Abstract
During the summer of 2019, seven stress-laminated deck timber bridges were evaluated to assess their field performance and serviceability. These bridges were originally constructed during a six year period (1988-1994) using hardwood lumber as part of a national program initiative in the USA. Its aim was to increase the use of wood in transportation structures primarily in the rural regions of the country. To assess bridge performance, comprehensive visual inspections were conducted and advanced inspection tools were utilized to accurately assess the bridge superstructure components using a more quantitative and reliable method. In addition, in-situ stressing bar forces were measured using hydraulic equipment and steel hardware. This paper elaborates on the current condition of two of these bridges and makes a comparison to previously collected data gathered through previous monitoring studies. Generally, the field performance of the evaluated stress-laminated deck bridges can be categorized as varying levels of unsatisfactory performance. Ongoing maintenance is recommended including stressing bar retensioning (every 2 to 5 years) to ensure interlaminar stresses are sufficient to ensure wheel loads are distributed across the bridge deck in an efficient manner
Keywords
Stress-laminated,
hardwood,
bar force,
maintenance,
performance,
non-destructive
Citation
Dahlberg, J.M.; Wacker, J.P. 2021. Field evaluation of stress-laminated hardwood timber bridges with extended service life. In: Proceedings of the World Conference on Timber Engineering, August 9-12, 2021, Santiago, Chile. Paper No: TE0503
