Bridge Deck Research Articles

Advanced concrete pavement internal crack monitoring using wave response variation and deep learning

This paper presents an in-depth investigation into internal crack monitoring in concrete pavement through the application of wave response variation (WRV) and deep learning techniques. The study examines wave scattering in both homogeneous (HM) and inhomogeneous (IHM) media, validating WRV by analyzing forward scattering due to interval vertical cracks through laboratory tests and analytical solutions. It compares various laboratory tests with experimental and finite element (FE) results. The analysis reveals that shallower cracks result in peaks at lower impulse frequencies on the WRV curve, while deeper cracks correspond to peaks at higher frequencies, as observed from both forward and incident waves. The study also finds that the complexity of IHM, influenced by random aggregate size and distribution, significantly affects WRV patterns, with larger aggregates causing greater energy attenuation in forward waves compared to smaller aggregates. Machine learning (ML) techniques are employed to predict cracks and clarify the impact of aggregate information on WRV. This research establishes a framework for understanding internal damage in IHM using ML technology. This study enables effective monitoring of internal vertical cracks, such as reflective cracks in bridge decks, pavements, and airport runways.

New type fairings for mitigating tsunami force on bridge deck and new indicators for evaluating tsunami-resistant capability of fairings

Based on a comprehensive analysis of the advantages and disadvantages of existing tsunami resistant fairings for bridge girders, two novel types of fairings are proposed: the upper arc fairings (UA−α) and the lower arc fairings (LA−α). In addition, the exceedance impulse of horizontal force is suggested as a new indicator for evaluating tsunami resistant capability of fairings. In numerical simulations, comparative analysis is conducted among the upper arc fairings (UA−α), lower arc fairings (LA−α), and existing L-shape fairings (L−W) to evaluate their tsunami resistance capabilities. Results show that the UA−120 and L−1.00H are the best among the upper arc fairings (UA−α) and L-shape fairings (L−W), respectively. The differences between tsunami resistance capability of the lower arc fairings (LA−α) are inapparent, and LA−60 demonstrating relatively superior performance. Physical experiments further indicate that the UA−120 and L−0.50H fairings can averagely reduce the exceedance impulse of horizontal force 76.88% and 76.24% respectively. And the LA−60 fairing can averagely reduce the exceedance impulse of horizontal force 45.08%.

Aerodynamic and flutter performance of the bridge deck with various countermeasures using computational fluid dynamics

Aerodynamic layouts of bridge decks considerably affect aerostatic torsional divergence and flutter for bridges. The crucial operation is choosing the optimal bridge deck shape considering the aerodynamic effect. The present study intends to provide a better solution for the flutter control scheme by changing five aspect ratios and four passive aerodynamic countermeasures. The countermeasures are an eccentric wing, inspection rail, down vertical central stabilizer and wind barrier, which have been used for three deck shapes: streamlined, semi-streamline and bluff body sections with large angles of attack. Nowadays, wind barriers are frequently installed on bridges to shield vehicles from the harmful effects of crosswinds, which can influence the flutter characteristics of the bridge. Therefore, the present study contemplates reducing the flutter effect with countermeasures. These countermeasures adversely affect the deck’s dynamic stability, mainly manifested in the different divergence forms of the structure. Finally, the eccentric wing, which runs parallel to the bridge deck, increases the critical flutter speed. However, the flow that passes through the eccentric wing extracts considerable energy from the flow field of the countermeasure. Therefore, the framework and solution of the present investigation are sustainable and safe for bridge design.

Condition assessment of concrete structures using automated crack detection method for different concrete surface types based on image processing

In the inspection and diagnosis of concrete construction, crack detection is highly recommended in the earliest phases to prevent any potential risks later. However, the flaws in concrete surfaces cannot be reliably and effectively identified using traditional crack detection techniques. The suggested algorithm is a supportive tool for agents or authorities to use in crack detection mechanisms to monitor and assess the current condition of buildings or bridges. The researchers aim to establish an intelligent model for automatic crack detection on different concrete surfaces based on image processing technology. Three different concrete surfaces—bridge decks, walls, and concrete cubes—are used to test the model. A subset of the public dataset of bridge decks and walls from SDNET (2018) and 150*150*150 mm of concrete cubes taken from the material laboratory of the faculty of engineering at Ain Shams University are applied to the model. The model F1-score measures are 98.87%, 97.43%, and 74.11% for detecting cracks in bridges, walls, and concrete cubes, respectively. The validation of the applicability of the suggested novel approach is based on a comparison with recent methods for crack recognition. The contribution of this study is that it could be applied to detect cracks efficiently on three different types of concrete surfaces, including uneven concrete surfaces, random noise, voids, dents, colour changes, and stain marks. The proposed method is transparent in its workflow and has a lower computational cost compared with deep learning frameworks. Thus, the outcomes of this model demonstrate its effectiveness in concrete defect field investigation.

