by Wayne B. Symonds P.E., Structures Design Engineer, Vermont Agency of Transportation; Bill Lammer P.E., Accelerated Bridge Program Lead Designer, Vermont Agency of Transportation.

Webinar Documents

• Integral Abutments for ABC Bridges in Vermont - PDF of Presentation
• News, September- 18 - 2013 - pdf of presentation

Leaking deck joints have been a major cause of bridge deterioration and reduced service life, especially where roadway drainage carrying deicing chemicals can spill onto bridge elements below. One solution is to eliminate all expansion joints and use jointless bridges. A jointless bridge has a continuous deck with no expansion joints over the superstructure, piers, and abutments; it is also commonly referred to as an integral bridge. In integral abutment bridges, continuity between the superstructure and substructure is created by making the deck and substructure monolithic. For ABC applications, this approach could lead to a delay in construction if appropriate details are not used. This presentation provided details and design approaches that are being used for integral abutments in Vermont’s ABC bridges.