Long-Term In Situ Performance Evaluation of Epoxy Asphalt Concrete for Long-Span Steel Bridge Deck Pavement

Abstract

Suitable evaluation of distress is beneficial to understanding the in situ performance of deck pavement. This study attempts to evaluate the long-term in situ performance of American ChemCo epoxy asphalt concrete on the Xihoumen Bridge (XHMB) after 12 years of service. The traditional performance indexes were adopted to reveal the performance of XHMB. Then, based on the typical distresses, a new pavement performance index (PPI) was proposed to characterize the authentic distress condition. Finally, the performance evaluation and evolution were conducted. According to the results, the rutting depth indexes and riding quality indexes of all lanes are higher than 97 and 94, respectively. The pavement condition indexes of the pass lanes and drive lanes in 2021 are greater than 94 and 86, respectively, which is contradictory to the distribution of numerous distresses on the pavement. According to the PPI results, the PPIs of the down direction pass lane are mostly 100. However, for the down direction drive lane, the PPIs of about 30% of segments are below 80 or 60. Finally, based on the limited data, the distress of American ChemCo epoxy asphalt concrete may initiate after serving for 4–5 years and then escalate after about 10 years.

An Investigation of the Dynamic Curing Behavior and Micro-Mechanism of a Super-Tough Resin for Steel Bridge Pavements

“…To eliminate such interference, the absorbance peak of C=O is selected as the reference peak, and the normalized absorbance index (AI) of the -NCO peak is defined in Equation (1). Hence, the conversion of the -NCO peak or curing degree α can be calculated using Equation (2).…”

“…Compared with concrete bridges, steel bridges demonstrate superior advantages, including low self-weight, good prefabrication, favorable mechanical performance, and excellent bearing capacity [1,2]. Consequently, steel bridges are extensively constructed to connect two separated regions with a considerably long span.…”

“…As a temperature-sensitive material, a traditional asphaltic pavement is prone to melting at high temperatures [7]. Hence, under vehicle loading, rutting distress may emerge on the steel deck pavement [2].…”

Analysis of Mechanical Response of Epoxy Asphalt-Repaired Pavement in Pothole Interface on Steel Bridge Deck under Coupled Temperature-Dynamic Loading

“…Epoxy asphalt steel bridge deck pavement (SBDP) is a crucial component of large-span steel bridge [4,5]. However, during the service life of the bridge, the condition of the deck pavement is far from promising, with many pavements exhibiting issues such as rutting, cracking, and potholes shortly after the bridge opens to traffic.…”