County engineers are charged with maintaining thousands of bridges on Iowa’s secondary road system. In bridges built with T-shaped concrete beams, individual beams are typically connected with longitudinal joints. These joints are vulnerable to environmental and mechanical stresses, leading to frequent maintenance and repair needs.
New materials offer promising alternatives for these longitudinal joints, not only improving the strength and durability of individual joints but also increasing the service life of the entire bridge structure. Focusing on short-span bridges, researchers developed and tested a new design with an ultra-high-performance concrete longitudinal joint and reinforcing bars made of corrosion-resistant, high-strength steel. They found significant potential for stronger and longer-lasting bridges.
This new bridge system will likely offer significant cost savings in the long run. The next steps for Iowa bridge engineers are to explore construction considerations in the field and evaluate the performance of this innovative bridge system in real life.
Learn more about this project in Iowa DOT’s new research brief.
Delivering targeted solutions for Iowa's transportation future.
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