panels has increased a fair deal over the past 5 years or so. On projects I've seen I would guess they've been used on about 40-50% of the bridges. However, it should be noted that the use of panels is not required by the contract documents, it is purely a contractors option. The bridge deck is designed as CIP, but a note is added stating that panels may be used at the contractors option.
Its interesting that they seem to be less common in your area. Are you aware of specific reasons? Perhaps contractors have yet to develop a confort level with them? Most panels used in Maine are shipped from New Brunswick Canada, but I'm sure there are suppliers in your area. Generally speaking, are precast / prestressed concrete structures uncommon in your area?
RE: Phased Bridge Construction
The "more senior engineer" in your office is correct. "Zipper strip" is another name for the closure pour to which I was referring. The sizes vary, but typically they're as small as practical, allowing for transverse rebar splices and so on. I've seen them as small as 2 feet. Another criteria I've used is to try to "balance" the DL deflection in the girders adjacent to the phase line so the cross frames and diaphragms will fit easier.
For further information, see the Maine DOT Bridge Design Guide, Section 6.2.2 (p 6-10) It's available for free download at
http://www.maine.gov/mdot/technical-publications/t...
RE: Phased Bridge Construction
RE: Phased Bridge Construction
crossframe: TGML only displays the first so many characters in the link, but the link itself should work anyway.
Hg
RE: Phased Bridge Construction
Precast concrete superstructures are not as prevalent in New York City and the surrounding area as steel bridges.
NYSDOT specs allow precast panels but here metal pans are the most common type; in some instances DOT requires removable forms. My guess is that we don't see panels because of the erection costs. It's not easy to build here because of the traffic restrictions.
RE: Phased Bridge Construction
Hg
RE: Phased Bridge Construction
RE: Phased Bridge Construction
You have been fortunate in your past experiences. We have tried the low speed routine; didn't work, still ended up with a weaker deck at those locations.
As for the dowels, you must have a real stiff superstructure, otherwise, the dowels in the already cast deck will "move" upwards in the new deck as it is being placed; or the bars in the new deck being placed, will "move" downwards under the increasing deck dead load as it is being placed.
You must have used some accelerators as well, otherwise, you could not even come close to any kind of significant strength by the morning.
RE: Phased Bridge Construction