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Steel Fiber Reinforced Concrete for the Barcelona Metro Line 9 Tunnel Lining

Conference Paper · January 2004

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 6th RILEM Symposium on Fibre-Reinforced Concretes (FRC) - BEFIB 2004
20-22 September 2004, Varenna, Italy

STEEL FIBER REINFORCED CONCRETE FOR THE

BARCELONA METRO LINE 9 TUNNEL LINING

R. Gettu1, B. Barragán1, T. García1, G. Ramos1, C. Fernández2, R. Oliver2

1
Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, 2 UTE Línia 9. Barcelona, Spain

Abstract
This work presents the experimental studies carried out for evaluating the possible
application of steel fiber reinforced concrete, without any conventional reinforcement, in
the precast/prefabricated tunnel lining segments of the new Metro Line 9 under
construction in Barcelona. The TBM-excavated tunnel has a diameter of about 12 m and
a length of more than 40 km, and is located 30 to 70 m below the surface. According to
the original design project, the reinforced concrete segments are of steel fiber reinforced
concrete, with a high quantity of conventional reinforcement. However, the mechanical
contribution of the fibers is not taken into account and the fibers are incorporated only to
control the cracking that could occur during handling and placing of the segments. Here,
an alternative solution was evaluated without any conventional reinforcement through
the characterization of the material properties, from which a specific type of steel fiber
was chosen from five different possibilities, and structural scale tests to study the
behavior under critical loading conditions: flexure, concentrated in-plane loads, and
possible stress concentrations in the joint between segments of the same ring. It was
concluded that segments reinforced with 60 kg/m3 of appropriate steel fibers could
satisfy the requirements of the project, without necessitating any conventional
reinforcement.

1. Introduction

A new Metro line (Line 9) is currently being built in the Mediterranean city of Barcelona
in Spain. The project is record-breaking, with a tunnel of almost 12 m diameter and
44 km length that will accommodate the tracks and platforms in a double deck
configuration. The tunnel is being excavated, at a depth of 30 to 70 m below the surface,
with an EPB-type Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM). As the excavation progresses, a robot
arm of the TBM places the prefabricated segments of the tunnel lining to complete it
ring by ring. As the excavation progresses, the TBM applies a reaction force through 30

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hydraulic jacks as the shield cuts into the rock and/or soil ahead of it. This reaction,
which can reach values of up to 140 MN, acts on the lining ring placed last.

The construction of two sections of the tunnel for the Barcelona Metro Line 9 began in
May 2003 and is being undertaken by two consortia of major Spanish companies, one of
them being UTE Línia 9, which is first constructing a 4.5 km long section of the tunnel
called “Bon Pastor - Can Zam”. In this section, the excavated diameter of the tunnel is
11.96 m and the 35 cm thick lining has an internal diameter of 10.90 m. The space
between the lining and the excavated surface is grouted in order to provide a uniform
load transfer and waterproofing. The lining is made up of 1.8 m wide rings, each
consisting of 8 segments (7 segments of about 4.70 m, and 1 key segment of half that
length), as seen in Figure 1.

350 10900 350

11600

Fig. 1. Segments of tunnel lining

The concrete segments were originally designed with steel fiber reinforced concrete
(with 30 kg/m3 of fibers) and a significant amount of conventional reinforcement.
However, the mechanical contribution of the fibers was not taken into account in the

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original design, and the fibers were incorporated basically to control possible cracking
induced by:

x Flexural stresses during demolding and stacking.

x Unintentional impact and high concentrated loads applied during the placing of
the segments and the application of the reaction forces by TBM actuators.

In this context, the constructor considered that it would be reasonable to take into
account the mechanical contribution provided by steel fibers in the structural design.
Moreover, in addition to the innovative application, the use of fibers would also reduce
labor and construction time, thus increasing productivity. To evaluate these aspects and
the possibility of totally replacing the conventional reinforcement by steel fibers, a
collaborative project was undertaken by the Structural Technology Laboratory of the
Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya and UTE Línia 9, where numerical and
experimental studies, and quality control and other technological aspects were
considered. The present paper discusses the experimental studies performed within the
project at the material and structural levels. The results have been used to justify the
construction of an experimental section of the tunnel with steel fiber reinforced concrete
(SFRC) segments, eliminating the conventional bar reinforcement completely.