Numerical investigation on structural performance of GFRP composite bridge decks

Numerical investigation on structural performance of GFRP composite bridge decks

Influence of Climate Change on the Probability of Chloride-Induced Corrosion Initiation for RC Bridge Decks Made of Geopolymer Concrete

Influence of Climate Change on the Probability of Chloride-Induced Corrosion Initiation for RC Bridge Decks Made of Geopolymer Concrete

Bridge Surface Defect Localization Based on Panoramic Image Generation and Deep Learning-Assisted Detection Method

Applying unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and vision-based analysis methods to detect bridge surface damage significantly improves inspection efficiency, but the existing techniques have difficulty in accurately locating damage, making it difficult to use the results to assess a bridge’s degree of deterioration. Therefore, this study proposes a method to generate panoramic bridge surface images using multi-view images captured by UAVs, in order to automatically identify and locate damage. The main contributions are as follows: (1) We propose a UAV-based image-capturing method for various bridge sections to collect close-range, multi-angle, and overlapping images of the surface; (2) we propose a 3D reconstruction method based on multi-view images to reconstruct a textured bridge model, through which an ultra-high resolution panoramic unfolded image of the bridge surface can be obtained by projecting from multiple angles; (3) we applied the Swin Transformer to optimize the YOLOv8 network and improve the detection accuracy of small-scale damages based on the established bridge damage dataset and employed sliding window segmentation to detect damage in the ultra-high resolution panoramic image. The proposed method was applied to detect surface damage on a three-span concrete bridge. The results indicate that this method automatically generates panoramic images of the bridge bottom, deck, and sides with hundreds of millions of pixels and recognizes damage in the panoramas. In addition, the damage detection accuracy reached 98.7%, which is improved by 13.6% when compared with the original network.

A Condition Assessment Tool for Steel Bridge Deck Pavement Systems Based on Data Balancing Methods and Machine Learning Algorithms

The primary challenge in the operation of steel deck pavement systems lies in the inspection and assessment of their condition. Traditionally, manual inspection methods are employed. However, these approaches are not only time-consuming and labor-intensive but also prone to human error. As a result, integrating data-driven machine learning technologies into the evaluation of pavement systems presents a significant advantage in addressing these issues. This study proposes a decision-making tool for estimating the condition levels of steel bridge deck pavement systems by employing classification techniques. To address the issue of class imbalance in the dataset, the SMOTE algorithm is utilized. Additionally, seven different machine learning methods—Light Gradient Boosting Machine, Extreme Gradient Boosting, Random Forest, Adaptive Boosting, K-Nearest Neighbor, Multilayer Perceptron, and Logistic Regression—are applied for training. Comparative analysis reveals that the Light Gradient Boosting performs optimally, achieving classification accuracies of 0.841 and 0.929 on the original and synthetic datasets, respectively.

TESTING OF MODELS OF BRIDGE DECKS WITH REINFORCED CONCRETE FIXED FORMWORK

In Ukraine, in the second half of the 20th century, the vast majority of highway bridges span structures were built from precast concrete. This was due to the requirement of construction industrialization in the USSR, which required the maximum use of prefab structures. Therefore, the bridge deck slabs had a significant number of longitudinal joints. The experience of maintenance of bridges prefabricated reinforced concrete span structures has shown that a significant number of defects occur in their slabs due to the presence of joints. Taking into account the above, the current state building regulations of Ukraine for bridge design indicate that in the case of using prefabricated reinforced concrete beams, their surface should be covered with a layer of cast-in-situ reinforced concrete with a thickness of at least 14 cm. Taking these requirements into account, reinforced concrete span structures of highway bridges are arranged mainly precast and cast-in-situ: installing of precast beams, concreting of the cast-in-situ slab above them. This design requires using of formwork for the slab installation. A promising direction in cast-in-situ bridge construction is using of various types of permanent formwork. However, their use has not been studied to date. Having studied the experience of using non-removable formwork, it is proposed to test series of samples to determine the suitability for further operation of one or another option, in addition to studying of the joint operation of non-removable formwork plates as part of the combined cross-section of the deck slab.

