Highway bridges are frequently constructed as simple span structures with steel or concrete girders and a cast-in-place concrete deck, spanning from one pier to another. At each end of the simple span deck, a joint is provided for deck movement due to temperature, shrinkage, and creep. Bridge deck joints are expensive and pose many problems with regard to bridge maintenance. Elimination of deck...

Concrete bridge decks are prone to ice accumulation. The use of road salts and chemicals for deicing is cost effective but causes damage to concrete and corrosion of reinforcing steel in concrete bridge decks. This problem is a major concern to transportation officials and public works due to rapid degradation of existing concrete pavements and bridge decks. The use of insulation materials for ...

The development of low-cost wireless sensor networks has resulted in resurgence in the development of ambient vibration monitoring methods to assess the in-service condition of highway bridges. However, a reliable approach towards assessing the health of an in-service bridge and identifying and localizing damage without a priori knowledge of the vibration response history has yet to be formulat...

The knowledge of the process of the deterioration of structural resistance is crucial for existing bridge assessment. However, precisely modeling the process of loading also affects the evaluation. Indeed traffic loading is one of the main loads that a bridge is subjected to in its service time. This paper investigates the role of traffic loading on the time-dependent reliability of a given bri...

This report shows that safe extension of the service life of existing bridge structures is possible through bridge health monitoring and structural response modification. To understand bridge health monitoring and structural response modification and control, it is necessary to examine: 1) common bridge vulnerabilities, 2) bridge loading models, 3) response modification devices, and 4) bridge m...

The Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) was used to characterize the bridge material selection decisions of highway officials across the United States. Understanding product choices by utilizing the AHP allowed us to develop strategies for increasing the use of timber in bridge construction. State Department of Transportation engineers, private consulting engineers, and local highway officials w...

Operational modal testing and analysis is a direct and efficient way to understand the dynamic properties of full scale bridges. For the purpose of bridge modeling, monitoring, condition assessment, damage detection, maintenance and rehabilitation, this paper is intended to share ideas and experiences that are devoted to innovative applications in full scale bridges when the bridge modal parame...