A Review of the Use of UHPFRC in Bridge Rehabilitation and New Construction in Switzerland

Ultra-High-Performance Fibre Reinforced Cementitious Composite (UHPFRC) provides solutions to enhance existing structures and design innovative new structures. Structural UHPFRC offers 3–5 times higher compressive and tensile strengths than ordinary concrete. Due to its strain-hardening behavior and dense matrix, structures made of UHPFRC remain crack-free and waterproof, guaranteeing durability. UHPFRC has been used particularly in Switzerland with more than 280 applications since 2003. A review of UHPFRC applications in the country is proposed in this paper. Ten bridge case studies are presented, including five strengthening of existing structures and five new designs. These structures were chosen to assess the multiple benefits that UHPFRC provides compared to traditional reinforced-concrete structures. Besides structural efficiency, several construction criteria are considered, such as construction costs, material durability, environmental impacts, and construction time. Structural rehabilitation made with UHPFRC leads to cost-effective interventions, and this material also helps to preserve heritage structures. Due to its specific mechanical properties, UHPFRC enables new structures with distinctive aesthetic designs with reduced construction time. The crucial contribution of research to the first case studies is also highlighted. This link between Swiss universities and the construction industry has quickly transitioned UHPFRC Technology from academic studies to real-world applications. Nowadays, the UHPFRC Technology is maturing and applications are common in the country.

Current bridge deck rehabilitation practices : use and effectiveness

Approximately thirty to forty percent of all bridges across North America have some form of deterioration on them. Many organizations/agencies across North America are investing significant amounts of money on repairing and rehabilitating their bridges. The reason being, these bridges are deteriorating due to heavy use (overloading from today's oversized trucks), old age (many built in late 1950s and 1960s) and environmental and chemical attacks (deicing salt applications during the winter season). The purpose of this thesis concentrated on one area, namely bridge decks. To better understand how these organizations/agencies were dealing with bridge deck deterioration, a survey containing thirteen questions was developed and sent out throughout North America, to Department of Transportation, Ministry of Transportation, Municipalities, Bridge Authorities and Consultants. The survey was made up of six parts, each focusing on different areas during a bridge rehabilitation/repair operation. Areas looked at were: Condition Surveys, Concrete Removal, Rehabilitation Techniques, Environmental Impacts and Service Life.

Current bridge deck rehabilitation practices : use and effectiveness

Approximately thirty to forty percent of all bridges across North America have some form of deterioration on them. Many organizations/agencies across North America are investing significant amounts of money on repairing and rehabilitating their bridges. The reason being, these bridges are deteriorating due to heavy use (overloading from today's oversized trucks), old age (many built in late 1950s and 1960s) and environmental and chemical attacks (deicing salt applications during the winter season). The purpose of this thesis concentrated on one area, namely bridge decks. To better understand how these organizations/agencies were dealing with bridge deck deterioration, a survey containing thirteen questions was developed and sent out throughout North America, to Department of Transportation, Ministry of Transportation, Municipalities, Bridge Authorities and Consultants. The survey was made up of six parts, each focusing on different areas during a bridge rehabilitation/repair operation. Areas looked at were: Condition Surveys, Concrete Removal, Rehabilitation Techniques, Environmental Impacts and Service Life.

Bridge rehabilitation detailing manual (BRDM) : (commentary on MTO structure rehabilitation manual)

The Ministry of Transportation of Ontario (MTO) has developed few manuals that deal with inspection and rehabilitation of bridges; such as OSIM (Ontario Structural Inspection Manual), SRM (Structure Rehabilitation Manual), OPSS (Ontario Provincial Standards Specifications) and OPSD (Ontario Provincial Standards Drawings). Most of these manuals except OPSD do not provide detailed sketches to clarify the theory; therefore, practicing engineers in rehabilitation industry have difficulties during design and construction of rehabilitation projects. The main objective of this project is to provide a manual called "Bridge Rehabilitation Detailing Manual (BRDM)" for clarifying practicing engineers' problems. This manual presents the results of a wide research and studies on rehabilitation of about 80 bridges in Ontario. Most of these bridges are located at major locations of Ontario with high volume of traffic going over. Out of the 80 bridges, 62 bridges have been considered as case-studies since they were designed and detailed by top ranked and well-known consulting firms in rehabilitation industry. The most common deterioration and relevant rehabilitation methods were categorized in a database to help the development of the BRDM. This has been combined with MTO's manuals to result and act as commentary of MTO Rehabilitation Manual.

