Highways for Life Projects and Accelerated Bridge Construction in Washington State

The Federal Highway Administration as part of the “Every Day Counts” initiative is actively promoting accelerated bridge construction (ABC) in an effort to reduce the construction time while improving work-zone safety and minimizing the environmental impacts. The “Every Day Counts” initiative promotes Highways For Life (HFL) projects allowing states to implement the new and innovative technologies for better performance of prefabricated bridge elements in seismic zones. Prefabricated bridge components are in increasing demand for accelerated bridge construction. Precasting eliminates the need for forming, casting, and curing of concrete in the work zones, making bridge construction safer while improving quality and durability. In prefabricated concrete systems, connections are often made by grouting bars that project from one member into ducts embedded in another. For bridge bents, bar-duct systems can be assembled rapidly if a few large bars and ducts are used to connect the column and cap beam. Lateral load tests on precast bent connections have shown that it has strength and ductility similar to those of a comparable cast-in-place connection. This paper describes the Washington State Department of Transportation adoption of ABC and the ongoing HFL project using precast concrete bridge bent connections that are suitable for high seismic zones.