Estudio físico de losas de concreto y vigas de acero para cinco puentes principales de la Ruta 27

Abstract

Bridge element inspection is the first step to reach the general proper assessment about the condition of materials and deterioration grade. Visual and physical inspection duties arerequired to characterize both aspects, this is the reason why this project aims to give technical information about physical and functional real state of concrete decks and steel beams for five important bridges over the national highway called Ruta 27 from San José to Caldera that is managed by Autopistas del Sol S. A. In order to accomplish this purpose is important to determinate the appropriate test for concrete and steel members evaluation, based on results obtained, to distinguish materials and defects and finally give a diagnosis about the elements in study. The visual inspection work was possible through visits to the bridges to collect information about common concrete and steel defects while the physical one was the result of destructive and nondestructive test as core sampling, ultrasonic testing to verify the extent of defects on decks and magnetic particle test for weld analysis and thickness ultrasonic measurement for steel web beams. The general cracking orientation is longitudinal for concrete bridges and cross for steel bridges due to the unbraced length in each case because of flexion stress, the concrete strength got from cores was upper to the design strength and it was possible to measure some crack deeps in one of the decks. There is a partial loss of cross section due to corrosion that means [1%-9%] of reduction in moment capacity for main beams while welds in connections are without cracks and do not have fatigue signs.