Simulasi Numerik Aeroelastik Model Seksional 2D Jembatan Bentang Panjang untuk Mengetahui Karakteristik Ketidakstabilan Flutter

Flutter is an aerodynamic instability on a long span bridge that can cause damage to the entire bridge deck structure. The interaction between wind and structure in long span bridges can be investigated by numerical simulation. In this study, an aeroelastic simulation was performed on a 2 DoFs sectional model of a long-span bridge deck with free vibration techniques to analyze flutter speed and determine the effect of deck shape on flutter instability characteristics using ANSYS software. The simulation result data was then extracted using the Modified Ibrahim Time-Domain Method (MITD) identification method to obtain the damping ratio and flutter derivatives coefficients. The damping ratio value is used to determine the critical flutter speed, whereas the coefficient flutter derivatives is used to determine the characteristics of flutter instability and the flutter mechanism that occurs in the bridge. The results showed that the rectangular shape (bluff body) is more susceptible to flutter instability than the streamlined shape, and has a lower flutter speed value than the other shapes. The flutter mechanism that occurs is torsional flutter, whereas in the streamline body is coupling flutter.

Effect of ultra high-performance concrete thickness on the mechanical behavior of orthotropic steel bridge deck

Orthotropic steel bridge decks structures (OSBDs) have been widely used in long-span bridges to reduce the dead load of the bridge. However, over time, the asphalt wearing course of the bridge deck structure has shown many damages. Recently, ultra-high-performance concrete (UHPC) has been employed to repair and reinforce these structures. Therefore, this paper focuses on the effect of UHPC thickness on the mechanical behavior of the orthotropic deck. The five-point bending beam test model using the finite element method is used in this investigation to clarify the effect of UHPC thickness, the ratio of adhesion failure, and temperature on the mechanical behavior of the OSBDs. The UHPC thickness varies from 30 to 50 mm, the ratio of adhesion failure varies from 0.1 to 0.3, and the temperature changes from 30°C to 60°C. The results show that the presence of the UHPC layer significantly reduces the impact of adhesive layer damage and temperature on the behavior of the OSBDs

Experimental investigation on the shear performance of hybrid structures comprising textile reinforced concrete stay-in-place formwork and reinforced concrete

Recently, the application of textile-reinforced concrete (TRC) in thin-walled precast structures has gained significant attention. Among these innovations, the combination of TRC and reinforced concrete (RC) has emerged as an effective method for creating hybrid structural systems. This paper presents the experimental results analyzing the shear behavior of a hybrid deck slab structure consisting of TRC stay-in-place (SiP) formwork and RC components. Shear performance was evaluated using 3-point bending tests on four large-scale specimens with aspect ratios (a/d) varying from 1.6 to 2.3. The average load carried by the TRC SiP formwork prior to failure—due to textile reinforcement rupture—was approximately 26.3 kN, with compressive strains at the top edge ranging from 2.8 to 3.4 ‰, just below the concrete's ultimate strain. The findings demonstrate the versatility of TRC SiP-formwork, highlighting its adaptable cross-section and substantial load-bearing capabilities, making it particularly suitable for composite bridge deck applications. The specimens experienced both shear compression and diagonal shear failures. Moreover, the TRC SiP-formwork effectively mitigated transverse cracking at the interface, enhancing bond strength and improving overall structural performance

Numerical and Theoretical Study on Flexural Performance and Reasonable Structural Parameters of New Steel Grating–UHPFRC Composite Bridge Deck in Negative Moment Zone

