REHABILITATION OF

RCC/PSC BRIDGES
IRBM PROVISIONS
 PARA 211 2 (a)
External pre-stressing of concrete girders in longitudinal and
vertical directions can be successfully adopted as a
strengthening measure.
Vertical pre-stressing may be adopted to prevent separation of
deck slabs which are generally cast-in-situ over pre-cast girders.
Longitudinal pre-stressing may be adopted to strengthen the
girder and to increase it’s flexural strength. Longitudinal pre-
stressing may be resorted to in cases where girders are
required to carry increased loads or the existing pre-stressed
cables have deteriorated.
IRBM PROVISIONS
 PARA 211 2 (b)
 Established techniques such as external
bonding of steel plates etc. can also be adopted
for which special literature may be referred
 CONCEPT
 Strengthening scheme should
achieve ‘Compatibility’ and
‘Continuity’ in the structural behavior
between original and repaired
structure
 Strengthening effect can participate
primarily only for live loads and
subsequently imposed loads
METHODS
 Replacing poor quality or defective
material
Replacement of Concrete/ Reinforcement
Replacement of girder
 Attaching additional load bearing member
Additional supplementary member
Adding external RCC
Epoxy bonded steel plates
Fiber Wrap
Adding external pre-stress
Adding additional supplementary pre-stress
 Various combination of above
Replacement of Concrete
 RCC
To be done after unloading of
Structure
 PSC
To be done after loading of
Structure
Replacement of girder
 High skill operation
 Cut through slab, diaphragms and lift
the girder
Girder can be cut in middle and can be
removed from below
 New girder to be nearly of same type
as original, cambers should match
 Cast slab and diaphragms
Additional
Supplementary Member

 Additional Girder
 Additional transverse support
Adding External RCC
 Overlays
 RCC Structure
After unloading structure
 PSC Structure
Apply preload, repair concrete and
construct concrete corbels, after
attaining strength- remove preload
 Epoxy bonded steel
plates
 Studies done primarily by the “Swiss
Federal Material testing Institute”
 Enlarge total reinforcement cross
section by bonding additional plates
Provides flexural and shear strength
 Any grade of steel plates is suitable
 Thickness preferably between 3mm
to 6mm
 Application potential

• Insufficient reinforcement
• Increase of load
• Corrosion of reinforcement
• Change of code or in use
• Excessive deflections
• Structural/Fire damage
• Seismic upgrade
Epoxy bonded steel
plates
 Sand blast steel plate surface
 Apply solvent type primer with epoxy
base and wrap sheets in polyethylene
film to protect against corrosion
Resin NUVOKAT – PRIMER YELLOW
630.1.4.0005, Hardener NUVOKAT
875.0.0.0001/2, Thinner 990.0.0.0152 by
Dr. W. Maeder AG
Two coats of 30 microns each
 Sandblast, grind concrete surface
Epoxy bonded steel
plates
 Fill cavities with epoxy mortar, finish
surface within deviation of 5 mm in
4m
 Mix adhesive and apply in 1mm to
3mm thickness on steel plate
Epoxy resin adhesive XB 3074 A/B
– Viscosity 6.5 mPa s at 25 C
– Pot life at 20 c 60 min
– Compressive Strength 800 Kg/cm2
– Bending Tensile 250 Kg/cm2
– E 6200 Kg/cm2
 Epoxy Bonded Steel
Plates
 Press steel plate against concrete
 Cover butt joints with same thickness
plate, 40 cm overlap is OK for 3 mm plate
 Matures after about 7 days
 Apply Anti- weathering paint on exposed
steel surface
NUVOKAT LW enamel, glossy, chromium
oxide, green 563.8.7.0001 by Dr. W. Maeder
AG
Two coats of 30 microns each
Epoxy Bonded Carbon
Laminate
 Same as steel plates
 Properties are better than steel
plates
 Steel vs. Composites
Steel Composite
• Low material cost • High material cost
• High installed cost • Low installed cost
• Corrosive • Non-corrosive
• Heavy • Lightweight
• Fabrication required • No fabrication required
• High maintenance • Low maintenance
CASE STUDY USING
CARBON LAMINATES
Sika CarboDur Plates
• Type S, M and H
• Width of Plates: 50 - 150 mm
• Thickness of Plates: 1,2 - 1,4 mm

Sikadur 30
• Structural Epoxy Adhesive
 Mechanical Properties
Sika CarboDur Sika CarboDur Sika CarboDur
S M N

