TL:DRASU-developed ultra-high-performing concrete between slabs on the Palo Verde Bridge over the Roosevelt Canal in Buckeye, Arizona, just south of the Buckeye airport. Photo courtesy of Barzin Mobasher/ASU[…..]
The team began work in 2016 with the Arizona Department of Transportation, which was looking to develop an ultra-high-performance concrete (UHPC) to connect bridge elements. The goals were speedy installation to limit bridge closures, enhanced strength and reduced costs by using nonproprietary concrete mixtures that could be produced using local suppliers.
Using an actual-size reinforced concrete section tested under flexure in the ASU lab, the team created specific-use UHPC mixtures with enhanced shear strength, tensile strength, compressive strength and fatigue resistance. The mixtures also offer a time savings.“A bridge replacement that would normally take six months can now be done in 10 days,” Mobasher said following implementation of the recommendations. “To the people who drive over those bridges every day to get to their homes, it is a lifeline.“It is difficult to change the perception that roadwork is always associated with delays and a waste of time for everyone. To put it into perspective, ADOT can now repair 10 bridges for the time and budget it used to take for only one.”
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The UHPC itself contains steel fibers and has impressive compressive strength. This means the repairs will last much longer.For MCDOT, ASU developed mixtures that
use locally sourced materials for a fraction of the cost of proprietary mixtures, and trained local companies how to prepare the mixture. In addition, the ASU team trained about 30 local construction workers to install the mixture on the bridges.The bridge was operational five days after pouring the UHPC.
My Thoughts 💭
Way to go ASU! I wonder if this mix can hold up in wet and cold climates. But this material seems promising.