FHWA Bridge Maintenance Manual—Substructure - a PDH Online Course for Engineers, Architects and Surveyors

FHWA Bridge Maintenance Manual—Substructure

Course Outline

This four-hour online course discusses maintenance procedures for bridge substructures. Procedures to repair bridge seats, caps, abutments, spread footings, piers, and bents are described. Procedures for installing deadmen and helper bents, as well as underwater repair of structures are given.

This course includes a multiple-choice quiz at the end, which is designed to enhance the understanding of the course materials.

Learning Objective

At the conclusion of this course, the student will:

Be familiar with maintenance of bridge seats and caps;
Be cognizant of the need to protect the substructure;
Understand principles of repair of broken or deteriorated wing walls;
Be familiar with repair of abutment faces;
Be familiar with repair of abutment back walls;
Be familiar with repair of cracked hammerhead pier caps;
Know principles of strengthening columns with fiber composites;
Understand principles of spread footing repair;
Know methods of repair applicable to surface deterioration of abutments and piers;
Be familiar with jackets for pile protection and repair;
Be familiar with pile repairs;
Be cognizant of repairs to intermediate bents;
Know-how to repair end bents;
Understand principles of installing helper bents;
Be cognizant of principles of timber cap repairs;
Understand principles of installation of deadmen anchorages;
Know the stabilization of settled piers;
Be familiar with timber pile repair; and
Know underwater repair of substructures.

Intended Audience

This course is intended primarily for civil, construction, and structural engineers, and would be of particular interest to consulting engineers or to engineers serving in government organizations concerned with the maintenance of bridges.

Benefit to Attendees

An attendee of this course will be familiar with and able to apply procedures for the maintenance of bridge substructures.

Course Introduction

Substructure problems include deterioration (particularly at the water line), cracking (usually related to settlement), impact damage (associated with traffic under the bridge), and shear damage (associated with movement or approach pavement pressure). Since most substructure units are concrete, repairs are often concrete related. If the concrete substructure is exposed to salt water, either from the deck or from below, there are likely to be the same rebar corrosion ands palling problems associated with the deck. In addition to the problems listed above, timber substructures are damaged by decay and vermin attack.

Course Content

This course is based on Chapter XII (Substructure Maintenance Procedures) of the Federal Highway Administration Bridge Maintenance Training Reference Manual, Publication No. FHWA- NHI-03-045, March, 2003.

FHWA Bridge Maintenance Manual—Substructure

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Course Summary

Various repair, updating, and replacement procedures are described that are useful in the maintenance of bridge decks.

Related Links

For additional technical information related to this subject, please visit the following websites or web pages:

http://www.nhi.fhwa.dot.gov/training/course_detail.aspx?num=FHWA-NHI-134029&topicnum=134

Quiz

Once you finish studying the above course content, you need to take a quiz to obtain the PDH credits.

DISCLAIMER: The materials contained in the online course are not intended as a representation or warranty on the part of PDH Center or any other person/organization named herein. The materials are for general information only. They are not a substitute for competent professional advice. Application of this information to a specific project should be reviewed by a registered architect and/or professional engineer/surveyor. Anyone making use of the information set forth herein does so at their own risk and assumes any and all resulting liability arising therefrom.