Increasing the durability of pavement on operational steel spans by reinforcement with composite materials

Abstract

Bridge structures are an integral part of any country’s road network. The durability of bridges is greatly influenced by natural and climatic impacts and vehicles travelling over them. An element directly interacting with these external factors is a bridge deck pavement, therefore it is the deck pavement that largely determines the technical condition of a structure. Extending the service life of deck pavement is an urgent issue, as the repair of its surface is among the major expenditure items for the maintenance of bridge structures. The nature of deck pavement operation is determined by the parameters of subgrade it is arranged on. The most widespread design of a deck on steel bridges is an orthotropic slab with certain characteristics of deformation under loading. The article provides the results of diagnostics for the asphalt concrete surface state on several steel bridges with the orthotropic deck slab operating under different conditions. The specific features of defects development caused by high deformability of asphalt concrete on orthotropic slabs are shown. The results of theoretical and field studies aimed to decrease this deformability by embedding the polymer composite geonet into the asphalt-concrete mixture are presented. The results obtained show that the deck reinforcement with composite materials contributes to increasing the durability of structures and prolonging their operational period between repairs.