Punching shear in prestressed concrete deck slabs

Abstract

Most Dutch bridges were constructed around the middle of the twentieth century and considering the fact that traffic has increased exponentially since, it is important to find out if these bridges are still safe for use. Experiments on a 1:2 scale were carried out in the laboratory of the Delft University of Technology to investigate the bearing capacity of transversely prestressed concrete bridge decks subjected to concentrated wheel loads. All the tests showed failure in punching shear at loads much higher than expected from the current codes. This paper presents the results of the experimental parametric study including the effect of the transverse prestressing level (TPL), location of the load, number of loads, size of the loading area (wheel print/loading plate), and influence of previous damage to the deck slab panel, on the bearing capacity.