Performance Evaluation of Mechanical Splicing and EB-CFRP Repairs for Impact-Damaged Prestressed Concrete Bridge Girders
Abstract
Collisions between over-height vehicles and prestressed concrete girders have become an increasing concern for the resilience and safety of bridge infrastructure in the United States. These collisions often lead to flexural deficiency due to damage to prestressing strands, compromising the structural integrity of the girders. Repairing damaged girders presents a cost-effective and time-efficient alternative to complete replacement, which can be very expensive with significant traffic disruptions. This study evaluates the performance of repaired girders through testing two full-scale, 46-foot MoDOT Type II prestressed concrete girders. One of the girders was subjected to lateral impact to induce a 17% loss in prestressing, simulating the damage equivalent to the failure of two strands. The second girder was damaged intentionally by cutting strands to the same ratio. Both girders were repaired using two distinct repair techniques: mechanical splicing and externally bonded carbon fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) composites. The repaired girders were tested under four-point flexural loading and compared against code-design calculations. The results were also compared against ACI 440 design guidelines. Both repair techniques successfully restored the flexural strength to the level of the undamaged girder, surpassing the as-built strength by 1% for the splicing technique and by 29.6% for the CFRP system. Additionally, the spliced girder demonstrated greater ductility at failure, exceeding the ductility of the CFRP-repaired girder by 23%. These findings highlight the effectiveness of both repair methods in restoring structural capacity while offering valuable insights into the trade-offs between strength and ductility in repaired prestressed concrete girders.
Recommended Citation
H. AbdelMalek et al., "Performance Evaluation of Mechanical Splicing and EB-CFRP Repairs for Impact-Damaged Prestressed Concrete Bridge Girders," Lecture Notes in Civil Engineering, vol. 778 LNCE, pp. 582 - 593, Springer, Jan 2026.
The definitive version is available at https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-032-09387-5_58
Department(s)
Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering
Keywords and Phrases
ACI 440; bridge prestressed; CFRP; CFRP U-wraps; Collisions; flexural strength; full-scale; Mechanical splicing; over-height vehicles; resilience
International Standard Book Number (ISBN)
978-303209386-8
International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)
2366-2565; 2366-2557
Document Type
Article - Conference proceedings
Document Version
Citation
File Type
text
Language(s)
English
Rights
© 2026 Springer, All rights reserved.
Publication Date
01 Jan 2026
Comments
Texas Department of Transportation, Grant None