Category: New Technology

TRB’s National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) Web-Only Document 201: Calibration of AASHTO LRFD Concrete Bridge Design Specifications for Serviceability explores calibrating the service limit states related to concrete bridges in the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials’ Load Resistance Factor Design Bridge Design Specifications (AASHTO LRFD). A limit state is defined as the boundary between acceptable…

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This study evaluated various techniques that use mechanical waves for the evaluation of critical concrete properties, such as proper consolidation of the concrete during placement and strength development; changes in modulus; and the detection  of cracks, voids, and delaminated regions. The methods evaluated were ultrasonic shear-wave tomography, ultrasonic pulse  velocity, crosshole sonic logging, sonic echo-impulse response, spectral analysis of surface…

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The Louisiana Transportation Research Center has released a report that explains the installation and performance of the first fiber reinforced polymers-wrapped balsa wood bridge in Louisiana. Read the Report

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The Institute for Transportation at Iowa State University has released a study that explains guidelines for the design and construction of mass concrete placements associated with large bridge foundations. Read the Study

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The Institute for Transportation at Iowa State University has released a report that discusses the behavior of six in-service, horizontally curved, steel-girder bridges with integral and semi-integral abutments. Read the Report

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On January 27, 2014, TRB’s Long-Term Bridge Performance (LTBP) Committee sent its fourth letter report to Victor Mendez, administrator of the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). The committee provides advice and assistance on the conduct of the LTBP program, which is designed to collect research-quality data on a large representative sample of in-service U.S. highway bridges and to analyze these…

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AASHTO Journal, 17 January 2014 Officials from the Texas Department of Transportation and the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development joined forces this week to break ground on a bridge replacement project that will enhance safety on a vital connection between the two states. The two state transportation departments have begun are replacing the U.S. 84 Sabine River Bridge,…

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Better Roads, 6 January 2014 Tina Grady Barbaccia (Photo: WisDOT) The Leo Frigo Memorial Bridge has been closed since Sept. 25 after motorists reported a 2-foot dip in the pavement across all lanes of traffic east of the river, according to a report in the Post Crescent. Now, around-the-clock repair efforts keep the Green Bay, Wis., bridge on track…

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The U.S. Federal Highway Administration has released a tech brief that assesses the after-fracture internal and structural redundancy of a two-line, simple-span truss bridge that was slated for explosive demolition. Read the Tech Brief

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Pavement Preservation Journal, Fall 2013, Vol. 6, No. 3 News Brief In April 2013, the International Grooving & Grinding Association reported that California had instituted a new specification to reduce noise from concrete bridge decks. Read the Full Article

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