Repairable Precast Concrete Bridge Columns for Seismic Events

Abstract

In multispan bridges excited by ground shaking, columns are usually the target ductile members. Although current practice is successful in attaining the no-collapse objective for bridges, columns are usually damaged at displacements associated with this performance level. Minor damage can be repaired, but excessive damage is usually beyond repair. A new design paradigm with minimal damage and repair need is gaining interest. The benefits of such a design can be increased if low-damage technologies are combined with accelerated bridge construction techniques. The main goal of the present study was to develop rein¬forced concrete bridge columns that are fully precast concrete, low damage, and repairable through compo¬nent replacement. To achieve the project objectives, 20 repairable precast concrete alternatives were developed and ranked. Subsequently, the top three candidates were designed at 50% scale, constructed at a precast concrete plant, and tested in a laboratory. The precast concrete columns incorporated different exposed fuses, such as stainless steel bars and steel tendons, advanced materials such as ultra-high-performance concrete, a self-centering mechanism, or an accelerated bridge construction socket connection. A reference cast-in-place concrete column was included for comparison. Each precast concrete column was tested twice. It was found that the repair of the precast ultra-high-perfor¬mance concrete columns with exposed tendons was easy,