Accelerated Structural Testing for Rapid Evaluation of Deterioration Progression in Concrete Bridge Decks

The deterioration of concrete bridge decks is a long-term complex phenomenon that is difficult to examine using traditional inspection methods. Variables such as environmental exposure and traffic volume affect the condition of the deck throughout the decades of its design lifecycle. Hence, it is paramount to develop a framework through which a deck’s condition can be monitored from construction to rehabilitation. Accelerated structural testing combined with the use of nondestructive evaluation can be developed as a knowledge-creation method to inform the initiation, progression, and propagation of deterioration in bridge decks in a compressed time frame. In this paper, the results of such a framework are presented to introduce the concept of large-scale accelerated structural testing and deck condition monitoring. The BEAST (Bridge Evaluation and Accelerated Structural Testing) facility at Rutgers University was constructed for this purpose and was deployed in the current study. Several nondestructive evaluation techniques were used to monitor the condition of the deck throughout the experimental program, including GPR, IE, USW, HCP, and ER. Condition maps and indices tracking the progression of deterioration in a bare concrete deck are presented. In addition, results from deck segmentation on fundamental statistics from different NDE measurements are shown in the current study. Over 843 days, the specimen was subjected to 2.05 million live-load passes, 98 freeze–thaw cycles, and 115 brine applications. The HCP condition index declined to approximately 60, the average dynamic modulus decreased from a peak of approximately 36 GPa to approximately 30 GPa, and deterioration became concentrated in the reduced-cover region.