Specification and design of fiber reinforced bridge deck forms for use on wide flange t-girders

Abstract

Wide-flanged concrete girders are increasingly being used for highway bridges in Wisconsin. These girders are closely spaced and have very small clear gaps between the girder flanges making conventional plywood formwork difficult to install and uneconomical. Non-structural, non-metallic, stay-in-place (SIP) formwork may be more economical than conventional formwork in these situations; however a specification for their design and use in Wisconsin does not exist at this time. The objective of this research was to understand the state of the art of non-metallic SIP forms and to develop design guidelines and performance specifications that can be used locally for the construction of highway bridge decks. Four major types of SIP forms using fiber reinforced concrete (FRC) or fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) materials were investigated: fiber reinforcements, grid reinforcements, bar reinforcements and pultruded profiles. The results from static flexure tests and full-sized impact tests provided information on the accidental impact loads of these SIP forms. The results were used to develop a model design and construction specification for non-structural, non-metallic, SIP forms in highway bridge decks.