Title:
Use of Advanced Bridge Evaluation Techniques for the Blatnik Bridge
Author(s):
Andrew Foden
Publication:
Web Session
Volume:
Issue:
Appears on pages(s):
Keywords:
DOI:
Date:
10/25/2020
Abstract:
The John A. Blatnik Bridge spans the St. Louis River between Duluth, Minnesota and Superior Wisconsin. Significant deterioration has developed in several areas of the bridge causing the Minnesota and Wisconsin Departments of Transportation to implement an aggressive approach to maintain the condition of the bridge. The Minnesota Department of Transportation undertook a series of projects to identify investments necessary to efficiently and effectively maintain the crossing. This presentation will discuss the asset management framework developed and the results of the Technical Analysis project, which collected information to fill the knowledge gaps in structural condition needed to analyze the action scenarios presented in the overarching Bridge Management Study. The detailed condition information was collected for all bridge components using a variety of techniques including material testing, non-destructive testing, load testing, and visual inspection. The results of the condition information collected, and the methodologies used will be presented.