E-modulus 1,65,000 N/mm2 2,10,000 3,00,000 N/mm2

N/mm2

Tensile Strength 2,800 N/mm2 2,400 N/mm2 1,300 N/mm2

Average 3,050 N/mm2 2,900 N/mm2 1,450 N/mm2

measured
failure tensile
strength

Strain at failure > 1.7% > 1.2% >0.45%

Sika CarboShear® L-shaped Plate
CarboShear® L
Carbo
Shear
L Width:40mm
Thickness:1.4mm
Leg length:200 x 500mm
300 x 700mm
500 x 1000mm

Sikadur® -30
Structural Epoxy Adhesive
• Br No. 29 - Sealdah Division. ER
• Span: 7 nos RCC T-beams of
10.80 m span
Age- Only 40 years
• Problems-
•Corrosion and spalling
•Cavities in end beams
•Delamination of concrete.
• Earlier repairs with cement mortar,
epoxy mortar, shot creating were not
effective.
PROCEDURE
• Remove damaged concrete and
wash loose particles

• Additional reinforcements by
welding and painting
Damaged beam of distressed bridge-reinforcement totally
exposed and corroded. Earlier repairs not holding at all.
Additional bars and stirrups are being welded.
After cleaning and welding of reinforcements, the bars attended with ARMATEC-108
PROCEDURE
• Fill cavities with grouting

• Build up concrete using cement

sand mixture with Sikalatex
Special type form work done along with fixing of nozzles, Cementasious
grouting under progress
 PROCEDURE

• Apply SIKADUR 30 Adhesive (1mm

thick)
• Laminate with Sika Carbodur
Plates
• Apply Anti-corrosive paint
(Sikagard 550w) on top of
laminate
COST ESTIMATE OF THE WORK
SL DESCRIPTION OF WORK UNIT QTY. RATE/ TOTAL AMOUNT
NO UNIT (Rs)
(Rs)

1. Repair of big cavities in RCC Beam by Kg 2000 525/= 10,50,000/=

pumping Non-shrink cement based flowable
high strength grout.

2. Strengthening of repair T-Beams by Metre 30 5,100/ 1,53,000/=

laminating one no 150 mm wide & 1.2 mm =
thick Carbon Fibre Reinforceed plastic
plate CARBODOUR S1512 to the bottom of
RCC T-Beam & using its adhesive SIKADUR
30 (LP) and along with 4 nos L-shaped
Carbodour plate.

3. Patch repairing of all distressed concrete M2 10 315/= 3,150/=

in RCC Deck Slab as per enclosed
specification.

4. Surface preparation, supplying & applying M2 200 105/= 21,000/=

Acrylic Polymer – Cement Slurry protective
water proofing coating (2 coats) to the
bottom surface of RCC Deck Slab.

Total cost of work was Rs. Rs. 12,27,150/-

FIBRE WRAP
 FIBRE WRAP

• First time in 1930’s in USA

• Usage increased from 1980s in EUROPE,
JAPAN
• Widely being used in USA,CANADA, NEW
NEALAND, AUSTRALIA, KOREA,
JAPAN, CHAINA, HONG KONG,
SINGAPORE, THAILAND
 FIBRE WRAP

 More than 10,000 technical papers with case

studies available.
 Guidelines, codes and manuals available for
detailing about material properties and
design philosophy.
 Types of fibres
 Carbon fibres
 Glass fibres
 Aramid fibres
 CARBON FIBRES

•Mostly used in Civil Engg. Works

•Do not absorb water, do not corrode,
and are resistant to chemical solutions
•They withstand FATIGUE excellently
•Do not show any creep or relaxation.
 GLASS FIBRE
•Cheaper than carbon and Aramid
• Mostly used in boat industry
•More DUCTILE than carbon fibres,
and best suited for SEISMIC retrofit
•Sensitive to stress corrosion and
have some problems with relaxation.
 ARAMID FIBRES
•Used for making HELMETS, BULLET
PROOF garments
•Sensitive to elevated temperatures,
moisture and U V
•Sensitive to stress corrosion and have
some problems with relaxation.
Mechanical properties of common
strengthening material
Manufacturers of composites in India
 FOCROC :
Product : NITOWRAP composIte fibre wrapping system –
available both carbon fibre (Nitowrap CF) and glass fibre
(Nitowrap GF)