2. Material Testing Program

The objective of the tests at the material level was to establish criteria and procedures for
the selection of fiber type, mix design of the concrete and quality control during routine
production. The Belgian NBN 15-238 standard was used as the basis of the toughness
evaluation, following which prisms of 150×150×600 mm were tested under 4-point
bending.

A base concrete was chosen with a characteristic 28-day cylinder strength of 50 MPa and
an early-age strength of 20 MPa at 6 hours (after heat curing at 40ºC). Fiber concretes
with this base composition and 5 types of steel fibers were first evaluated using a dosage
of 45 kg/m3. From these tests a specific fiber was chosen for further evaluation. All the
fibers that were tested had lengths of 45 to 60 mm and diameters of 0.75-1.00 mm. In the
first phase of the study, the specimens were cured during 6 hours at 40ºC and 80% R.H.
(to reproduce the fabrication process of the segments) and were afterwards maintained
during 7 days at 20ºC and 50ºC.

2.1. Toughness evaluation with different types of fibers

Figure 2 shows the average load-deflection responses of specimens made with concrete
incorporating the different types of fiber. In all cases, there is a significant residual
strength with notable variations in the shape of the curve indicating the different
effectiveness of the fibers.

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From the load-deflection response, the equivalent flexural strength (ff,n) can be calculated
by normalizing the area under the curve up to a certain deflection limit by the deflection
range, and then using the value obtained as an average load. Here, the equivalent flexural
strengths at the deflection limits of 1.5 and 3.0 mm have been determined, and referred
to as ff,300 and ff,150, respectively. The mean values of ff,300 and ff,150 for the concretes
reinforced with 45 kg/m3 of the different types of steel fibers are presented in Table 1,
together with the mean values of the modulus of rupture (fr) at the maximum load.
Table 1 also shows the results of control tests carried out to obtain the compressive
strength (fc), the density of fresh concrete (Jf), and the modulus of elasticity in
compression (E). All values correspond to the average of 3 measurements. The data
corresponding to 6 hours were obtained using heat-cured specimens and those
corresponding to 28 days were obtained with standard fog room curing.

50

40
Fiber A
Load (kN)

30 Fiber B

Fiber C
20
Fiber D

10 Fiber E

0 1 2 3
Deflection (mm)
Fig. 2. Load-deflection curves for concrete
reinforced with 45 kg/m3 of different types of steel fibers

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Table 1. Properties of the different concretes

(mean values and coefficients of variation in %)
Fiber Jf fc E fc E fr ff,300 ff,150
(kg/m3) 6 hours 6 hours 28 days 28 days (MPa) (MPa) (MPa)
(MPa) (GPa) (MPa) (GPa)
23.7 21.2 61.5 5.01 4.47 4.35
A 2410 -
(±2%) (2%) (±1%) (±10%) (±12%) (±13%)
25.4 63.4 5.19 3.85 3.78
B 2440 - -
(±3%) (±1%) (±8%) (±23%) (±28%)
23.5 61.5 5.27 3.78 3.68
C 2440 - -
(±1%) (±2%) (±10%) (±22%) (±31%)
24.5 21.6 62.0 32.5 4.91 3.61 3.20
D 2450
(±1%) (1%) (±1%) (±2%) (±8%) (±6%) (±8%)
22.3 57.2 4.47 3.18 2.55
E 2410 - -
(±1%) (±2%) (±4%) (±26%) (±24%)

From these results, and taking into account technical and economical aspects, fiber C
was chosen for the subsequent material and structural-scale tests.

2.2. Toughness evaluation of concretes with different dosages of fiber C

In the second phase of testing all the specimens were cured at 20ºC and 98% R.H. during
7 or 28 days (to obtain values that conformed to standard practice). Tests were
performed on concretes with dosages of 30, 45 and 60 kg/m3 of fiber C. Figure 3 shows
the load-deflection responses obtained at the age of 28 days. The toughness parameters
and other properties are given in Table 2 for the two ages. All values correspond to the
average of 3 measurements.
As it can be observed from the load-deflection curves in Figure 3, where the error bars
indicating variability are also plotted, the residual strengths increase significantly and the
variability tends to decrease with fiber content, especially at 28 days.

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60
Fiber C, 60 kg/m3

Fiber C, 45 kg/m3
40
Load (kN)

Fiber C, 30 kg/m3

20

0 1 2 3
Deflection (mm)

Fig. 3. Load-deflection curves for concretes

reinforced with different dosages of fiber C

The toughness values and the corresponding variability were used as references in the
material specifications.

