The purpose of this research was to determine whether technologies exist that could be developed to identify and locate bleedwater in the conduits of post-tensioned bridge members. This bleedwater has become a major problem for some state highway agencies. Every year, millions of dollars are spent nationwide in the rebuilding, repairing, re-engineering, and maintaining of post-tensioned bridges that have had their structural integrity compromised, and in some cases ruined, by bleedwater in the conduits housing their structural strands. In 2004, the Florida Department of Transportation funded an $11,000,000 project to repair the Mid-Bay Bridge in Okaloosa County and a $15,000,000 project to repair damage done to the states flagship bridge, the Sunshine Skyway. Both post-tensioned bridges had been severely damaged by bleedwater in the conduits housing their structural strands. The objectives of the research were to generate a short list of technologies that have the highest potential to locate and identify the problem water, test the technologies to determine their relative level of potential for development, and identify the single technology that holds the most promise for meeting the challenge. After completion of the research, it is apparent that the technology with the greatest potential in this area is Gamma-ray Spectroscopy.
Abstract