Flexural and Punching Shear Capacity Comparison of Full-Scale ABC Steel Bridge Girders

Two sections from a decommissioned bridge were salvaged and tested to quantify flexure and punching shear capacities. The salvaged bridge sections each consisted of two built-up, steel-plate girders, compositely attached to precast concrete, deck panels. The deck panels were part of an accelerated bridge construction (ABC) project and were connected to one-another using female-to-female, flexurally discontinuous, transverse joints. Experimental results were compared with theoretical-based results produced from AASHTO LRFD specifications design procedures. Measured flexural capacities exceed the AASHTO computational design capacity by 30%. The precast panels and transverse joints were also tested for punching shear capacity and found to range from 144 to 87% in comparison to the AASHTO LRFD values, depending on the proximity to the transverse joint. Nonlinear, finite-element models validated the experimental results. The analytical models had excellent agreement with experimental deflection, reaction forces, regions of yielding, and the ultimate flexural capacity. (C) 2014 American Society of Civil Engineers.