Prof. Tripp Shenton, University of Delaware

With twenty five years as a University Professor in the field of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Tripp Shenton brings his academic experience to TSP2, at both the regional and national level. I spoke with Tripp about several topics including how to increase the popularity of bridge preservation in the academic environment.

Could you talk about your professional career?

I am a Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Delaware. I teach undergraduate and graduate courses, primarily with a focus on mechanics. My main area of research is structural health monitoring, with a focus on bridge evaluation and bridge monitoring.

I have been a professor for twenty five years. Prior to that I was in graduate school, but I also spent six years in the public sector working for the Federal Government.

Can you provide some insights about your involvement with the TSP2 Bridge Preservation program?

I have been involved with TSP2 for about eight years. As the academic director for the North-East Bridge Preservation Partnership (NEBPP), I attend the annual meeting, the monthly conference calls and also the national meetings that take place every four years. At the annual meetings I have given presentations and facilitated break-out sessions.

I have also compiled statements of research needs and conducted one small research project that was funded by the NEBPP.

This is generally how I contribute to the Bridge Preservation Partnership right now.

What about the “Research” TSP2 Regional Working Group that you chair?

This Working Group has been formed recently. Not a lot has been done so far through the group.  We are in the early stages of work development.

Has your collaboration with TSP2 affected your academic research programs? If so, how?

It certainly has. I would not say that my research prior to getting involved with TSP2 had anything directly to do with bridge preservation. Research in the fields of structural health monitoring and bridge evaluation is certainly related to bridge preservation but not as directly as the types of activities that the TSP2 Partnership is focused on.

As mentioned before, I carried out a small research project that was funded by the NEBPP several years ago (Ed Note: see Link Section). It was a survey of the past experience and state of practice of the design and maintenance of small movement bridge joints in the North-East region.  That small project led into a larger research project that was funded by NCHRP (12-100). It entailed developing guidelines for maintenance and repair of small movement bridge joints (Ed Note: see Link Section).

These are the topics I can point to for how my collaboration with TSP2 has affected my research program.

What about future research programs?

Since I have been involved with TSP2 several topics came to light that could lead to research programs. However at this time we are simply discussing ideas.

Are students in civil engineering at the University of Delaware aware of bridge preservation initiatives? Are they exposed to bridge preservation programs?

Our general Civil Engineering program is a 4-year degree that has many sub-disciplinaries, such as structural engineering, transportation, geotech, environmental and construction. There are a lot of different areas that students can be exposed to in a general Civil Engineering degree program such as ours. Within structures they are exposed to some aspects of bridge engineering, but they most likely do not get down to the level of detail of bridge preservation.  So I would say that generally students are not exposed to bridge preservation or aware of these initiatives. Bridges represent only one type of structure that civil engineers design and preservation is just a small element of bridge engineering.

The primary ways students could be exposed to bridge preservation would be either through courses or the research they are involved in.  Another avenue would be internships. A lot of our students work over the summer in internships and co-op opportunities. Many of them work for the Department of Transportation and some of them end up working in bridges. If they are in an experience like that, they can certainly be exposed to bridge preservation initiatives.

What can be done to attract talents to bridge preservation?  

Today young men and women coming into engineering are looking for areas that excite them, they can be passionate about, they have a real interest in, and where they will be able to get a job when they finish. There is an awful lot of competition within the engineering professions. A number of engineering disciplines come across as very high-tech, sexy, and innovative. I think of biomedical, nanotechnology,  and cyber security, for example, which are disciplines that you hear a lot about in the news today.

To get the students’ interested in civil engineering we have to make sure we do a good job of promoting and marketing what civil engineers do, how they make a difference, what the important problems are that they solve.  Civil engineering is not usually perceived as glossy and is not frequently linked to the exciting stories that one hears in the news, even though civil engineers solve very important problems that are relevant for the community.

