TRB AFF00 Structures Section Top 2005 Problem Statements Presented to

AASHTO HSCOBS T-11, Technical Committee for Research by

Mary Lou Ralls, P.E. Chair, AFF00 June 28, 2005 1

TRB AFF10, General Structures & TRB AFF20, Steel Bridges: Guidelines for the Design and Construction of Steel Orthotropic Deck Bridges  GOAL: Steel orthotropic decks with minimum 75-

year service life and minimum maintenance  NEEDED: Guidelines that can be used without

specialist design effort and custom research to produce satisfactory results; compilation of latest laboratory testing, field testing, and analytical studies (e.g., on wearing surfaces, fatigue, loading, overall behavior, fabrication) 2

TRB AFF10, General Structures & TRB AFF20, Steel Bridges: Guidelines for the Design and Construction of Steel Orthotropic Deck Bridges, continued  READINESS: Increased concern about variable

behavior of deck system; international interest in research collaboration; increased need for rapid lightweight deck construction and replacement  PRODUCT: Design and construction guidelines

for steel orthotropic bridge decks  FUNDING / PERIOD: $450,000 / 33 months  GRAND CHALLENGE: 2, Optimizing Structural

Systems

3

TRB AFF30, Concrete Bridges: Analysis and Control of Cracking at Ends of Pretensioned Concrete Girders  GOAL: Pretensioned concrete beams with no end

cracking of concern  NEEDED: Understanding of the primary causes

of end cracking and what level of end cracking is acceptable or repairable

4

TRB AFF30, Concrete Bridges: Analysis and Control of Cracking at Ends of Pretensioned Concrete Girders, continued  READINESS: Cracking more prevalent with

today’s beams - higher strength concrete, deeper, and significantly higher prestress forces  PRODUCT: Recommendations for design and

production practice to eliminate or reduce end cracking; guidelines and specifications for acceptance and repair of end cracking  FUNDING / PERIOD: $300,000 / 24 months  GRAND CHALLENGE: 1, Extending Service Life 5

TRB AFF40, Dynamics and Field Testing of Bridges: Remote Structure Monitoring Techniques for Health Monitoring  GOAL: The ability to continuously and

economically monitor condition of complex bridges and detect damage at earliest possible stage (e.g., to monitor scour, substructure movement, cracking, seismic damage, corrosion, overloads, etc.)  NEEDED: Remote systems that eliminate hard-

wire communication and its maintenance, for improved reliability in monitoring complex bridges 6

TRB AFF40, Dynamics and Field Testing of Bridges: Remote Structure Monitoring Techniques for Health Monitoring, continued  READINESS: Significant advancements have

occurred in sensors, computer technology, and post-processing algorithms  PRODUCT: Guide for use of remote state-of-the-

art technologies for short- and long-term health monitoring of complex bridges  FUNDING / PERIOD: $250,000 / 20 months  GRAND CHALLENGE: 5, Monitoring Bridge

Condition

7

TRB AFF50, Seismic Design of Bridges: Development of Design Strategies for Bridges Crossing Active Earthquake Faults  GOAL: Bridges with minimum 75-year service

life and minimum maintenance in seismic regions  NEEDED: Guidelines for design of bridges across

active faults to survive major earthquakes and large fault displacements (translational and vertical), with passage of emergency vehicles as a minimum 8

TRB AFF50, Seismic Design of Bridges: Development of Design Strategies for Bridges Crossing Active Earthquake Faults, continued  READINESS: Interest due to recent Turkey and

Taiwan bridge failures with details similar to current U.S. practice; potential for success demonstrated by survival of trans-Alaska oil pipeline to recent earthquake  PRODUCT: Design standards and manual of

practice for bridges crossing active faults  FUNDING / PERIOD: $500,000 / 36-42 months  GRAND CHALLENGE: 2, Optimizing Structural

Systems

9

TRB AFF60, Tunnels and Underground Structures: Improved Contracting Practices for Underground Construction  GOAL: Tunnel projects that come in on time and

under budget  NEEDED: Improved underground construction

contracting practices that take advantage of the lessons learned since 1974 publication currently used

