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NATIONAL
NCHRP REPORT 654
COOPERATIVE
HIGHWAY
RESEARCH
PROGRAM
Evaluation and Repair Procedures
for Precast/Prestressed
Concrete Girders with
Longitudinal Cracking in the Web
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TRANSPORTATION RESEARCH BOARD 2010 EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE*
OFFICERS
CHAIR: Michael R. Morris, Director of Transportation, North Central Texas Council of Governments, Arlington
VICE CHAIR: Neil J. Pedersen, Administrator, Maryland State Highway Administration, Baltimore
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*Membership as of February 2010.
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NATIONAL COOPERATIVE HIGHWAY RESEARCH PROGRAM
NCHRP REPORT 654
Evaluation and Repair Procedures
for Precast/Prestressed Concrete Girders
with Longitudinal Cracking in the Web
Maher K. Tadros
UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA-LINCOLN
Lincoln, NE
Sameh S. Badie
GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY
Washington, DC
Christopher Y. Tuan
UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA-LINCOLN
Lincoln, NE
Subscriber Categories
Bridges and Other Structures · Highways · Materials
Research sponsored by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials
in cooperation with the Federal Highway Administration
TRANSPORTATION RESEARCH BOARD
WASHINGTON, D.C.
2010
www.TRB.org
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NATIONAL COOPERATIVE HIGHWAY NCHRP REPORT 654
RESEARCH PROGRAM
Systematic, well-designed research provides the most effective Project 18-14
approach to the solution of many problems facing highway ISSN 0077-5614
administrators and engineers. Often, highway problems are of local ISBN 978-0-309-11835-4
interest and can best be studied by highway departments individually Library of Congress Control Number 2010926177
or in cooperation with their state universities and others. However, the © 2010 National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
accelerating growth of highway transportation develops increasingly
complex problems of wide interest to highway authorities. These
problems are best studied through a coordinated program of COPYRIGHT INFORMATION
cooperative research.
Authors herein are responsible for the authenticity of their materials and for obtaining
In recognition of these needs, the highway administrators of the written permissions from publishers or persons who own the copyright to any previously
American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials published or copyrighted material used herein.
initiated in 1962 an objective national highway research program Cooperative Research Programs (CRP) grants permission to reproduce material in this
employing modern scientific techniques. This program is supported on publication for classroom and not-for-profit purposes. Permission is given with the
understanding that none of the material will be used to imply TRB, AASHTO, FAA, FHWA,
a continuing basis by funds from participating member states of the
FMCSA, FTA, or Transit Development Corporation endorsement of a particular product,
Association and it receives the full cooperation and support of the method, or practice. It is expected that those reproducing the material in this document for
Federal Highway Administration, United States Department of educational and not-for-profit uses will give appropriate acknowledgment of the source of
any reprinted or reproduced material. For other uses of the material, request permission
Transportation.
from CRP.
The Transportation Research Board of the National Academies was
requested by the Association to administer the research program
because of the Board's recognized objectivity and understanding of
NOTICE
modern research practices. The Board is uniquely suited for this
purpose as it maintains an extensive committee structure from which The project that is the subject of this report was a part of the National Cooperative Highway
Research Program conducted by the Transportation Research Board with the approval of
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objectivity; it maintains a full-time research correlation staff of
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COOPERATIVE RESEARCH PROGRAMS
CRP STAFF FOR NCHRP REPORT 654
Christopher W. Jenks, Director, Cooperative Research Programs
Crawford F. Jencks, Deputy Director, Cooperative Research Programs
David B. Beal, Senior Program Officer, Retired
Waseem Dekelbab, Senior Program Officer
Danna Powell, Senior Program Assistant
Eileen P. Delaney, Director of Publications
Hilary Freer, Senior Editor
NCHRP PROJECT 18-14 PANEL
Field of Materials and Construction--Area of Concrete Materials
Edward P. Wasserman, Tennessee DOT, Nashville, TN (Chair)
Andre V. Pavlov, Florida DOT, Tallahassee, FL
William E. Cook, Nebraska Concrete Paving Association, Lincoln, NE
Paul Finnerty, Maryland State Highway Administration, Hanover, MD
Z. John Ma, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN
Michael R. Pope, California DOT, Sacramento, CA
Chuck Prussack, Central Pre-Mix Prestress Company, Spokane, WA
Richard B. Stoddard, Washington State DOT, Tumwater, WA
Joey Hartmann, FHWA Liaison
Stephen F. Maher, TRB Liaison
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FOREWORD
By Waseem Dekelbab
Staff Officer
Transportation Research Board
This report establishes a user's manual for the acceptance, repair, or rejection of precast/
prestressed concrete girders with longitudinal web cracking. The report also proposes revi-
sions to the AASHTO LRFD Bridge Design Specifications and provides recommendations to
develop improved crack control reinforcement details for use in new girders. The material
in this report will be of immediate interest to bridge engineers.
