Case Study » Saco, MT: Bridge Deck Perfomance
Project Summary |
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Application Type: Long-term bridge deck performance and live load testing of experimental bridge deck sites Location: Saco, Montana, USA Products Used: AM16/32A RF400 NL100 CR5000 CR10X AM16/32B Contributors: Western Transportation Institute: Peter Smolenski, Jeff Johnson, Eli Cuelho, Jerry Stephens Contracting Agencies: Montana Department of Transportation (MDT), Western Transportation Institute Measured Parameters: CR5000 Deck Performance: strain (bonded foil, vibrating wire) temperature (thermistors) CR10X weather: air temperature, wind speed, wind direction, barometric pressure, relative humidity) |
Near the small town of Saco, Montana three bridges were constructed less than one mile apart along the same highway corridor, Montana State Route 243. Because of their proximity to each other, each bridge experiences essentially identical demands from weather, traffic, and winter maintenance. To assess bridge deck performance, each of the bridges were instrumented then each bridge was fitted with a different type of reinforced concrete deck.
The instrumentation is primarily concentrated in a single driving lane of one 15 m span on each of the three bridges. Strain gages were placed in each bridge deck prior to casting the concrete. Three different strain gage technologies were used in each bridge: 35 Vishay foil strain gages bonded to reinforcing steel, 7 Vishay embedment-type strain gages suspended in concrete and 16 Geokon vibrating wire strain gages suspended in concrete.
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