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Design, Construction, and Field Testing of an Ultra-High Performance Concrete Pi-Girder Bridge

Project Details
STATUS

Completed

PROJECT NUMBER

07-295, TR-574

START DATE

05/01/07

END DATE

01/31/11

FOCUS AREAS

Infrastructure

RESEARCH CENTERS InTrans, BEC
SPONSORS

Iowa Department of Transportation
Iowa Highway Research Board

Researchers
Principal Investigator
Terry Wipf
Co-Principal Investigator
Brent Phares

Bridge Research Engineer, BEC

About the research

The Jakway Park Bridge in Buchanan County, Iowa is the first bridge constructed with a new prestesssed girder system composed of precast Ultra-High Performance Concrete (UHPC).  These girders employ an integral deck to facilitate construction and are referred to as pi-girders for the resemblance of their cross-section to the Greek letter π.  The evolution of the girder geometry, simplifying assumptions, and finite element analysis techniques used in design of the bridge are examined, and the results of laboratory and live load field testing are presented to quantify behavior.  The effectiveness of the finite element analysis and structural performance of the bridge, including live load distribution, are evaluated to provide guidance for future designs employing these girders.

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