Structural Design Issues On GFRP-Reinforced Concrete Bridge Barriers

In the era of bridge rehabilitation, glass fibre reinforced polymer (GFRP) bars are considered an alternative solution to steel reinforcement to eliminate steel corrosion. In this thesis, a new bridge barrier reinforcement layout was proposed incorporating GFRP bars with anchorage heads. However, it was observed that no design provisions or research data in the literature were found to design the anchorage at barrier-deck slab junction. As such, pullout tests were conducted on GFRP bars embedded in concrete slabs, to determine their pullout strength. Also, testing to-collapse of full-scale bridge barrier under static loading was conducted to determine its load carrying capacity. In addition, finite element analysis of the barrier wall and deck slab portion was performed in order to examine the level of accuracy of the specified factored applied moments due to vehicle impact at the barrier-deck junction. The experimental findings qualified the proposed GFRP-reinforced barrier detailing when subjected to simulated vehicle impact loading.

Bridge rehabilitation detailing manual (BRDM) : (commentary on MTO structure rehabilitation manual)

The Ministry of Transportation of Ontario (MTO) has developed few manuals that deal with inspection and rehabilitation of bridges; such as OSIM (Ontario Structural Inspection Manual), SRM (Structure Rehabilitation Manual), OPSS (Ontario Provincial Standards Specifications) and OPSD (Ontario Provincial Standards Drawings). Most of these manuals except OPSD do not provide detailed sketches to clarify the theory; therefore, practicing engineers in rehabilitation industry have difficulties during design and construction of rehabilitation projects. The main objective of this project is to provide a manual called "Bridge Rehabilitation Detailing Manual (BRDM)" for clarifying practicing engineers' problems. This manual presents the results of a wide research and studies on rehabilitation of about 80 bridges in Ontario. Most of these bridges are located at major locations of Ontario with high volume of traffic going over. Out of the 80 bridges, 62 bridges have been considered as case-studies since they were designed and detailed by top ranked and well-known consulting firms in rehabilitation industry. The most common deterioration and relevant rehabilitation methods were categorized in a database to help the development of the BRDM. This has been combined with MTO's manuals to result and act as commentary of MTO Rehabilitation Manual.

Structural Design Issues On GFRP-Reinforced Concrete Bridge Barriers

In the era of bridge rehabilitation, glass fibre reinforced polymer (GFRP) bars are considered an alternative solution to steel reinforcement to eliminate steel corrosion. In this thesis, a new bridge barrier reinforcement layout was proposed incorporating GFRP bars with anchorage heads. However, it was observed that no design provisions or research data in the literature were found to design the anchorage at barrier-deck slab junction. As such, pullout tests were conducted on GFRP bars embedded in concrete slabs, to determine their pullout strength. Also, testing to-collapse of full-scale bridge barrier under static loading was conducted to determine its load carrying capacity. In addition, finite element analysis of the barrier wall and deck slab portion was performed in order to examine the level of accuracy of the specified factored applied moments due to vehicle impact at the barrier-deck junction. The experimental findings qualified the proposed GFRP-reinforced barrier detailing when subjected to simulated vehicle impact loading.

Simulation of Partial Interaction for Composite Deck of “Al-SABTEA Bridge” Taking The Influence of Static Vehicle loads

The composite bridge has consisted of different materials such as the girder to be steel or precast that connected with deck concrete slab using shear connectors for working as one. In the present study ALSABTEA bridge rehabilitation of the space of the bridge using the composite steel girder existing composite bridge constructed in Diyala-Iraq in 1981 that designed and constructed to behave as full interaction. Representation of composite steel bridge using finite element approach with different parameters to assess the doing of the composite bridge under the effects of static loading using actual dimensions and mechanical properties. The representation of channel shear connectors through elements of COMBIN39 provided simple and powerful modeling of the connectors in comparison with using elements of the 3D solid types. Examining the push-out test and comparing results with the model established by ANSYS proved the proposed numerical model could represent the shear connector's behavior. The difference is small (2.5% to 3.7%) between the model by using the representation shear connector as solid element and combined 39 also, the difference in the results of displacement is small (5%) between the experimental test and model established by ANSYS. The effect has been studied included. Partial and full interaction of Al-SABTEA Bridge under the effects of Static loadings applied at bridge based on Iraqi specification where the final assessment the results deflection within permissible limits according to all models.