摘要: |
Concrete is the most-used construction material for bridges in the world, and the application of prestressing to bridges has grown rapidly and steadily. According to the Federal Highway Administration's 1994 National Bridge Inventory data, from 1950 to the early 1990s, prestressed concrete bridges have gone from being virtually nonexistent to representing over 50% of all bridges built in the United States. Prestressing has played an important role in extending the span capability of concrete bridges. By the late 1990s, spliced-girder spans reached a record 100 m (330 ft). Construction of segmental concrete bridges began in the United States in 1974. Currently, close to 200 segmental concrete bridges have been built or are under construction, with spans up to 240 m (800 ft). Late in the 1970s, cable-stayed construction raised the bar for concrete bridges. By 1982, the Sunshine Skyway Bridge in Tampa, Florida, had set a new record for concrete bridges, with a main span of 365 m (1,200 ft). The next year, the Dames Point Bridge in Jacksonville, Florida, extended the record to 400 m (1,300 ft). Further details on concrete bridges are provided in this paper. |