Concrete bridges: inspection, repair, strengthening, testing and load capacity evaluation

The purpose of the guidelines and prescriptions given in this book is to assist the engineer in a simple and practical workman-like manner to: inspect various concrete bridges in a highway network and establish their comprehensive inventory; rate the condition of each structure's elements; and provide appropriate information in order to be able to determine which structures require routine maintenance, which require major rehabilitation, and which require full or partial replacement. The book is organized in the following chapters: (1) An Overview; (2) Maintenance Policy Principles; (3) Types of Distress Usually Observed in Various Types of Bridges; (4) Cracks in Concrete - Types, Causes and Repair; (5) Bridge Inspection; (6) Bridge Structure Repair; (7) Bridge-Structure Strengthening; (8) Strengthening of Concrete Bridges by External Prestressing; (9) Strengthening of Concrete Structures by Externally Bonded Steel Plates; (10) Rehabilitation of Bridge Foundations; (11) Structure Deficiencies, Remedies and Preventions - A Summary; (12) Bridge Monitoring; (13) Load Capacity Evaluation of Existing Bridges; (14) The Bailey Bridge - A pre-engineered ready-to-assemble standard-panel-system Bridge-Deck - particularly useful in Emergencies; (15) Diagnostic Testing; (16) Load Testing; and (17) Bridge Disasters - Some Reflections. Appendices are: (1) Maintenance of Timber Bridges; (2) Specifications for Certain Repair Items; (3) Metric Units and Conversion Factors; (4) Some General Data; (5) Properties of Geometric Sections and Shapes; and (6) Mathematical Data. A list of references for additional reading is provided.