Bridge Maintenance

and Repair
 BRIDGE MAINTENANCE AND REPAIR

Preventative Maintenance Objectives

• Preserve investment
- Cost of replacement higher than initial cost
- Repair costs increase with time
• Safety and avoidance of catastrophic failure
• Maximize life of bridge

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INTRODUCTION TO BRIDGES
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 BRIDGE MAINTENANCE AND REPAIR

PREVENTATIVE
MAINTENANCE
IS
COST EFFECTIVE!

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General Methods - Concrete

• removal and replacement of deteriorated concrete
• filling cracks
• coating and sealing concrete surface

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General Methods - Steel

• protect it from exposure to electrolytes
• painting
• galvanizing

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General Methods - Timber

• control moisture content of the wood

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 BRIDGE MAINTENANCE AND REPAIR

Bridge Seats and Caps

• Runoff through deck joints contains debris and
de-icing chemicals
– de-icing chemicals that accumulate on substructure
cap can result in:
• corrosion of reinforcing steel and spalling concrete
• corrosion of bearing assembly (i.e. “frozen bearing”)

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 BRIDGE MAINTENANCE AND REPAIR

Bridge Seats and Caps (cont’d)

• Proper maintenance
– regular cleaning of substructure caps and deck joints
with high pressure pump
– provide drainage troughs below deck joints
– surface protective coatings on bearing systems

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Substructure - Concerns
• Material deterioration
– wet/dry and freeze/thaw cycles
– abrasion by water/ice at waterline
– steel corrosion
– concrete spalling
– decay and vermin attack on timber
• Ground settlement

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Substructure - Concerns (cont’d)

• Impact damage
• Other damage
– pressure exerted on the piers and abutments by the
earth

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Substructure - Maintenance
• Material deterioration
– protective coatings
– preservatives
• Foundation settlement and earth pressure
– subsurface drains
– struts
– regrading soil profile

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Substructure - Maintenance (cont’d)

• Impact damage
– guard rails and energy dissipaters
– fenders or steel plates on abutments and piers

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Superstructure - Concerns
• Usually very difficult to access, so problems are
frequently overlooked
• Deterioration occurs with time
– salt and chemicals - cracks in concrete
– corrosion - frozen bearings
– carbonation and sulfation
• Impact damage
– high loads
– ice and drift

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Superstructure - Maintenance
• Inspection
• Good protection system
– coatings - preservatives
– sealers - patching
– paints - crack filling
• Pressure washing and cleaning
• Strengthening

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Deck
• Most susceptible to deterioration
– de-icing salts, acid rain
– ultraviolet rays
– mechanical abrasion
• Requires a lot of maintenance and repair
• Protects rest of structure

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Concrete Decks
• De-icing salt is main menace
– causes reinforcement to corrode
– concrete spalls
– potholes

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Concrete Decks (cont’d)

• Design and construction features to control
deterioration
– optimum cover for reinforcement
– good drainage - silica fume
– smaller skews - low w/c ratio
– thicker slabs - good consolidation
– air-entrained concrete - low shrinkage

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Concrete Decks (cont’d)

• Main preventative maintenance goal is to control
salt and moisture penetration
– keep deck clean and drains operating properly
– add drains in low spots
– monitor deck for chloride contamination
– fill cracks
– asphalt sealing
– polymer overlays
– concrete sealers
– bituminous concrete overlays with waterproof
membrane
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Curbs & Railings

• Deteriorate with time
– cracking and spalling - corrosion
– salt damage - collision
• Replacement can be minimized
– appropriate sealers, coatings and paint
– galvanized steel

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Deck Drains
• Can cause hazardous traffic situations
• Can lead to deterioration of deck and other
bridge elements and erode the soil backfill

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Deck Drains (cont’d)

• Typical problems include:
– ponding of water on bridge deck
– poor drainage allows de-icing salts to deposit
on deck and other bridge elements
– plugged downspout will burst in freezing
weather
• Regular cleaning is best maintenance

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Approach Road
• Approach bump
• Guardrail
– connection to bridge rail
– transition stiffness
(standard drawing S-1471 & S-1472)
• Drainage
– trough drains

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Approach Road (cont’d)

• Erosion of headslopes and ditches
• Signing
– vertical clearance
– load limit
– delineators

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Streams and Channels

• Erosion control
• Slope protection
• Bank protection
• Rip-rap
• Drift
• Beaver dams

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Bridge Major Maintenance and

Rehabilitation
• Total deck replacement
• Partial-depth deck replacement
• Delamination repair
• Deck overlays
• Cathodic protection
• Deck joint replacement
• Bearing replacement
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Culvert Major Maintenance and

Rehabilitation
• Strutting
• Culvert liners
• Culvert end treatment repair and replacement
• Cathodic protection

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Repair Materials
• Concrete
– silica-fume concrete
– fibre reinforced concrete
– latex modified concrete
– corrosion-inhibiting concretes

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Repair Materials (cont’d)

• Polymers
– polymer concretes
– polymer overlays
• Specialty products
– patching materials
– grouts
– sealers

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Approved Products
• Standard testing procedures
• Certified laboratories
• Testing paid by manufacturer
• Approved products list
– concrete sealers
– concrete patching & grouting
– paints

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Concrete Sealers
• Type 1a - relatively dry deck RMC < 55%
• Type 1b - outdoor exposure deck RMC < 70%
• Type 1c - outdoor exposure deck RMC < 80%
• Type 2a - one component coating RMC < 70%
• Type 2b -two component coating RMC < 70%
• Type 3 - pigmented coating RMC < 70%

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Concrete Patching Materials

• Type NH
– poured horizontal patches, 3 day curing
• Type OH-V
– trowelled overhead or vertical patch
• Type LTH
– low temperature poured horizontal patch
• Type HEH
– high early strength poured horizontal patch

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Paints
• Type B2
– Truss / River / Little experience
• Type B3
– Girder / River / Much experience
• Type B5 & B6
– Freeway / Overpass
• Type 8
– Submerged pipe piles

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