Thanks to a US$1 million grant from the US Department of Transportation the life of a road bridge could be extended, reducing the impact of future reconstruction work.
Ultra-high-performance concrete (UHPC) will be used on a bridge in Washington DC, United States. DC Department of Transport (DDOT), which manages 210 bridges, will test the new material on Bridge 0070, which takes Southern Avenue over Suitland Parkway.
With its discontinuous pore structure and high percentage of fibre reinforcement, UHPC has greater compressive and tensile strength and greater durability than conventional and high-performance concretes. It potentially allows bridge elements to be redesigned and optimised and performs well as field-cast closure pour, according to the Federal Highway Administration. UHPC is already in use on bridges across the US.
