Title: Designing Bridges with Ductal Reactive Powder Concrete

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Publication: CIA

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Date: 2/13/2011

Abstract:
Reactive powder concrete (RPC) was developed by a consortium of companies in the 1990’s and has been used in a variety of structures ranging from road and pedestrian bridges, to blast protection solutions and architectural applications. The superior mechanical and durability properties of RPC enable lighter, aesthetically enhanced and highly efficient structural solutions to be achieved. RPC designs typically contain no mild reinforcement, with secondary tensile stresses carried by steel fibres, enabling thinner and lighter sections to be designed. Principal bending stresses are resisted by longitudinal prestressed tendons. This paper provides a brief overview of RPC properties, and then demonstrates the design advantages using an example from a series of pedestrian bridges that have been constructed in Auckland, New Zealand in recent years. A full description of the finite element model developed for design is presented. Details regarding the bridge design include consideration of dead, live, wind, temperature and earthquake loading at both the ultimate and serviceability limit states.