Field Monitoring of Curved Girder Bridges with Integral Abutments
Project involves all of the bridges at the I-80/I-235/I-35 interchange in Des Moines, Iowa
Researcher(s)
Principal investigator: Brent Phares, 515-294-5879, bphares@iastate.edu (project list)
Co-principal investigators:
- Terry Wipf, 515-294-9501, tjwipf@iastate.edu (project list)
- Lowell Greimann, 515-294-8103, greimann@iastate.edu (project list)
Project status
In progress
Start date: 06/01/08
End date: 05/31/13
Publications
Related publications: Evaluation of Bridge Movement Measurement Using GPS 442.85 kb *pdf (Tech transfer summary) January 2012
*To read pdf files, you may need to download the free Adobe Acrobat Reader.
Sponsor(s)/partner(s)
Sponsor(s):Iowa Department of Transportation
Ohio Department of Transportation
Pennsylvania Department of Transportation
Wisconsin Department of Transportation
About the research
Research objective:
An urgent need exists to reduce bridge maintenance costs by eliminating or reducing deck joints. This can be achieved by expanding the use of integral abutments to include curved girder bridges.
The purpose of this research is to investigate the use of integral abutments on curved girder bridges through a monitoring and evaluation program of in-service bridges. In additon, the influence and behavior of fixed and expansion piers will be considered. The research will be conducted as a multiple phase study since Iowa has already identified several bridges for monitoring and evaluation that will be constructed in the near future (Phase IA).
The long-term goal of this research is to provide information that allows bridge owners to make informed decisions regarding the use of integral abutments with curved girder bridges. The project scope will focus on the monitoring and evaluation of constructed in-service bridges. The information that will be collected will form the foundation for further use of these bridge types.