Design and Construction of a Full-Width, Full-Depth Precast Concrete Deck Slab on Steel Girder Bridge

The West Sandusky Street Bridge over I-75 in Findlay, Ohio, consisted of a single 170-ft-span hybrid steel plate girder bridge with a concrete deck. To minimize closure times on West Sandusky Street and reduce traffic delays on I-75 during the bridge's replacement, full-width, full-depth precast concrete deck panels were proposed for the bridge deck construction. The precast deck panels are posttensioned both longitudinally and transversely to minimize cracking and improve durability and are constructed with shear stud pockets to allow for the installation of shear studs after erection and posttensioning. During detail design, a finite element analysis of the bridge deck was carried out to determine the required level of prestress in the deck. A time-dependent analysis was subsequently completed to determine the long-term creep effects and posttensioning losses, including the effects of restraint from the steel girders. A sensitivity analysis determined the optimum curing time required before stressing the longitudinal posttensioning tendons and grouting the shear pockets. The steel plate girders were designed for the long-term creep effects due to the posttensioning of the deck, which imposed additional axial loads and moments on the steel girders. The replacement deck panels were fabricated before bridge demolition and road closure. Bridge construction was completed in fall 2004.