Pennsylvania hardwood timber bridges : field performance after 10 years

Abstract

Several hardwood demonstration timber bridges were built by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation in the early nineteen nineties. These bridge superstructures are of the recently developed stress-laminated deck design-type using Red Oak lumber laminations that were pressure-treated with creosote preservatives. This paper will describe the data acquisition system used to monitor seven of these bridge superstructures between 1997 and 2002 and to characterize any effects of cold (winter) temperatures on their structural performance. Prestressing bar forces, a key performance parameter for stress-laminated bridges, have stabilized after more than ten years in-service and remained above minimum design threshold levels at six of the seven bridges.

Citation

Wacker, James P.; Calil, Carlito. 2004. Pennsylvania hardwood timber bridges : field performance after 10 years. Proceedings of the Structural Materials Technology VI, an NDT Conference, 14-17 September 2004, Buffalo, New York, USA. American Society for Nondestructive Testing. pp 222-227.