Precast/prestressed concrete girders are widely used in the United States for bridge con-
struction. Longitudinal web cracks have been observed during prestress transfer, particu-
larly at the ends of girders. With the use of higher strength concrete, deeper girders, and sig-
nificantly higher prestress forces, these cracks are becoming more prevalent and, in some
cases, larger. Reactions to these cracks have ranged from doing nothing to rejecting girders.
Other reactions include debonding strands at the ends, reducing permissible prestress force,
reducing allowable compression stress at the time of transfer, injecting sealants into cracks,
and coating the ends of girders with sealants. Clearly, there is no consensus on the causes of
longitudinal cracking and what level of longitudinal cracking is unacceptable.
A thorough understanding of whether longitudinal web cracks are of structural signifi-
cance is needed. If these cracks are not structurally significant, an understanding of whether
they reduce durability is required. Although published guidance exists regarding acceptance
and repair criteria, these documents need validation.
The research was performed under NCHRP Project 18-14 by the University of Nebraska
Lincoln with the assistance of the George Washington University, Washington, DC. The
project established procedures for the acceptance, repair, or rejection of precast/prestressed
concrete girders with longitudinal web cracking. A user's manual for the application of these
procedures was prepared. The report also provides recommendations for improved crack
control reinforcement details for use in new girders, and proposes revisions to Article
5.10.10 of the AASHTO LRFD Bridge Design Specifications as warranted.
Appendices A through G from the research agency's final report are not published herein
but are available on the TRB website. These appendixes are titled as follows.
· Appendix A--Literature Review
· Appendix B--National Survey
· Appendix C--Structural Investigation & Full-Scale Girder Testing
· Appendix D--Sealant Specifications
· Appendix E--ASTM Specifications
· Appendix F--Field Inspection of Bridges
· Appendix G--Design Examples of End Zone Reinforcement
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AUTHOR ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The research reported herein was performed under NCHRP Project 18-14 by the Department of Civil
Engineering, University of Nebraska Lincoln, Nebraska, and the Civil and Environmental Engineering
Department, George Washington University, Washington, D.C. The work undertaken at George Wash-
ington University was under individual subcontract with the University of Nebraska Lincoln.
Maher K. Tadros, the Leslie D. Martin Professor of Civil Engineering, Department of Civil Engineer-
ing, University of Nebraska Lincoln, was the principal investigator and an author of this report. Sameh
S. Badie, Associate Professor of Civil Engineering, Civil and Environmental Engineering Department,
George Washington University, was a co-principal investigator and an author of this report. Christopher
Y. Tuan, Professor of Civil Engineering, Department of Civil Engineering, University of Nebraska
Lincoln, was a co-principal investigator.