Young people today are very interested in sustainability, climate change, and environmental stewardship. They are concerned about the future of our environment and what we do about it. Bridge preservation can connect with these issues very nicely because it is all about promoting long-term sustainable bridge structures, keeping them in service longer so that we do not have to replace them when they turn 50.  We need to make young adults understand the critical problems bridge preservation engineers are working on and tie them to sustainability.

Unlike other engineering disciplines, civil engineers serve the public. They are not designing the next smart phone or creating a new widget so that some big corporation can make a lot of money. Civil engineers work for the society. This is of tremendous interest to a lot of young people. In tailoring a statement about the importance of bridge preservation, we must underline the fact that bridge preservation engineers not only support a more sustainable approach to engineering but also serve the community.

What could TSP2 do to increase awareness of bridge preservation in the academic environment, focusing on both teachers and students?

One approach would be to develop teaching modules in bridge preservation.  It is a common practice to develop modules for new fields that want to try to inject their issues in a curriculum.  In most undergraduate, and even in graduate civil engineering programs today, you will probably not find a single course in bridge preservation. However, if teachers have a module or two, they could use them in their lectures to introduce the idea of bridge preservation in their courses. Teaching modules would definitively be of benefit to the faculty.

More and more civil engineering programs are linked to sustainability. We have a brand new course on sustainability in our program that every civil engineering student has to take. A few  modules on bridge preservation that an instructor could use in the sustainability course would be of big help.

Promoting research in bridge preservation and advocating for research funding is also important.  From my perspective, while there is a lot of interest in bridge preservation by  owners, consultants, supplier, contractors, and FHWA, there is not a lot of research going on today. It is just not happening, mainly because funding is not there. If there were more funding, more faculty would get involved in research in bridge preservation and  more students would be exposed to this discipline. This would lead to more students graduating and wanting to go to work in the bridge preservation area.

I also think that TSP2 should work with owners and vendors to create internship or co-op opportunities for students focusing in bridge preservation.  A large majority of students today will have had at least one internship before graduating. They can use the internship to explore different areas of engineering. They can see if they are interested in structures or geotech or environmental, for example. Internship and co-op opportunities where students can work in bridge preservation for the summer, would allow students to gain knowledge about this discipline. Students can understand the problems that are addresses in the short and long-term, learn about key technologies and critical issues, with the result that when they graduate they may go into bridge preservation. If a student does a good job in the internship, likes the company or the agency, and that is reciprocated, the student can get a permanent job offer when graduating.

It is important to create a connection between bridge preservation and internship opportunities. A lot of DOTs already have internship programs. What should be assured of are internship slots in the preservation area.

LINKS

Small Joint Movement – NEBPP Research Program link?
https://tsp2bridge.pavementpreservation.org/technical/decks-joints/#NEBPP:%20Small%20Movement%20Expansion%20Joints%20in%20the%20Northeast

Small Joint Movement – NCHRP Guidelines link?
http://onlinepubs.trb.org/onlinepubs/nchrp/docs/NCHRP12-100_FRPart1.pdf

By Lorella Angelini, Angelini Consulting Services, LLC

The cover three newly released Pocket Guides

The TSP2 Bridge Preservation web site has released the PDF of three Pocket Guides (PG) that have been recently published by the FHWA Bridge Preservation Expert Task Group (BPETG). They are titled: “Bridge Cleaning”, “Removal and Replacement of Bridge Coatings”, and “Thin-Polymer Bridge Deck Overlay System”.  Please also see the link at the bottom of this post.

Not only can the PG be downloaded from the TSP2 web site, but they are also available as a smartphone app. To download the PG smartphone app one must go to iTunes or Google Play Store and search for “RBC Pocket Guide” for Bridge Coating, “BC Pocket Guide” for Bridge Cleaning, and “TPO Pocket Guide” for the Thin Polymer Overlay Guide.