Table 2. Properties of concretes with different dosages of fiber C

(mean values and coefficients of variation in %)
Fiber
fc fr ff,300 ff,150
Age dosage
(MPa) (MPa) (MPa) (MPa)
(kg/m3)
30 44.9 (±0.6%) 5.79 (±4%) 3.39 (±14%) 3.37 (±17%)
7 days 45 48.5 (±3.1%) 5.47 (±3%) 4.38 (±9%) 4.30 (±11%)
60 51.0 (±1.6%) 6.07 (±11%) 4.47 (±20%) 4.08 (±22%)
30 51.4 (±1.6%) 6.59 (±9%) 3.72 (±23%) 3.55 (±26%)
28 days 45 56.0 (±1.1%) 7.08 (±5%) 4.78 (±9%) 4.73 (±4%)
60 56.1 (±0.9%) 7.18 (±1%) 6.09 (±9%) 5.98 (±8%)

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3. Structural-scale test program

Four types of real-scale tests have been performed on segments and specimens fabricated
in the UTE Línia 9 plant. The fiber dosage was limited to 60 kg/m3 due to economical
and practical aspects (in terms of mixing, homogenization and placing of the SFRC).

3.1. Flexure testing of the segments

The objective of the flexural tests was to evaluate the behavior of segments with
different reinforcement (with both conventional steel bars and fibers) in order to
compare the responses of the original design and the segments with only fibers. The case
of flexure was studied since it is the most critical case after the segment has been placed.
The segment is expected to be only under circumferential compression and not under
flexure. However, inadequate filling of the space between the lining and the excavated
surface could lead to local flexure, as shown in Figure 4.

Inadequate Soil/Rock
filling

Tunnel

Segmental
ring

Filling grout

Fig. 4. Motivation for the flexure tests

The general flexural test configuration is shown in Figure 5. The segment is placed on
two continuous and parallel metal supports with neoprene pads, of 200 mm width and
40 mm thickness. Flexure is produced with a mid-span line load and a free span of
1.80 m. Due to practical limitations in terms of transportation and loading equipment,
tests were performed on the smaller key segment (Fig. 1).

A Temposonics transducer was placed over the middle of each side of the segment, with
a base-length of 720 mm (approximately two times the height of the element). They
measured the elongation of the bottom edge of the segment, which can be considered as
the sum of the crack widths within the base-length, once crack initiation occurs. The
midspan deflection was measured with an LVDT placed at the shorter side of the
segment. Also, a Temposonics transducer was placed on the opposite side of the segment
to measure the oblique deformation near the supports, with a base-length of 300 mm and
inclined 45q with respect to the horizontal plane.

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Two tests were performed for each of the 4 reinforcement cases, which were 45 and
60 kg/m3 of steel fibers, conventional reinforcement combined with 30 kg/m3 of fibers,
and only conventional reinforcement.

Failure occurred due to the development of flexural cracking in the central part of the
segment, as expected. Multiple cracking was observed in the segments reinforced with
steel bars, as can be seen from Figure 6a. On the other hand, single localized cracks
occurred in the segments reinforced only with fibers, as in Figure 6b.

Fig. 5. Configuration of the flexure test

a) b)

Fig. 6. Cracking in the segments: (a) with conventional reinforcement combined with 30
kg/m3 of fibers and (b) with only 60 kg/m3 of fibers

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In every case the first crack that was initiated, developed as the principal crack. In the
segments reinforced with steel bars, there was secondary cracking in the middle of the
span. Segments reinforced only with fibers did not exhibit any capacity to redistribute
the stresses and had localized cracking.

Figs. 7 and 8 show the load-crack opening and load-deflection responses of the eight
segments. In both figures, the plot on the left gives the complete response obtained
during the test (pre- and post-peak), and the plot on the right shows the response
obtained up to a crack opening of 1.2 mm (in Fig. 7) or a deflection of 2.0 mm (Fig. 8),
which are considered to be the limits of practical interest for the segments.

