摘要: |
Approximately 90% of the bridges in the Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) inventory are reinforced concrete (RC) structures and the construction and maintenance of RC bridges constitute a major portion of the up-front costs in MoDOT bridge budget. Therefore, the development and utilization of new technologies that reduce the amount of steel need for safe RC structures, and that prolong the useful lifetimes of steel RC members, beam-column joints, and column-footing connections could have a significant impact on MoDOT operations, especially as the steel price continues to increase. More importantly, using less reinforcement in joint and connection areas will alleviate the congestion of reinforcing bars, and reduce the time-consuming construction process from rebar caging to concrete casting, and will ultimately improve the quality and thus structural safety of a constructed RC bridge. In order to reduce the RC bridge construction cost by 10%, innovative yet cost-effective reinforcing bars need to be developed that can significantly increase concrete-steel bond strength and offer long-term corrosion resistance compared to conventional steel rebar. |