As the bridge’s structural component is directly subjected to vehicle loads, the stress performance of the bridge deck has a significant impact on the safety, durability, and driving comfort of the bridge. In order to improve the bending performance of the bridge deck in the negative moment zone, a new type of steel grating–UHPFRC composite bridge deck was proposed in this paper. Firstly, structural details and advantages of the new steel grating-UHPFRC composite bridge deck were introduced. Secondly, the finite element program ABAQUS was used to establish a refined solid finite element model of the new bridge deck. The mathematical program MATLAB (PYTHON) was also used to analyze the effects of the structural parameters on bending bearing capacity and put forward reasonable structural parameters of the new bridge deck, considering the technical and economic indexes. Thirdly, the simplified plasticity theory was applied to analyze the bending bearing capacity of the new bridge deck, and the corresponding formula for bending bearing capacity calculation was derived and verified by numerical model results. In addition, the cost–benefit analysis and environmental impact assessment of the new bridge deck were also conducted. The results show that the bending bearing capacity of the new bridge deck in the negative moment zone increases with the increase of the width of the bridge deck, the thickness of the wing plate, and the height of the web plate, with a trend of increasing and then decreasing when the horizontal inclination of the web plate decreases. The bridge deck width does not have a significant effect on improving the bearing capacity. The bearing capacity calculated by theoretical formulas is close to that calculated by numerical models and the maximum relative deviation is 9.1%. The new steel grating-UHPFRC composite bridge deck proposed in this paper is superior to conventional steel-UHPC composite bridge deck in terms of cost-benefit and environmental impact.

Vibrational analysis of polyurethane-sandwiched bridge decks with variable skew angles

Bridge decks are the surface of bridges that carry the weight of the vehicles and pedestrians crossing over them. The design of bridge decks varies depending on the span, traffic volume, and material availability. But nowadays, the need for a sustainable approach is required. So, use of a sustainable material for construction and retrofitting purposes is the need of the hour. In the present study, a novel synthetic material polyurethane has been used in bridges. The study deals with the variation in skew angles to determine the response of the bridge deck. The response of natural frequencies on the bridge deck due to the variation in skewness and thickness of steel are analysed under simply supported and clamped boundary conditions. Further, the bridge deck is sandwiched using steel and polyurethane having different thicknesses, and the responses are recorded. Afterwards, a bridge deck is modelled using polyurethane as a special case, to pursue sustainability and justify the RRR (reduce, reuse, and recycle) concept of waste management. A comparative study is also performed between the isotropic steel deck and sandwiched deck by varying the skewness. The skew angle is varied from 0° to 60° with a difference of 10°, i.e., 0°, 10°, 20°, 30°, 40°, 50°, and 60°. The frequencies of the isotropic steel and sandwiched decks are increasing when the skewness is increased. Also, the decks may be modelled in a way to enhances the vibration behaviour by sandwiching the existing steel decks. The free vibration frequencies of the sandwiched decks are comparable to the steel deck of similar thickness, which shows the use of polyurethane as the core material does not affect the vibrational characteristics of the deck, while at the same time reducing the cost significantly. The research lays the groundwork for the creation of engineering recommendations that practitioners can use.

Numerical simulation of the effect of thermal stresses on composite bridge decks

Composite concrete-steel bridge decks experience higher thermally induced stresses than homogenous decks leading to significant damage to the concrete and eventual corrosion of the reinforcement. Designers usually utilise simplified generic thermal profiles prescribed by codes to predict future thermal stresses. In this study, a modified thermal profile is proposed for composite bridge decks in geographic regions exposed to severe climate conditions. The profile is derived from a 3D finite element model that uses actual environmental loads and boundary conditions for a designated geographical area to model the transient heat transfer in typical case studies of bridge sections. Two types of bridge decks are investigated, with and without pre-existing construction cracks. Results indicate that the vertical thermal gradient is mainly non-linear as opposed to the AASHTO models. This nonlinear temperature gradient results in a nonlinear strain component and significant interior stresses which is critical for the design process. Pre-service deck cracks have a significant impact on both the longitudinal and vertical thermal profiles. Pre-service concrete deck cracks resulted in a reduction in the concrete thermal tensile stresses by up to 17.6% and yet are still significant in comparison to service load stresses and account for about 50% of the tensile strength.

Investigation of Effective Notch Stress at the Root of the Rib-to-Deck Weld in an OSD Box Girder Bridge Considering the Wheel Load Position

AbstractFatigue cracks have been reported in orthotropic steel deck bridges under severe traffic conditions in Japan, particularly root-deck and bead cracks, which initiate from the root of the rib-to-deck weld. The local stress directly influencing crack initiation was investigated using a finite element model based on a section of an actual bridge with a high incidence of cracks. The analysis focused on the weld root at the floor beam intersection and the span center of the bridge section. The model was subjected to loading in the transverse and longitudinal direction of the bridge combined with various wheel load configurations. The effect on the local stress properties was analyzed using the effective notch stress approach. A load position slightly off-center of the U-rib resulted in peak stress at the study locations. Its principal stress direction angle around the notch suggests a root-deck type of crack initiation. Testing several pavement stiffnesses revealed that using an SFRC pavement resulted in a 76%–84% reduction of peak effective notch stress compared to asphalt pavement. Furthermore, varying weld configurations demonstrated that lowering the weld penetration rate could alter the local stress position, influencing the crack initiation direction.