It can be seen in the figures that segments 43 and 44, which are reinforced only with
steel bars, exhibit a lower load carrying capacity and limited plastic behavior when
compared with segments 41 and 42, which are reinforced with rebars and 30 kg/m3 of
fibers. The shapes of the curves are, however, similar. On the contrary, the behavior of
the segments reinforced only with steel fibers is qualitatively different. Though a non-
linear zone exists before reaching the peak load, which reflects the material toughness,
the plastic regime is small, and the load carrying capacity decreases progressively for
crack openings beyond 1 mm, approximately. Segments with 60 kg/m3 of fibers (i.e.,
segments 47 and 48) exhibited higher load carrying capacity than those reinforced with
45 kg/m3 (i.e., segments 45 and 46), as expected. However, the loads are significantly
lower than the corresponding values of the segments reinforced with both conventional
bars and 30 kg/m3 of fibers. Nevertheless, considering the initial response (i.e., plots on
the right), which corresponds to service conditions, it can be seen that the behavior of the
segments reinforced with only 60 kg/m3 of fibers is close to that of the segments
reinforced only with conventional steel bars, up to a crack opening of 1 mm,
approximately. When an even smaller range is considered, i.e., up to 0.2 mm of crack
opening, the behavior of all the segments is similar.

1000 1000
segment 41 (bars+fiber30)
•
segment 42 (bars+fiber30)
segment 43 (bars) •
800 800 segment 44 (bars) °
°
Load (kN)
Load (kN)

600 600

400 400

200 200 + segment 45 (fiber45)

+ segment 46 (fiber45)
segment 47 (fiber60)
*
0 0 * segment 48 (fiber60)

0 5 10 15 20 0 0.3 0.6 0.9 1.2

Crack opening (mm) Crack opening (mm)

Fig. 7. Load-crack opening response of all the segments:

Complete (left) and initial (right) behavior

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1000 1000
segment 41 (bars+fiber30)
•
segment 42 (bars+fiber30)
segment 43 (bars)
•
800 800 segment 44 (bars)
°
°
Load (kN)

Load (kN)
600 600

400 400

200 200 + segment 45 (fiber45)

+ segment 46 (fiber45)
segment 47 (fiber60)
*
0 0 * segment 48 (fiber60)

0 5 10 15 20 25 0 0.5 1 1.5 2
Deflection (mm) Deflection (mm)

Fig. 8. Load-deflection response of all the segments:

Complete (left) and initial (right) behavior

3.2. Stacking of the elements

After demolding, the segments of each ring are piled one on top of the other, with two
blocks of wood between them. Usually, only 3 segments are piled after the first day and
all eight segments of the ring are piled after 7 days. However, eccentricities between the
wood blocks and the accidental piling of more than 3 segments at an early age could
result in cracking. To evaluate the risks involved, piling tests were carried out with the
objective determining safe eccentricity and over-piling limits.

During piling, the most unfavorable case is that of the second segment from the bottom
(since the bottom-most segment is placed on wider blocks fixed to a base) that is loaded
eccentrically due to badly placed blocks below and/or above it, as seen schematically in
Figure 9. The combination of exterior eccentricity at the bottom (ee) and interior
eccentricity at the top (ei) could lead to high flexural stresses in the segment. In the
present tests, the individual eccentricities were always equal to each other, and the total
eccentricity is the sum of the four eccentricities.

The instrumentation used in these tests consisted of Temposonics transducers placed on

either side of the second segment, as in the flexural tests (see Fig. 5).

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Segment 4

Segment 3

Transducer 2 Segment 2
Transducer 1

Segment 1

Fig. 9. Piling test configuration

Three segments were tested: one segment reinforced according to the original design
(with conventional bars and 30 kg/m3 of fibers), and two segments reinforced only with
60 kg/m3 of fibers. To study the behavior of the segments under the worst possible
situations, exaggerated eccentricities were applied. The segment with conventional
reinforcement and fibers, and one segment with only fibers were tested with ei = ee =
50 cm, which corresponds to total eccentricity of 2 m. Another fiber reinforced concrete
segment was tested with ei = ee = 25 cm, which corresponds to total eccentricity of 1 m.
The maximum total eccentricity expected in reality was about 40 cm. All tests were
conducted at the age of 4 days.

In the first test, corresponding to the segment 559 reinforced with 60 kg/m3 of fibers, the
placing of the third segment did not produce any significant displacements. This
corresponds to the typical situation at the age of 3-4 days, when 3 segments are piled.
Continuing with the piling, a progressive increase in the displacements was observed.
When the sixth segment was placed, abrupt failure of the second segment occurred with
the development of a single crack beneath one of the lumber pieces. Visual inspection of
the surface did not reveal any other crack. Taking into account that at early ages only 3
segments are piled, the result of the test can be considered satisfactory since failure did
not occur until the piling of the sixth segment. Table 3 shows the individual
measurements and the mean values of the crack opening measured during the piling test.