PG are the result of a team work that has been coordinated and led by Gregg Freeman, Director of Business Development with KwikBond Polymers and member of the FHWA BPETG. Experts from Local, State and Federal Agencies, independent Consultants and Industry representatives all contributed to the definition and writing of the PG. I spoke with Gregg so as to have some insights about the development of the PG and his expectations with this project.

Where does the idea of creating PG come from?

After listening to industry presentations and round-table discussion at the TSP2 Regional Partnership meetings, it became clear to me that the understanding of “best practices”, as it relates to selection of activities and installation of materials, was vastly different between what the manufacturers and consultants expected and how these activities were actually performed.  I remember we discussed this issue at one of the first BPETG meetings that I was involved with.  Every member of the BPETG agreed that reference guides, especially related to the activities with a greater potential for failure, were needed.  The idea for the PG came from these discussions.

What are BPETG goals for the PG?

We wanted to create a tool that provides well-founded, reliable information about bridge preservation activities. We focused on those activities that are strategic for maintaining bridge elements in “good” or “fair” conditions thus achieving a long-term service life for bridges. We took in particular consideration the activities that can mitigate potential failure mechanisms.

Overall the PG are expected to:

• provide proper installation/repair guidelines;
• provide a check-list for equipment and tools needed;
• identify limitations and restrictions including regional climates, traffic, and storage;
• identify potential failure mechanisms and how to avoid them;
• assess the condition of the deck for properly selecting the right system and/or product.

In creating the PG we had in mind the needs of different people involved in bridge preservation. For example, designers and spec writes can employ the PG as a reference for “best practice” and proper material/product recommendations. Inspectors can use the PG to assist with the completion of work at the job site. When using PG smartphone app, PDF check lists come to life as toggles that can be checked once a task in the field is completed. Information can then be emailed from the field to the office through the app as a record of work completed.

Which resources did you use for the development of the PG?

We began by selecting a lead SME (Editor Note: Subject Matter Expert) for each PG.  The SME reached out to State, Local, Federal Agencies, Consultants and Industry in order to create expert teams.  Each team started evaluating the existing resources, making sure that these resources were available to a larger public, and eliminating practices that were not supported by respected sources.

After each group of experts developed the initial PG version, the draft circulated around the country to reach State and Federal experts for review.  Needless to say each PG went through many changes throughout this process.

I led the team for the Thin-Polymer Bridge Deck Overlay Systems guide.  Our fairly large group of people included Jason DeRuyver from Michigan DOT and Mike Stenko from Transpo who took lead roles as well.

The Removal and Replacement of Bridge Coatings team was headed up by Ted Hopwood from the Kentucky Transportation Center, while the Bridge Cleaning team was led by Michael Brown with WSP.

Is the BPETG planning to release additional PG?

Yes, the Joint Systems guide is expected to be published soon. It is going through a final formatting process.  The team has been led by Debbie Steiger with Watson Bowman. Tony Brake from Caltrans has also taken a leading role in this team.

In the next 6 months or so, we plan to develop three additional PG, such as “Spot, Zone and Overcoat Painting”, “Deck Patching” and “Concrete Substructure Repairs”.

Other topics are for future consideration are:

• Spot, Zone and Overcoat Painting
• Deck Patching
• Concrete Substructure Repairs
• Concrete Superstructure Repairs
• Steel Superstructure Repairs
• Bearings: Clean, Reset and Grease
• Removing Channel Debris and Scour Repairs

As the project leader for the PG, what challenges have you encountered so far?

Simply put, not all experts agree!  And not everyone can agree upon what available resources are the best to use.  Another point of discussion entailed information to be included in the checklists so as to have all PG to flow in a consistent format.

How have the PG been received so far?

It’s still early to say.  The smartphone app has just become available at the TSP2 WBPP meeting in Reno on May 14-16.  The app is very easy to download. When I presented the PG project at the meeting, some people in the audience downloaded the apps right there on the spot. The idea is for them to take the PG back to their home State and share information with maintenance crews.

