Development of a precast concrete barrier wall system for bridge decks

This paper presents a PL-3 precast concrete barrier wall system to accelerate the replacement of deteriorated bridges. The proposed connection detail is intended to expedite construction; minimize traffic disruption; improve work-zone safety, quality, and constructability; and reduce life-cycle cost. The proposed precast concrete barrier is connected to the deck slab using pretensioned threaded steel rods. The proposed male-female vertical joint between adjacent precast concrete barriers would maintain barrier continuity to spread the reaction of vehicle impact. Five full-scale barrier models were fabricated and tested to collapse to examine their ultimate capacities and crack patterns. A control model represented the cast-in-place concrete barrier. Two models represented the proposed precast concrete barrier system. Both models were loaded to induce failure at the barrier-deck slab junction. Two precast concrete barrier models were loaded at midlength and edge, respectively. One of these included the cantilever portion of the deck slab. The results show that the proposed precast concrete barrier system is as good as the cast-in-place concrete barrier with respect to ultimate load-carrying capacity at the deck slab-barrier connection.