Development of GFRP-Reinforced Bridge Barrier Deck-Slab System for Sustainable Construction

Abstract

<p>For the past decade, Glass Fibre Reinforced Polymer (GFRP) has been significantly utilized as an alternative to steel reinforcement, as the corrosion of black steel reinforcement subjected to severe environmental conditions leads to structural stability concerns. In Canada, as the bridge superstructures are exposed to such a harsh environment, developing a cost-effective and sustainable design with GFRP reinforced for bridge deck slabs and barrier walls are essential. This dissertation presents six phases of research conducted in the design of GFRP reinforced concrete bridge barrier. In phase I, an extensive study has been conducted on the GFRP bars as anchorage for the TL-5 barrier-deck slab connection. In this phase, seven configurations of GFRP-reinforced barrier detailing, using two different bar profiles, were studied. In phase II, a full-scale TL-5 bridge barrier with special profile GFRP hooked bar anchors as connecting bars to the deck slab was constructed and subjected to static transverse loading at both interior and exterior locations to determine its ultimate load-carrying capacity, failure mode and crack patterns. In phase III, an innovative GFRP bridge barrier design based on the adopted barrier configurations specified by the Ministry of Transportation of Quebec (MTQ) has been developed, four configurations of GFRP-reinforced barrier detailing, using headed-end GFRP bars, were constructed. The proposed barrier specimens were tested to determine their ultimate load carrying capacities and failure modes. In phases IV and V, the anchorage capacity of a newly developed GFRP hooked bar was investigated. Four configurations of full-size TL-5 and TL4 GFRP-reinforced barrier detailing, using reduced-size180 ̊ hooked GFRP bars, were constructed. The proposed barriers were tested to determine their ultimate load carrying capacities and failure modes. In phase VI, a thorough investigation of pullout strength and bond behaviour of post-installed GFRP bars subjected to wet and dry freeze and thaw cycles has been performed. A total of 180 concrete cubes were cast and tested under monotonic pull-out force till failure. In summary, this research led to a sustainable and accurate design method for three profiles of the GFRP reinforced barrier wall and the barrier-deck joint to be adopted by bridge engineers in the future design of bridge barriers in Canada.</p>