A Survey to Determine the Impact of Changes in Specifications and Construction Practices on the Performance of Concrete in Bridge Decks.

摘要

In response to its own research and observations in the early 1960's,the Virginia Department of Highways mounted an intensive and extensive effort to improve the performance of concrete in bridge decks. Major elements of this effort included: (1) A training and certification program for Department and industry personnel;and (2) improved and upgraded specification requirements for both materials and construction practices. A survey was made of 129randomly selected bridges constructed after 1966,when all of these improvements had been formally instituted. The performance of these bridges was compared with that of a similar sample that had been surveyed in 1961. In addition to the visual observation of performance,electrical measurement of corrosion potential and depth of cover over reinforcement were also made in the 1972survey. Based upon this study,there have been significant improvements,particularly in the reduction of early scaling.