 SIKA :
Product : SIKAWRAP

 KRISHNA CONCHEM
Product : Gold bond 121

 MBT
Product : M Brace composite strengthening system
 KEY APPLICATION AREAS

 Strengthening of columns for enhancing load-

carrying capacity
 Strengthening beams for enhanced flexure &
shear
strengths.
 Strengthening of slabs, retaining walls etc.
 Strengthening of bridge piers, jetty piles, tunnels,
chimneys etc. for earthquake resistance.
 Act as a barrier to Carbon dioxide, Chloride,
Sulphates etc., for RCC structures.
 Rehabilitation of vertically cracked masonry pier of
Br. No 220 DN

 Span : 2 x 18.3 + 2 x 16.2m

Superstructure : Steel plate girder

 Problem : Vertical crack in the pier

 Conventional techniques were unsuitable.
 Construction of new bridge at a cost of 7.0crores
 PROCEDURE

Deep pointing
Plastering
Epoxy grouting was done along the crack
Cement grouting in the other areas
Wrapping done in two layers
UV resistant coating
 Work done in 40 days during july, 2005

 Cost of work : Rs.7 Lakhs

Br.No.220
COLUMNS(PIERS)
 original column

y
concrete infill
steel jacket corners removed
plate

original
grout gap 25mm column

Rectangular column
(elliptical jacket)
Circular column

CONFINEMENT OF COLUMNS BY STEEL JACKETING

• Two halves of steel jacket plates are site welded

• Acts similar to confining reinforcement

• Effective as passive reinforcement during ultimate loadings
 Concrete/
Micro concrete
jacket original
column
Hoops or
spirals
existing
column
cross
links

Corners
removed

Confining stirrups
Rebar
Doweled
Into
footing

Rectangular column
Circular column (section)
(elevation)

CONFINEMENT OF COLUMNS BY CONCRETE JACKETING

• Jacketing using concrete/micro concrete are easier to install
• Any jacketing is effective over round shapes

• Not intended to enhance axial load capacity

 Cap beam

as-built
as-built

link beam
retrofitted retrofitted

Elevation Moments Displaced shape

Retrofit for reduced displacements

USE OF LINK BEAM TO IMPROVE TRANSVERSE SEISMIC
RESPONSE OF MULTI-COLUMN BENTS

• Lateral strength of column bent enhanced and displacements reduced

• If link beam has low strength, plastic hinges are formed in it

• If link beam has high strength, plastic hinges are formed in the columns,
above and below the link beam and the column requires strengthening by
jacketing
ADDING EXTERNAL PRE-STRESS

Apply-
preload, repair concrete,
after attaining strength- remove
preload. Construct jacking
corbels and post tension
 Advantages
 Can be done under traffic
 Useful for all materials having good compressive
strength
 Adds no extra weight
 Access to be created for anchoring and
deviation points
Application differs from structure to structure
CASE STUDIES
CAUVERY BRIDGE
CAUVERY BRIDGE

External cable
CAUVERY BRIDGE

Load Test
CAUVERY BRIDGE

Anchorage
CAUVERY BRIDGE
 CAUVERY BRIDGE

Anchor in position
CAUVERY BRIDGE
Los Chorros Viaduct
(Venezuela)
 Span- 40/60/120/60/40
 Built in- 1969
 Problems
– Mid span deflection- 410mm
– Deflected shape exhibited sharp edge
– Cracks of 1 to 1.5 mm near closure pour
 Reasons
– Higher superimposed loads
– Design defects
– Insufficient pre-camber
Los Chorros
Viaduct(Venezuela)
 Rehabilitation Plan
Replacement of heavy parapets by light weight
parapets
Provision of variable thickness surfacing to smoothen
sharp kink at mid span
External pre-stressing
 R.C brackets to support
Longitudinal View bent tube ends
Motorway Viaduct, Holl
(Switzerland)
 Span- 31 to 35m (total 404m)
 Problems
– Cracks near supports
– Deterioration of expansion joints
 Rehabilitation plan
– Convert simply supported spans in continuous span
– Pre stressed concrete jackets over pier
– Web thickening
– Additional Diaphragm
– Bottom compression slab
Stadium Beam (Georgia)
Adding additional
supplementary pre-stress
 RCC
 PSC
Apply preload, repair concrete, after attaining
strength- remove preload. Install metal sleeve
jacket and epoxy grout
Drill holes and apply pre-stress in transverse
direction