Category: Monthly Webinar Semi-Integral Abutments with UHPC Connection for ABC Bridges in New York State

August 21, 2014 1:00 pm

by Wahid Albert P.E., Director, Structures Design Bureau, New York State Department of Transportation.

Webinar Documents

Description: 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, abutments, and piers, and is also commonly referred to as an integral bridge. Integral bridges are not feasible when the length and/or exposed abutment height of the bridge becomes large. In such cases, one solution is to use semi-integral abutment details. This presentation will provide details and design approaches that are being used for semi-integral abutments in New York State to address deck joint challenges in their ABC bridges. One of the case studies, the I-81 Bridge over Preble Road replaced in 2013, includes an innovative use of ultra-high-performance concrete as part of the semi-integral abutments.