In the second test, the same loading procedure was applied to segment 568, which had
conventional reinforcement with 30 kg/m3 of fibers. As it can be seen from Table 3, the
crack openings in this segment are slightly lower than those observed in segment 559
until the placing of the fifth segment. After the sixth segment is placed the crack
openings become significant, indicating the propagation of cracks of considerable
widths, though complete failure did not occur. Visual inspection of the surface using a
magnifying lens revealed 7 cracks, with widths between 0.1 and 0.2 mm, distributed
along the bottom face, within and outside of the central zone.

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Table 3. Crack openings for the stacking test

ee = ei Piled Crack opening (mm)
Segment Load step
(cm) segments short side long side mean
1 3 0.007 0.032 0.020
559
2 4 0.021 0.076 0.048
(60 kg/m3 of 50
fibers) 3 5 0.046 0.115 0.080
4 6 Failure Failure Failure
1 3 0.001 0.031 0.016
568 2 4 0.005 0.061 0.033
(bars
3 5 0.008 0.094 0.051
+ 50
30 kg/m3 of 4 6 0.053 0.169 0.111
fibers) 5 7 0.219 0.353 0.286
6 8 0.350 0.454 0.402
1 3 0.006 0.008 0.007
2 4 0.023 0.006 0.015
561
3 5 0.022 0.010 0.016
(60 kg/m3 of 25
fibers) 4 6 0.028 0.009 0.018
5 7 0.041 0.007 0.024
6 8 0.053 0.009 0.031

The third test with individual eccentricities of 25 cm was performed on segment 561,
which was reinforced only with fibers. In this test, the complete ring was piled and no
failure occurred. The measured crack openings can be observed from Table 3. When
compared with the results of the first test (segment 559), the crack openings are much
smaller. Moreover, no significant crack opening is observed and this was confirmed later
by visual inspection of the surface. Also, for a total eccentricity of 1.0 m the crack
opening of the segment reinforced only with fibers is well below 0.05 mm.

3.3. Simulation of the effect of the TBM actuator reaction

As mentioned earlier, the TBM actuators exert a high compression force on the ring as
the excavation progresses. The maximum possible load is 140 MN, applied by 30
actuators on 15 equally-spaced plates of 1374u350 mm (see Fig. 10a). Due to the
impossibility of performing a test with the actual elements, a half-scale panel test was
carried out to evaluate the effect of a single jack. The panels were 900 mm high (i.e.,
half of the depth of the segments), 520 mm wide (i.e., one-eighth of the width of the
segments or half of the influence width of one actuator) and 175 mm thick (i.e., half the
thickness of the segment). Tests were conducted on panels with conventional
reinforcement and 30 kg/m3 of fibers and on panels with only 60 kg/m3 of fibers. They
were fabricated with the same material as the segments, and those with conventional bars
had half the reinforcement to maintain the same density. All tests were made at the age
of 21 days.

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The general test configuration is shown in Figure 10. Two loading cases were
considered: centered-load uniformly-distributed along the entire width of the panel with
a 120 mm width platten and load applied with an eccentricity of 28 mm. Four
Temposonics transducers were placed around the perimeter of the mid-plane of the
panel, as seen in Figure 10b, to measure the opening of longitudinal cracks. The base
lengths were 420 mm along the width and 120 mm along the thickness.

The tests were carried out, under load control, in a servo-hydraulic testing system with
4.5 MN capacity. Load was applied in two steps: first up to the maximum stress (i.e.,
load of 1.25 MN) and then up to an overload of 50% (i.e., a total load of 1.83 MN).

None of the panels failed, though cracks appeared at the contact zone between the panel
and the loading platten. In the case of panels subjected to central loading, the crack
widths do not surpass 0.02 and 0.03 mm for the 1.25 and 1.83 MN loads, respectively.
The panel reinforced only with steel fibers had higher transversal deformations than the
panel with conventional reinforcement and fibers, as expected. In the case of panels
subjected to eccentric loading, the deformations were higher. Nevertheless, the crack
widths were less than 0.025 and 0.05 mm for the 1.25 and 1.83 MN loads, respectively.

From the results obtained in these tests, it was concluded that the segments would resist
the concentrated loads transmitted by the TBM actuators without failing, and that the
behavior of the segment reinforced only with 60 kg/m3 of steel fibers would be similar to
that of the segments with both conventional reinforcement and fibers.

