UHPFRC technology to enhance the performance of existing concrete bridges

‘Structural UHPFRC’ stands for Ultra-High Performance Fibre Reinforced Cementitious Composite material, that is, complemented by reinforcing steel bars forming a R-UHPFRC layer with the goal to enhance the resistance and durability of structural elements in reinforced concrete. This technical paper is intended to serve for the design of enhancement of reinforced concrete bridges. After summarizing the properties of UHPFRC and R-UHPFRC in terms of structural performance, analytical design rules are presented to calculate the increase in structural resistance of structural elements strengthened with a layer of R-UHPFRC. Three applications related to the design and execution of the enhancement of three existing concrete bridges including the three most common cross sections, that is, box girder, multiple beam girder and massive slab, are described with emphasis of conceptual design aspects, main results of design and main features of execution of the UHPFRC work.