Pui-shum B. Shing
Published: 2011
Total Pages: 0
Get eBook
Most of the recent highway bridges built in California have post-tensioned, cast-in-place, concrete box-girder superstructures rigidly connected to bridge columns. However, methods provided in the current (2007 and 2010) AASHTO LRFD Bridge Design Specifications for estimating long-term prestress losses are essentially based on research focused on pretensioned members and are not adequate for post-tensioned bridge girders. Long-term prestress losses in post-tensioned members are expected to be smaller than those in pretensioned members due to two main factors. One is the higher amount of mild reinforcement present in posttensioned bridge girders, which provides a higher restraint to the creep and shrinkage of concrete, and the other is that post-tensioning could take place a long while after the girders have been cast and the concrete has reached a more mature age, which results in a lower creep. The main objectives of the study reported here were to assess the accuracy of the long-term prestress-loss estimation methods given in the current AASHTO LRFD Specifications for post-tensioned bridge girders, and to develop more suitable analysis methods for these members.