Inspection of Box-Girder Reinforced Concrete Bridges

Inspection and evaluation of box-girder reinforced concrete bridges has been investigated here. Moreover، the most common problems in bridge decks of this type have been described. Because of the complexity of this type of bridges، in both the design and the construction phases، applying proper and scientific inspection methods as well as identifying the points and areas of potential of damage and failure have great importance. On the other hand، each bridge inspector must be aware of the structural behavior and more time should be spent for the inspection of the critical points and areas. The paper begins with a short introduction about the different types of box-girder reinforced concrete bridges with more details in the construction methods and the reinforcement arrays. The inspector should first of all be familiar with this introduction. After that، a detailed discussion about the failure modes of these types of bridges has been presented. The results show، beside the visual inspection، using accurate inspection tools and taking special attention to the deck details and the points which highly stressed (e. g.، anchorage area for prestress cables) is essential. Also، special attention to the form and location of different types of cracking is decisive for the better selection of proper repair، maintenance and other remedial works.