Abdul Wahed Mohammed

First Full-Depth Deck-Panel Accelerated Bridge Construction Project in Michigan: Constructability Challenges and Lessons Learned

AbstractAccelerated bridge construction (ABC) is gaining momentum as the bridge community is educated on the latest technologies and structural systems that can be implemented under the umbrella of ABC through workshops and demonstration projects. Further, ABC is promoted through various resources provided by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and the Every Day Counts Initiative that recommends implementation of some form of acceleration into every bridge project. The ultimate goal is to make ABC a common practice. Hence, detailed documentation of challenges and lessons learned from previous ABC projects is vital for effective and efficient application of future ABC projects. This paper presents the first full-depth deck-panel ABC project in Michigan with details on the bridge configuration, strengths and limitations of the special provisions, observations during bridge construction, the project team’s timely decisions to overcome some of the constructability challenges, and lessons learned during ...

Monitoring Substructure Movements during Slide-In Bridge Construction

AbstractTo reduce disruption to traffic during bridge replacement, accelerated bridge replacement (ABR) methodologies are being developed. One of the ABR methodologies being implemented is slide-in bridge construction (SIBC), which reduces the total duration of traffic disruption to less than one or two weekends. Because the SIBC activities are new, the system response is unknown. Quantification of the loads acting on permanent and temporary structures during the slide operation is required to develop recommendations for standardizing SIBC. With this purpose, substructure movements were monitored during an SIBC project in Michigan, USA, and the forces acting on the substructure during the slide operation were back-calculated. Theoretically, forces develop in the sliding direction because of friction, and in the vertical direction because of superstructure weight. However, the analysis results indicated that a force couple developed due differential friction at the sliding surfaces, and resulted in rotatin...