Advancing the use of the PG is also one of the goals of the TSP2 “Local Agency Outreach” National Working Group that I co-chair with Travis Kinney from Oregon DOT. We are planning to promote the PG at TSP2 Regional Partnership meetings as well as at LTAP (Ed Note: Local Technical Assistance Program) and NACE (Ed Note: National Association of Corrosion Engineers) and other relevant gatherings and conferences.  We also plan on visiting Local Agencies around the country with the support of the FHWA, AASHTO Committee’s and State Agencies.

What feedback have you received about the PG so far?

There is a wide consensus that these guides are a useful tool for bridge preservation, but definitively I am looking forward to receiving more feedback on their content and use. This is essential information in order to continue to improve the quality of the PG that will be released at a later day and meet the expectations of bridge preservation practitioners.

LINKS

https://tsp2bridge.pavementpreservation.org/technical/fhwa/documents/

Brian with his grandson Hudson at the 2018 TSP2 National Meeting in Orlando.

By Lorella Angelini, Angelini Consulting Services, LLC

Brian Mintz,  the General Manager for Phoscrete Corp. based in Deerfield Beach, FL, and operating in North America, is very passionate about bridge preservation both personally and professionally.

Bridge preservation is in fact the focal business of Phoscrete Corp.

Brian participates in the life of TSP2. He chairs the He chairs the Innovative Technology Demonstrations (ITD) National TSP2 Working Group and is industry vice-chair of the Southeast Bridge Preservation Partnership (SEBPP). Brian is also a voting member of International Concrete Repair Institute (ICRI)  Materials and Methods Committee.

Could you speak of the path that brought you to be the General Manager of Phoscrete Corporation?

I have a long history. In 2003 I began working as Marketing and Communications Director for Stellar Materials, then the parent company of Phoscrete. Because our VP Engineering was native German, I edited his technical documents prior to publication. I learned a great deal about our phosphate-bonded technology. In 2009 I was promoted to Vice President of Business Development for the Phoscrete product line. In 2011 Phoscrete Corporation spun off from Stellar and a few years later, in 2015, the original founder and patent-holder,  Jean Tremblay, and I acquired Phoscrete. Unfortunately Jean passed away in 2017. I am now the General Manager of Phoscrete Corporation.

What are your core values as the leader of Phoscrete?

Integrity first. Sometimes we decline projects where Phoscrete is not the best fit.

At Phoscrete we strive to understand both objectives and obstacles facing our customers, distributors, and strategic partners. For me success is when everyone wins.

Phoscrete Corp. offers the Magnesium Alumino Liquid Phosphate (MALP) technology for fast setting concrete repairs.  Can you briefly describe this innovative technology, its advantages, and its limitations?

Due to its properties, MALP can solve a number of  problems that occur in the repair and maintenance of concrete bridges. That’s why we ask a lot of questions to understand what is important to each customer. Here are the main advantages and limitations.

Phoscrete is a next-generation mag-phos repair mortar that does not use ammonia and does not out-gas. Instead of water we combine our pre-measured dry mix and a liquid phosphate activator.

Phoscrete created MALP formulations for Horizontal/Castable (Pour), Vertical/Overhead (Patch) and Shotcrete/Gunite (Spray) applications. . Repairs are durable and long lasting since Phoscrete bonds strong, both chemically and mechanically, to the concrete substrate, and to itself with no cold joints.

Phoscrete products are fast setting and have high early strength gain. Phoscrete repairs typically allow traffic-reopening as soon as 30 minutes following placement.

Phoscrete products stop steel bar corrosion on contact and protect against the halo effect. Our products also contain fibers for increased ductility.

Phoscrete is an excellent expansion joint header material that accepts joint seals in the same lane closure.

Phoscrete is easy to mix and apply. It can be used even in sub-freezing temperatures due to the availability of a specially designed fast-set admixture.

