Title:
Behavior of Concrete Integral Abutments
Author(s):
Edwin G. Burdette, Earl E. Ingram, David W. Goodpasture, and J. Harold Deatherage
Publication:
Concrete International
Volume:
24
Issue:
7
Appears on pages(s):
59-63
Keywords:
DOI:
Date:
7/1/2002
Abstract:
The use of pile-supported integral abutments to achieve jointless bridges for short to moderate lengths has gained acceptance across the United States. The elimination of expansion joints in bridges has a number of advantages. Joints are expensive to construct, require expensive maintenance, and tend to leak over time. Limits on bridge lengths that may be designed with integral abutments are not clearly defined. This project, sponsored by TDOT and completed December 31, 1999, involved field-testing of simulated abutments. This article briefly describes the research on integral abutments at The University of Tennessee and reports, in some detail, the response of pile-abutment interfaces when the abutments were subjected to horizontal displacements.