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(a)

(b) Loading plate (eccentric) 540 x 120 x 10 mm

Temposonic
molded face

Temposonic 1
lateral

Temposonic 2
lateral

Temposonic
finishing
face

Continuous loading plate 540 x 180 x 10 mm

Fig. 10. In plane compression due to

(a) the TBM actuators simulated through (b) panel tests

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3.4. Segment-to-segment compression test

One of the critical aspects to be considered in the design of the concrete lining is the
effect of the radial pressure of the soil/rock. In the present case, a maximum pressure of
1 MPa was considered in the design project. Though this does not lead to excessive
compressive forces, non-uniform contact between the adjacent segments of a ring or
adjacent rings could result in local crushing or cracking. Tests were, therefore,
conducted to observe the extent of damage induced by such local effects. Blocks of
600u350u350 mm were cut from the end of segments fabricated according to the usual
procedures, and placed against each other to simulate the contact between two adjacent
segments. The blocks were extracted from segments reinforced with conventional
reinforcement and 30 kg/m3 of fibers, and from segments reinforced with just 60 kg/m3
of fibers. A compressive load of 4.3 MN was applied, which corresponds to a
circumferential compressive stress of 20.3 MPa. The blocks were placed and loaded as
seen in Figure 11. Possible misalignment of the segments or rings was taken into account
by introducing an eccentricity of approximately 25 mm along both of the axes.

Testing was performed at an age of more than 28 days. A servo-hydraulic testing system
with 4.5 MN capacity was used and the loading applied under piston displacement
control. After the application of the maximum load, the blocks were separated and
examined to identify the cracks. No crushing and/or spalling of concrete occurred. In all
cases, the non-uniformity of the loading led to crack initiation at the contact area
between the loading platens and the blocks. Less cracks were seen in the blocks
reinforced with both bars and fibers, which can be attributed to the higher load carrying
capacity of the conventionally reinforcement segments.

Fig. 11. Segment-to-segment compression

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4. Conclusions

This work presents an overview of the experimental studies carried out in the framework
of a joint project between UPC and the construction consortium UTE Línia 9 with the
objective of verifying the adequacy of steel fibers as only reinforcement for the segments
of the tunnel lining of the new line 9 of the Metro of Barcelona, and consequently
proposing the elimination of conventional reinforcement in some sections of the tunnel.

The material characterization in compression and flexure led to a preliminary choice of

the mix design and the methodology for the determination of toughness. For the
selection of fiber type, toughness tests were performed with a dosage of 45 kg/m3. Based
on the analysis of the results and economical considerations, one fiber was chosen for
further testing to evaluate the effect of fiber dosage on the toughness and variability of
test results.

Regarding the structural-scale tests, tests were performed in flexure and in-plane
compression. It was seen that the segments reinforced only with 60 kg/m3 of fibers have
a similar behavior, as segments with rebars and 30 kg/m3 of fibers up to crack widths of
0.2 mm. However, for higher crack widths beyond 1.0 mm, the plastic deformation and
load-carrying capacity of the segments with rebars are much higher than segments with
fibers as the only reinforcement. In the stacking tests, at the age of 4 days, it was verified
that the segment reinforced with 60 kg/m3 of fibers has sufficient capacity to resist
cracking even when there is an accident overload due to eccentric piling. In the
compression tests of panels, which were performed to simulate the concentrated loads
produced by the actuators of the TBM, and in the compression tests on the segment-
segment interface, it was observed that the segments reinforced with 60 kg/m3 of fibers
have sufficient strength to avoid failure. However, it has been observed that the elements
reinforced with both conventional bars and fibers exhibit a lesser cracking than those
reinforced only with fibers due to a higher load-carrying capacity. Since fibers do not
become active until cracking initiates, the presence of cracks is inevitable.

From the results of this study, it was concluded that the use of segments with 60 kg/m3
of appropriate fibers (and without any conventional reinforcement), is viable in terms of
the requirements of the present project.

Acknowledgements

UTE Línia 9 is thanked for the support during the project and the permission to publish
the results of the collaborative work. Prof. Antonio Aguado initiated the cooperation
with UTE Línia 9, and his advice and guidance throughout the work is gratefully
appreciated. The experimental work could not have been completely on schedule without
the able assistance of the laboratory technicians, Carlos Hurtado and Camilo Bernad.

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