RETROFITTING PARTS OF BRIDGES

BY: SANTOS, KRIZALYN S.

TYPES OF ABUTMENTS IN BRIDGE CONSTRUCTION

Monolithic Bridge Abutment Seat Type Bridge Abutment

METHODS OF SEISMIC RETROFITTING OF BRIDGE
ABUTMENTS

 Seat extenders and catchers

 Use concrete, steel, or timber to fill the gap between back wall and end diaphragm of
bridge superstructure
 L bracket on superstructure soffit
 Shear Keys, Large CIDH Piles, Anchor Slabs, and Vertical Pipes
 SEAT EXTENDERS AND CATCHERS FOR RETROFITTING OF
BRIDGE ABUTMENTS

 Seat extenders are commonly constructed of concrete or steel brackets attached to

the existing face of abutments or caped beams in order to decline the possibility of
bridge girder unseating during earthquakes.

Details of Concrete Seat Extender Details of Steel Bracket Extender Seat Extender
SEAT EXTENDERS AND CATCHERS FOR RETROFITTING OF BRIDGE
ABUTMENTS

Catcher Provided for a Vulnerable Catcher Beam used for Steel Girder
Bearing
USE OF CONCRETE, STEEL OR TIMBER TO FILL THE GAP BETWEEN
BACKWALL AND END DIAPHRAGM OF BRIDGE SUPERSTRUCTURE

 Occasionally, considerably large gap is

present between backwall and end
diaphragm of the bridge. This could be a
weak point for the bridge during
earthquakes since the bridge column
needs to deflect crucially so as to
activate the back-fill soil.

Abutment Blocking
L BRACKET ON SUPERSTRUCTURE SOFFIT

 It is the addition of L shaped steel to

the flanges of steel I-girder of a bridge.
The L shaped steel works like bumper
that transfer longitudinal reaction from
the superstructure to the abutment and
eventually to the soil.

Bracket at Bridge Abutment

WIDENING AND RETROFITTING OF TWO
HIGHWAY BRIDGES

 Both the as-built bridges are composed by simply supported prestressed concrete
decks sustained by framed bents.

Widening and retrofitting of two bridges.

WIDENING AND RETROFITTING OF TWO
HIGHWAY BRIDGES

 Retrofitting interventions leading to uniform dis-tribution of seismic forces are

designed to improve the whole seismic performance.

Retrofitting of bearing and restrainer system.

WIDENING AND RETROFITTING OF TWO
HIGHWAY BRIDGES

 To reduce any detrimental effect of the sharp corners on the tensile strength of the
FRP, in the chosen solution the cor-ners are rounded and an elliptical-shaped external
cover surrounding the old rectangular cross-section is realized by using cement grout

FRP jacketing of rectangular columns

 STRENGTHENING OF BRIDGE PIERS
 The bearing system is composed by elas-tomeric pads, and seismic restrainers aimed
to avoid the deck unseating are provided for both transversal and longitudinal
directions
 STRENGTHENING OF BRIDGE PIERS
The bearing system is composed by elas-tomeric
pads, and seismic restrainers aimed to avoid the
deck unseating are provided for both transversal
and longitudinal directions
As-built Mulinaccia Viaduct.
Strengthening of pier elevation.
In order to reduce the flexibility of the high
piers and to improve the tensilebstrength
resistance, the two T-shaped columns forming
each elevation are connected along the whole
height by filling the openings among the
transversal beams by reinforced concrete
casting
A SELECTIVE WEAKENING STRATEGY
FOR RETROFITTING A PIER-FOUNDATION
SYSTEMS

 The widening and seismic retrofitting design of a highway bridge is presented.

Retrofitting of pier foundation system

BRIDGE SEISMIC PROTECTION BY USING
SHOCK TRANSMITTER DEVICES
 The bridge in Figure 7.a is subdivided into three parts. The central one consist of a
framed structure composed by a continuous concrete box girder, having variable
height, monolithically connected to the central pier.

Bridge retrofitting by using shock transmitter devices

ABUTMENT RETROFITTING INTERVENTION

 In particular, the vertical loads are still

sustained by the abutment, but, after the
demolition of the top part of the abutment
wall, an additional structure, formed by a
reinforced concrete plate sustained by a
system of piles, is built in order to sustain the
horizontal forces due to shock transmitter
devices.