Instrumented Bridge

TTI’s Instrumented Bridge is an innovative bridge design at TTI’s Proving Grounds Research Facility that is appropriate for spans of 50 feet or less. The bridge uses a new concrete spread slab beam bridge design. Conventional slab beam bridges have precast concrete slab beams placed immediately adjacent to one another with a cast-in-place (CIP) topping slab. While these bridges are used extensively, they are more expensive than traditional prestressed I-beam structures on a per-square-foot basis. This project investigated the use of precast concrete slab beams that are spread apart with precast concrete panel (PCP) stay-in-place forms between beams and a CIP concrete deck. Using fewer beams is expected to reduce construction costs. The test bridge was instrumented with multiple load cells, and strain gages and string potentiometers are installed during testing. The load cells are located at each beam end to determine how the load is distributed.

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