Influence of Internal Deterioration Mechanisms on the System-Level Behavior of Composite Prestressed Concrete Girder Bridges

The ASCE’s 2013 Report Card for America’s Infrastructure assigned in-service bridges a score of C+. This rating reflects the extent of the deteriorating conditions and deficiency of the national aging infrastructure network. Currently, transportation agencies depend heavily on experiential-based practices to make decisions regarding maintenance and preservation. While practitioners and decision-makers already invest ample efforts towards this cause, the lack of a rational understanding of system-level behavior of in-service structures makes resolving the problem even more complicated. This constraint, coupled with limited resources and the vast network of existing structures in service, highlights the need to develop strategies to better understand the operational safety and remaining life of these structures.
In pursuit of this objective, this study focuses on understanding the performance of deteriorated prestressed concrete bridges. A performance-based assessment framework was developed, which allows for the integration of the various sources of damage within the primary load carrying members. This framework is then used to quantify the implications of these mechanisms on the serviceability, capacity, and remaining service life of the structure. The investigation, conducted using a numerical analysis platform, is expected to help support the maintenance decision through rational and risk-based techniques, which will ultimately integrate condition-based system behavior.