A computer vision–aided methodology for bridge flexibility identification from ambient vibrations

AbstractThis paper presents the implementation of a novel monitoring system in which video images and conventional sensor network data are simultaneously analyzed to identify the structural flexibility from the ambient vibrations. The magnitude ratio between the flexibility estimated from known/unknown input force are theoretically derived and decomposed into two parts: and . The first scale factor related to basic modal parameters can be acquired using the general modal identification methods. Aiming to tackle the difficulty in identifying the second scale factor related to the force intensity, a video stream of traffic is processed to detect and classify vehicles to determine the vehicle's location while displacement measurements are simultaneously collected. By integrating the toll station data, the vehicle loads are assigned to the vehicle on the bridge deck through the uniqueness of the license plate number. Thus, a structural input–output relationship is established to solve the second scale factor . Finally, the flexibility estimated from the ambient vibration are scaled by and , respectively to obtain the exact flexibility , which are same as the analytical ones . Both numerical example and a laboratory test are performed to demonstrate the accuracy of the proposed methodology. The algorithms, approaches, and results given in the paper demonstrate its effectiveness and shows great potential for its application on a real‐life bridge's condition assessment.

Research and application of rapid reconstruction technology to existing bridge guardrails based on UHPC connection

A novel prefabricated segmental guardrail is proposed to facilitate connections between guardrails and between guardrails and bridge decks by casting ultrahigh-performance concrete (UHPC) joints in situ. Through finite element crash simulation analysis of three types of vehicles and crash tests of real vehicles, the prefabricated segmental guardrail with a UHPC connection was systematically evaluated in terms of its energy-absorbing capacity, vehicular acceleration, post-impact trajectory of the impacting vehicle, and behaviour of the guardrail upon impact. During the evaluation process, performance comparisons of the prefabricated segmental guardrails are made with the monolithic concrete guardrails. The results indicate that the performance of the prefabricated segmental guardrail with a UHPC connection was superior to that of the conventional concrete monolithic guardrails: it exhibited a higher level of crash performance, the occupants of the impacting vehicle were better protected, and the impacting vehicle exhibited better post-collision stability. Finally, the convenience of the prefabricated segmental guardrails with UHPC connections was proven in practical engineering applications.

Numerical Evaluation of the performance of different composite bridge decks.

Abstract A comparative analysis was conducted to facilitate the selection of composite bridge deck configurations. Composite bridge decks, with their lightweight design, corrosion resistance, prefabrication, reduced construction time, and wide design flexibility, reduce substructure costs and offer durability. Static and buckling analyses were conducted using finite element software to compare their weight, stiffness, composite inverse reverse factor, and buckling resistance. The analyses considered the same boundary conditions, loads, composite layup configuration, and material mechanical properties. Various geometries were selected from different literature to evaluate their performance and identify an appropriate design. This paper presents a numerical investigation into the structural performance of five different composite bridge decks under the same conditions. G. Rectangle emerged as the easiest manufacturing deck, consisting of pultruded rectangle tubes, and the worst deck for deflection and buckling. The G. Triangle has the lowest deflection and the highest strain energy density. The G. Arch distinguished as the lightest bridge deck, also has good performance against buckling and a low strain energy density. Finally, the G. 2Trapezoidal and G. Trapezoidal have better total performance than all other decks as they have the highest inertia.

Cable‐stayed footbridge in Lover Vítkovice Area‐DOV

AbstractA cable‐stayed footbridge for pedestrians and cyclists is situated in post‐industrial landscape Lover Vitkovice Area (DOV) of Ostrava. The bridge has two independent sections, 84,3 m and 68,3 m long that leads across the Ostravice river and the railway corridor directly towards the recent blast furnace. The bearing structure consists of outer lattice trusses and the lower steel orthotropic deck and is characterised by outstanding variable shape created by architect. The bridge's deck is supported by three and two pairs of cables, which run directly from top of the middle stiff pylon. Cables are connected to bottom chords of the structure by cylindrical fork with threaded rod and the tie rod structural system with rolled thread (turnbuckles, forks with pin and conical lock covers). The paper describes manufacturing, erection and pre‐stressing procedure, dynamic properties and design and installation of tuned mass dampers.