Extending Service Life of High Performance Concrete Bridge Decks with Internal Curing
By L. Daigle, D. Cusson & Z. Lounis
National Research Council Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
High performance concrete (HPC) bridge decks areprone to premature
cracking if movement is restrained. Internal curing (IC) can reduce
shrinkage cracking in concrete structures, thus improving their
performance and service life. However, there is very limited information
available in the literature on the possible extension of service life
due to internal curing. This paper addresses this question by using
predictive models to estimate the service lives of typical bridge decks
made with concrete using internal curing as opposed to conventional
curing. Four options are compared: (i) normal concrete deck; (ii) HPC
deck; (iii) HPC deck with internal curing; and (iv) very high
performance concrete deck with internal curing. It was found that the
use of internal curing can increase the service life of HPC bridge decks
by almost ten years, which is mainly due to due a slower penetration of
chlorides as a result of reduced cracking.
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