The authors would like to express their gratitude to Mark Lafferty, Vice President/General Manager,
Concrete Industries Inc., Lincoln, Nebraska, and Steve Seguirant, Vice President and Director of Engi-
neering, Concrete Technology Corporation (CTC), Tacoma, Washington, who served as consultants on
this project, not only for their technical contributions during the various phases of the project, but also
for their generous donations of the girders used for testing. The authors also wish to thank Todd Culp of
Coreslabs, Inc., Omaha, Nebraska, for his timely coordination in the storage and transportation of the
donated girders shipped to Omaha for testing. Also, the authors would like to thank Chad Saunders and
Joe Rose of Bayshore Concrete Products Corporation, Cape Charles, Virginia; Don Thomson of Construc-
tion Products, Inc., Jackson, Tennessee; and Standard Concrete Products, Inc., Tampa, Florida, for their
generous donations of the girders used for testing.
The authors would like to thank Mark Traynowicz, State Bridge Engineer; the engineers and personnel
of the Bridge Division of the Nebraska Department of Roads (NDOR); Julius F.J. Volgyi, Assistant State
Structure and Bridge Engineer; William F. Via, Material Engineer; Christopher R. Williams, Structures
and Bridge Safety Inspection Engineer; and the engineers and personnel of the Structure and Bridge Divi-
sion of the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) for their help and support, which allowed the
authors to inspect many concrete bridges in Nebraska and Virginia.
The following individuals provided assistance during various phases of the project: Gary L. Krause,
Associate Professor; Kromel Hanna, Assistant Research Professor; Christie J. Hasenkamp, research grad-
uate student; and Kelvin J. Lein, Senior Laboratory Technician at the University of Nebraska Lincoln, as
well as Amir Arab, George Washington University PhD candidate. Their assistance and contributions are
greatly appreciated and acknowledged.
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CONTENTS
1 Summary
4 Chapter 1 Background
4 1.1 Problem Statement
4 1.2 Control of Cracking in Concrete Structures
4 1.2.1 Evolution of Permissible Crack Widths
7 1.2.2 Sources of End Zone Cracking
9 1.2.3 Design of End Zone Reinforcement
10 1.3 Methods and Materials Used for Repair
10 1.3.1 Epoxy Injection Procedure by PCI Manual for the Evaluation and
Repair of Precast, Prestressed Concrete Bridge Products
11 1.3.2 Batching Materials and Sealants
11 1.4 Objective and Scope of the Research
11 1.5 Applicability of Results to Highway Practice
12 1.6 Organization of the Report
13 Chapter 2 Research Approach
15 Chapter 3 Research Findings
15 3.1 National Survey
16 3.2 Structural Investigation and Full-Scale Girder Testing
16 3.2.1 Introduction
17 3.2.2 Description of the Test Specimens and Test Setup
21 3.2.3 Test Setup
22 3.2.4 Test Results
30 3.2.5 Full-Scale Testing Conclusions
32 3.3 Epoxy Injection Testing
32 3.3.1 Introduction
32 3.3.2 Description of the Test Specimens
35 3.3.3 Preparation of the Test Specimens
36 3.3.4 Test Results
38 3.3.5 Discussion and Conclusions
40 3.4 Durability Testing
40 3.4.1 Introduction
40 3.4.2 Durability Test, Stage I
42 3.4.3 Durability Test, Stage II
47 3.4.4 Durability Test, Stage III
49 3.4.5 Chemical Composition of the Sealers
49 3.5 Field Inspections of Bridges
49 3.5.1 Introduction
50 3.5.2 Nebraska Department of Roads (NDOR)
53 3.5.3 Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT)
58 3.5.4 Bridge Field Inspection Conclusions
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58 3.6 Manual of Acceptance, Repair, or Rejection
59 3.7 Improved Crack Control Reinforcement Details for Use in New Girders
61 3.8 Proposed Revisions to the AASHTO LRFD Bridge Design Specifications
62 Chapter 4 Conclusions, Recommendations, and
Suggested Future Research
62 4.1 Conclusions
62 4.2 Implementation of Research Findings in Highway Communities
63 4.3 Suggestions for Future Research
64 References
65 Appendices
