Reinforced-concrete beam hinge joint fatigue assessment

A major highway underbridge has been subjected to a complex fatigue assessment to determine its present and future serviceability. Similar to approximately 100 other structures within Great Britain, reinforced-concrete deck hinge joints are positioned within longitudinal beams providing rotational flexibility. Concerns were raised as to the fatigue condition of the hinge joints considering repetitive rotations applied by traffic loading and pitting corrosion found on reinforcement bars. This paper describes the assessment work and associated research relating to this structure including finite-element analysis, laboratory models and space frame modelling of the structure. Comments are made on the applicability of current codes of practice for fatigue assessment of reinforced-concrete deck hinge joints.