Recommendations for Design, Construction, and Maintenance of Bridge Approach Slabs: Synthesis Report

摘要

Bridge approaches provide smooth and safe transition of vehicles from highway pavements to bridge structures. However, settlement of the bridge approach slab relative to bridge decks usually creates a bump in the roadway. The bump causes inconvenience to passengers and increases the cost of maintenance and repairing of the distressed approach slabs. Typically, the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) spends millions of dollars annually to mitigate the bump problem across the state. The present research aims to better understand the mechanisms that cause the bump problem, to review currently used methods to mitigate this problem around the world, and to develop the methods that are appropriate for researching them in real field conditions. As a part of this research, a synthesis was prepared by conducting a comprehensive literature review of the past research on the subject and also by conducting a survey with all 25 districts to understand the local conditions that contribute to the bump problem in the bridges. The literature review also identified several technologies that were used to mitigate the problem. All these details along with district wide surveys are covered in this synthesis report.