The state-of-the art paper provides an extensive literature review on the work pertaining to structural health monitoring (SHM) systems used to investigate the structural integrity of highway bridges. The focus of this review is on identifying the SHM research efforts that include damage detection, structural capacity evaluation, and remaining service life estimates on such structures. These efforts have spanned a broad range of data processing methods devoted to tracking changes in structural characteristics for damage detection, codified frameworks enabling structural capacity estimating, and reliability analysis to predict remaining life. Our findings are that a large number of studies considered damage detection by data processing methods, whereas a relatively small number of studies were devoted to the estimation of structural capacities and the remaining service life of bridges. We conclude that the critical gaps include a lack of validated SHM systems that use ambient data to examine design...

The present study reviews bridge inspection practices and bridge management programs in China, Japan, Korea, and U.S. Bridges play an essential role in transportation systems and in the economic production process. Transportation agencies should maintain bridges in acceptable conditions to provide a desirable level of service to the public within limited budgets. In addition, a number of bridges are aging rapidly in these four countries. Fortunately, since several countries have experienced deteriorated bridges due to aging, the countries considered in this study have already developed comprehensive bridge management system (BMS) and bridge inspection practices. Therefore, the goal of this paper is to search for and synthesize useful knowledge on BMSs and bridge inspection practices of the four countries. Finally, recommendations that will serve as guidance to transportation agencies for potential enhancements to BMS and bridge inspections are presented.

In this study, the concrete fracture energy was obtained using the three point notched beam test method developed by Hillerborg et al. (Cem Concr Res 6(6):773–782, 1976). A total of 12 notched concrete beams were tested under two different loading conditions: constant stroke control and constant crack mouth opening displacement (CMOD) control. Despite individual fracture energies obtained from the two different loading conditions showing some variation, the average fracture energy from both loading conditions was very similar. Furthermore, the results obtained support the idea that a far tail constant “A” could change the true fracture energy by up to 11 %, if it is calculated using CMOD instead of LVDT. The far tail constant “A” is determined using a least squares fit onto a straight line according to Elices et al. (Mater Struct 25(148):212–218, 1992) and RILEM report (2007). It was also observed that the selection of the end point can produce variations of the true fracture energy. The end point indicates the point in the experiment at which to stop. An end point of 2 mm has been recommended, however, in this study other end points were also considered. The final form of the bilinear softening curve was determined based on Elices and Guinea’s methods (1992, 1994) and RILEM report (2007). This paper proposes a bilinear stress–crack opening displacement curve according to test results as well as the CEB-FIP model code.

While the majority of U-shape wrapping (Uwrap) studies have focused on the mechanism of the shear-strengthening effect, very few studies have been devoted to the use of Uwraps as anchorage for longitudinal fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) sheets or plates. This investigation therefore focuses on the anchor effect of the carbon-fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) Uwrap on externally bonded FRP-reinforced concrete elements. Based on selected parameters from the preliminary study, a parametric study was conducted on concrete blocks with an attached FRP sheet with and without Uwraps. Pull-out tests were conducted on these specimens. Slips along the length of the FRP sheet and debonding propagation in the region under the Uwrap were observed using a linear variable differential transformer (LVDT) and strain gauges. Among the tested specimens, the FRP Uwraps with a 45° angle without an edge distance maximizes the benefit of the anchoring effect. Two factors were found to control the Uwrap performance: the str...