Structural Testing and Dissection of Carbon Fiber-Reinforced Polymer-Repaired Bridge Girders Taken Out of Service

Carbon fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) is becoming a method of choice for repair and strengthening of many environmentally aged structures, bridges in particular. Durability of such CFRP repairs/strengthening efforts still remains uncertain. This paper presents the findings from structural and materials testing conducted on a CFRP-wrapped bridge girder that was taken out of service from the Indian River Bridge located in Melbourne, FL. The bridge girders, originally constructed in the 1960s, experienced corrosion damage during their service life in a brackish water environment. Following the repair of corrosion damage using conventional methods, repaired regions were wrapped with CFRP. Test results showed a modest increase in strength as a result of CFRP wrapping; fiber-reinforced polymer wrap, however, may have resulted in a reduction of chloride contamination following installation of the repair system. Furthermore, comparison of test results between the laboratory and field load tests indicated that AASHTO load distribution factors are conservative for this cast-in-place beam and slab bridge.