Preliminary Investigation of the Systematic Approach to the Repair Versus Replacement Decision-Making Process for Deteriorated Concrete Bridge Decks

摘要

Concrete bridge deck deterioration, especially premature deterioration, is a major problem for the state transportation agencies throughout the United States. Moreover, this deck deterioration, which manifests itself in the form of cracking, scaling and spalling, accounts for a large portion of the number of the nation's structurally deficient bridges. In particular, the New England states have expressed concern over the dilemma of repair versus replacement strategies for those decks on the grey zone (deck condition code 4-6). Thus, the purpose of this thesis is to provide a preliminary investigation into the systematic approach to the repair versus replacement decision-making process for deteriorated concrete decks. For a large number of states, the existing decision-making process is characterized by a piecemeal synthesis oriented towards emphasizing the advantages of one repair or replacement alternative and underestimating its disadvantages. An actual cost-effective comparison of all possible alternatives is not routinely undertaken.