Construction of Bridge Decks with Precast, Prestressed Concrete Deck Planks

摘要

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the construction and early performance of two 1999-2000 bridge deck replacement state contracts in Illinois that included precast, prestressed concrete (PPC) deck planks. Metal stay-in-place forms used in one of the contracts will also be briefly addressed in this report. In 1997, the department and the prestress industry agreed to construct a few demonstration projects. The following year, the department began looking for some bridge projects that would be good candidates for incorporating PPC deck planks. The two PPC bridge deck projects were constructed as a deciding factor on lifting the moratorium on PPC deck planks. For these projects, the thickness of the planks was increased to 3.0 or 3.5 inches, instead of the 2.5-inch planks used in the past. The maturity of the planks was required to be a minimum of 60 days at the time of the deck pour. The seating method for the 1999-2000 PPC planks included pre-installing leveling screws for filet adjustment and using polystyrene forms to contain the concrete between the planks. The construction and early performance of the two PPC bridge deck projects was evaluated. This report includes several conclusions and recommendations based on the findings.