Articles

Acceptance Criteria of Ultra-High Performance Concrete for Field Cast Connections, Link Slabs, Beam End Repairs, and Joint Headers on California Department of Transportation Projects

---

Abstract

There has been a desire in California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) to implement Ultra-High Performance Concrete (UHPC) in its structures. UHPC supports the implementation of Accelerated Bridge Construction by providing a material for field-cast connections of prefabricated structural elements that can provide more robust long-term performance. Caltrans defines UHPC as follows: UHPC must be a low permeability cementitious composite material that consists of an optimized gradation of granular constituents with a discontinuous pore structure, a low water to cementitious materials ratio and a high percentage of discontinuous internal steel fibers. Caltrans currently allows the use of proprietary UHPC as a sole source item on its projects. To allow contractors to use UHPC products from multiple vendors on Caltrans projects, a list of prescriptive and performance requirements was developed to create an approved list of prequalified proprietary UHPC. Utilizing UHPC could be a step forward for Caltrans towards building a sustainable future. Structures utilizing UHPC will result in a more efficient design. Implementing UHPC will effectively lessen Caltrans’ environmental footprint. UHPC has additional benefits including increasing strength and service life of structures and reducing construction time. Caltrans has used UHPC on several projects on highways with heavy traffic volumes as the connection between prefabricated elements including Laurel St. on I-780 in 2017, Echo Summit on US-50 in 2020, and 21st Ave. undercrossing on SR-99 in 2021. This work provides Caltrans prescriptive and performance requirements of UHPC and examples of using UHPC on Caltrans projects with lessons learned.

Keywords: UHPC, prescriptive requirements, performance requirements, accelerated bridge construction, projects lessons learned

How to Cite:

Nabizadeh, H., (2023) “Acceptance Criteria of Ultra-High Performance Concrete for Field Cast Connections, Link Slabs, Beam End Repairs, and Joint Headers on California Department of Transportation Projects”, International Interactive Symposium on Ultra-High Performance Concrete 3(1): 96. doi: https://doi.org/10.21838/uhpc.16703

Rights: © 2023 The Author(s). All rights reserved.