Failure Testing of a Full-Scale Reinforced Concrete T-Girder Bridge

Abstract

As a common type of bridge, the reinforced concrete simply supported T-girder bridges have some usual disease problems such as web vertical cracks, incline cracks near the supports and diaphragm damage, and so on injured by transportation loads. In Shanxi province most of T-girder bridges appear to be under strength for current vehicle loads because most of which are designed by conventional methods and the old codes so it is important to evaluate how the existing damage influence the ultimate bearing capacity of the bridge. The destructive test is a directive mean of verifying the ultimate bearing capacity of bridges. This paper provides details of a destructive load test of a T-girder bridge called Zuojiabao Bridge. It describes the analysis performed prior to testing, aimed at predicting the response of the structure at both serviceability and ultimate states, and discusses the results obtained.The development rule of strain, deflection and crack and the ultimate bearing capacity of the bridge were obtained through the destructive test process. The results showthat although the old T-girder bridge has enough bearing capacity to satisfy the new vehicle standard, it is strongly recommended to strengthen or retrofit the bridge. And the finite element analysis can be effectively applied to the failure analysis of the reinforced concrete T-girder bridge subjected to destructive load.