Large metal and concrete structures suffer by various kinds of deterioration, and accurate prediction of the remaining life is important. This paper informs about two methods for its assessment. One method, suitable for steel bridges and other constructions exposed to fatigue, monitors the loads and damage accumulation using information systems for the operation and the finite element model of ...

A new generation of concrete highway bridges has recently been built in Canada using new design concepts and advanced materials for reinforcing and prestressing concrete . This paper describes briefly the design and construction of three bridges. The first smart concrete highway bridge (Centre Street, Beddington Bridge, Calgary, Alberta) is prestressed by carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) ...

Load-bearing structures of deck railway bridges with encased filler beams have been used for short and middle spans of a maximum of 24 metres. For over a hundred years they have been designed in cases with little headroom. The first bridges were constructed with no interaction between steel beams and concrete floor slabs, the structural steel working as a bearing element and the concrete in the...

Concrete cylinder piles produced by a centrifugally cast, vibrated, roller-compacted process have shown promising corrosion resistance in marine environments. Three bridges in the Florida panhandle with ~40 years in aggressive marine service and one newly constructed marine bridge utilizing concrete cylinder piles were examined. Examination of the older marine bridges showed minimal corrosion d...

A practical Bridge Management System has been developed by the author, which is referred to as the Japanese Bridge Management System (J-BMS) for existing concrete bridges. This paper introduces a newly developed bridge management system for the prestressed concrete (PC) bridges (J-BMS PC version) which is integrated with the PC bridge rating expert system (PC-BREX). The proposed system is able ...

Corrosion of steel reinforcement in concrete structures and bridges is a major problem facing the departments of transportation worldwide. In the United States, maintenance and replacement costs are measured in billions of dollars. Salt environment in hot climate and the use of deicing salts in cold regions have resulted in steady deterioration of bridge decks due to corrosion. These concerns h...

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the long-term vertical deformations of segmented pre-tensioned concrete bridges by a new approach. It provides a practical and reliable method for calculating the amount of long-term deformation based on creep and shrinkage in segmented prestress bridges. There are various relationships for estimating the creep and shrinkage of concrete. The analytical r...

Concrete is one of civilization’s most durable building materials. The ancient Romans used concrete 2,000 years ago to make structures that still stand today. People now use the material’s modern versionaggregates such as sand or gravel held together by a cement and water pastemore than all other construction materials combined. The world produced 4.3 billion metric tons of cement in 2014, an...