Use of alternative materials to reduce shrinkage cracking in bridge decks

According to a survey conducted in 1996, respondents in several state departments of transportation, indicated that more than 100,000 bridge decks. in the U.S. have-suffered from early age transverse cracking, a crack pattern that typically arises due. to drying shrinkage. (concrete material properties are treated as a means through which to improve the resistance restrained drying shrinkage cracking. Various test methods are discussed as they relate to determining. the resistance of a material to shrinkage cracking. Materials-based methods of controlling drying shrinkage are presented. The materials discussed include fibers, shrinkage-compensating concrete, shrinkage-reducing admixtures, and extensible concrete. It was determined in small laboratory specimens, and confirmed in large-scale bridge deck specimens, that several of the alternative mixtures adequately reduced restrained drying-shrinkage cracking.