Seismic Repair of Severely Damaged Precast Reinforced Concrete Bridge Columns Connected with Grouted Splice Sleeves

A repair technique for severely damaged precast reinforced concrete (RC) bridge columns with grouted splice sleeve (GSS) connections has been developed that uses a carbon fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) shell and epoxy-anchored headed bars to relocate the column plastic hinge. Four original specimens were built using an accelerated bridge construction (ABC) technique with two different GSS systems and were tested to failure using cyclic quasi-static loads. One GSS system was used to connect an RC bridge pier cap to a column and the second GSS system was used to connect an RC footing to a column. Failure of the four original specimens occurred at drift ratios between 5.6 and 8.0% with longitudinal bar fracture or pullout from the GSS connections. The repair method successfully relocated the plastic hinge to the original column section adjacent to the repair and was capable of restoring the diminished load and displacement capacity. The method is a viable and cost-effective technique for rapid seismic repair of severely damaged precast bridge assemblies.