USE OF CONVENTIONAL AND HIGH-PERFORMANCE STEEL-FIBER REINFORCED-CONCRETE FOR BRIDGE DECK OVERLAYS

Cost-effective long-term solutions for the current problem of the dete riorated national infrastructure are critical Sor tire future economic growth and competitiveness of the U.S. economy in the 21st century. O ne of the most important issues is the repair and retrofitting of conc rete bridge decks. Deck overlays are commonly used for recovering and improving the serviceability and durability of bridge decks. This pape r presents cement-based composites that promise to provide a long-term solution to bridge deck problems: high-performance (steel) fiber rein forced concretes (HPFRCs), and improved conventional steel-fiber reinf orced concretes (FRCs). Improved FRCs, and in particular revolutionary new HPFRCs, exhibit superior strength, toughness, fatigue and impact resistance, crack control, impermeability, and durability over convent ional cement composites. Thus they are ideally suited for the construc tion of durable and cost-effective thin-bonded bridge deck overlays. T his paper reviews successful pilot projects and presents recommendatio ns for the design and construction of these high-performance overlay s ystems.