In Situ Repair Technique for Decayed Timber Piles

Abstract

Timber piles support thousands of bridges throughout the United States. Many of these timber piles have experienced significant deterioration due to fungal decay of the wood. Decayed piles mainly consist of a hollow center with an outer shell. As a result of decay many bridges with timber piles are in need of repair. Conventional repair methods typically involve expensive processes. These include providing support for the bridge in the form of falsework jacking, then extracting and replacing decayed timber piles. A cost effective timber pile repair technique was experimentally evaluated and developed. The repair method involved three basic steps. First, severely decayed material was removed and remaining wood material was treated to prevent future decay. Second, the removed wood material was replaced with aggregate and epoxy to provide compression strength. Third, the timbers were wrapped in glass fiber to provide material confinement. Actual field repaired specimens were evaluated. The repair technique provides for substantial recovery of original strength.