10

TRB AFF60, Tunnels and Underground Structures: Improved Contracting Practices for Underground Construction, continued  READINESS: Interest from American

Underground-Construction Association to collaborate to increase efficiency and reduce industry confusion and costs  PRODUCT: Updated manual on underground

construction contracting practices  FUNDING / PERIOD: $250,000 / 18 months  GRAND CHALLENGE: 3, Accelerating

Construction

11

TRB AFF70, Culverts and Hydraulic Structures: Use of Field-Measured Soil Stiffness in Culvert Backfill Installation Quality Control  GOAL: Optimum performance of complex buried

soil-pipe systems  NEEDED: Correlation of field gage soil-stiffness

measurements with laboratory stiffness and other data, to assess suitability of lightweight portable gages; updated construction installation specifications that utilize field-measured soil stiffness of embedment and backfill material to verify structural suitability 12

TRB AFF70, Culverts and Hydraulic Structures: Use of Field-Measured Soil Stiffness in Culvert Backfill Installation Quality Control, continued  READINESS: Research for better understanding

of complex buried soil-pipe systems; lightweight portable gages available for rapid measurements  PRODUCT: Standard test method and

specifications for use of field-measured soil stiffness in pipe backfill installations  FUNDING / PERIOD: $250,000 / 24 months  GRAND CHALLENGE: 2, Optimizing Structural

Systems

13

TRB AFF80, Fiber-Reinforced Polymers: Rapid Construction of Prefabricated Substructure Systems for Durable and Sustainable Bridges  GOAL: Prefabricated hybrid concrete/FRP

substructure systems with minimum 75-year service life and minimum maintenance  NEEDED: Innovative prefabricated concrete-

filled FRP-tube substructures, with durable connection details and FRP acting as formwork, structural reinforcement, and environmental protective jacket for concrete 14

TRB AFF80, Fiber-Reinforced Polymers: Rapid Construction of Prefabricated Substructure Systems for Durable and Sustainable Bridges, continued  READINESS: Increased need for rapid

construction; research findings show potential; recent construction projects with SIP FRP forms  PRODUCT: Design and construction guidelines

and specifications for prefabricated concrete-filled FRP-tube substructure systems  FUNDING / PERIOD: $600,000 / 30 months  GRAND CHALLENGE: 2, Optimizing Structural

Systems

15

TRB AFH70, Fabrication and Inspection of Metal Structures: Improved Non-Destructive Evaluation of Full Penetration Steel Bridge Welds  GOAL: Full-penetration weld non-destructive

evaluation (NDE) techniques that are optimized for service and production  NEEDED: Weld metal quality that is suitable for

in-service performance of steel bridge splices; comparison of quality measurement by radiography (RT) and ultrasonic testing (UT); suitability of automatic and semi-automatic UT; optimal NDE sampling rate 16

TRB AFH70, Fabrication and Inspection of Metal Structures: Improved Non-Destructive Evaluation of Full Penetration Steel Bridge Welds, continued  READINESS: Automatic and semi-automatic UT

techniques are mature and use in other industries including overseas bridge fabricators  PRODUCT: Serviceability-based acceptance /

rejection criteria; guidelines for use of semiautomatic UT inspection; sampling criteria  FUNDING / PERIOD: $600,000 / 36 months  GRAND CHALLENGE: 2, Optimizing Structural

Systems

17

Bridge Information Modeling for the Lifecycle  GOAL: 3D design that generates a data model for

improved design, fabrication, construction and maintenance  NEEDED: Bridge unified modeling language

(bridgeUML) diagrams and corresponding bridge extensible markup language (bridgeXML) schema to support electronic data exchange for interoperability throughout the design, fabrication, erection, and in-service functions

18

Bridge Information Modeling for the Lifecycle, continued  READINESS: Modeling and data transfer is used

in other structures arenas; industry wants to development technology for the bridge market  PRODUCT: Unified Modeling Language (UML)

data model for bridges; bridgeXML schema for the bridge life-cycle  FUNDING / PERIOD: 4 years / $600,000  GRAND CHALLENGE: 3, Accelerating

Construction; 5 Monitoring Condition 19