Overview of Testing to Failure Program of a Highway Bridge Strengthened
with FRP Composites
4th International Symposium on FRP for Reinforcement of Concrete
Structures (FRPRCS4), page 69--80. (November 1999)Abstract
This paper presents an overview of a research program aimed at validating
the effectiveness of strengthening highway bridges with FRP composites.
The
validation is carried out by performing load tests to failure on the
decks and piers of an existing bridge. The selected bridge is a solid
slab reinforced concrete
structure and is representative of bridges constructed in Mid-America
during the first half of this century. Two of the three decks were
strengthened with externally bonded unidirectional carbon FRP sheets
and near-surface mounted carbon FRP rods. Elastic tests were conducted
on the decks using a moving vehicle. These tests were conducted prior
to and after strengthening as well as after cutting the bridge parapets.
The decks were tested to failure under static loads. At different
stages of damage, as caused by the static loads, the decks were subjected
to the dynamic force applied by a shaker in an attempt to correlate
dynamic signature to the level of damage. The piers, originally designed
for gravity loads, were seismically upgraded. Piers were strengthened
using nearВ–surface mounted carbon FRP rods as well as jackets made
of continuous FRP sheets. The piers were tested to failure under
cyclic static loading. The research program results indicate that
FRP materials can effectively be used for strengthening reinforced
concrete bridge structures.