Like every other technology, Phoscrete has its limitations. Jugs of the Liquid Activator  must be chilled to work in hot temperatures. Saturated Surface Drysurfaces require using of a scrub coat or a torch to evaporate surface moisture prior to installation. Installation crews must be able to adjust to the short working time of Phoscrete products.

What challenges has Phoscrete encountered in promoting MALP technology for bridge preservation?

The QPL process is time-consuming, expensive and different from state-to-state. Nevertheless our newest product, Phoscrete HC, was introduced in 2015 and four years later, we are approved in the QPL of 25 US states.

Some States pose upfront restrictions, such as only accepting Portland cement-based repair materials and requiring water-mixes. Other States exclude mag-phos materials due to the out-gassing  of older mag-based technologies.  Convincing these DOT Materials Labs of the advantages of MALP requires patience and perseverance. Luckily, we have ten-year performance history with DOTs, and many advocates of our technology.

Do you have any advice in order to overcome these challenges? Are there any solutions you would you like to recommend?

Standardized national or regional QPL specifications would be great.  NTPEP offers standardized testing, but not standardized specifications.

You are the chair of the Innovation Technology Demonstrations (ITD) TSP2 National Working Group. How did the idea for this Working Group originate?

Our former northeast rep ideated and launched a similar program with the pavement group. It was called Technology Transfer Initiative (TTI). Its concept was to expose innovative products, processes, and services to interested parties, with independent oversight and knowledge sharing. The goal was to find a faster way to bring innovative products and services to come to market.

The ITD Working Group started from the TTI concept and expanded it to bridge preservation.

What has the Working Group achieved so far?

We completed the pilot program using MALP technology. It was a bit slow at the start but we learned a lot of lessons along the way.

Starting this year, we transformed our monthly call into an actual working meeting where everyone dedicates time to collaboration and the creation of documents and processes.

We expanded our Working Group team gathering representatives from manufacturers, consultants, academia, DOTs, in addition to TSP2. We have a truly excellent team.

What are the 2019 goals for the ITD Working Group? And what are its long-term goals?

In the first quarter we completed the ITD Guidelines and Application Form for manufacturers to participate in the program. We already have one company, Jet Filters Application, that submitted the application and three other companies  that plan to be participate in the  ITD program with their technologies.

Our goal for 2019 is to fine tune the process so it becomes a well-oiled, running machine by 2020. Also by 2020 we count to have presentations of ITD technologies uploaded on the TSP2 website. We are planning to give these presentations  at the monthly calls and  at the annual Meetings of the four Regional Partnerships.

You have been participating in TSP2 Bridge Partnership National and Regional Meetings for several years. Has your company benefitted from the participation in these Meetings? If so, how?

Absolutely Phoscrete has benefited! 2019 marks our 10^th year as a National Member. I made many great professional contacts and personal friends through TSP2. Phoscrete has absolutely benefited from participating in the TSP2 National and Regional Meetings. The year 2019 marks our 10^th year as a National Member.

Our success in the DOT marketspace is due in a large part to the introductions at these meetings. We developed mutually profitable strategic partnerships with other suppliers. We hired sales people and manufacturer reps with experience in our industry thanks to TSP2.

LINKS:

Phoscrete

https://phoscrete.com/

TSP2 National Working Groups, including ITD (Innovative Technology Demonstrations)

https://tsp2bridge.pavementpreservation.org/national-working-groups/

Michael Johnson, State Transportation Asset Management Engineer at Caltrans

Author: Lorella Angelini, Angelini Consulting Services, LLC

Michael Johnson is the State Transportation Asset Management Engineer at Caltrans, a responsibility that includes the management of both bridges and roads. Beyond his work at Caltrans, Michael is very active in the bridge preservation community and with TSP2. He is the Chair of the AHD37 Bridge Preservation Committee, which gathers more 80 people representing DOTs, Academia, FHWA, and TSP2. He is also a member of TRB AHD00 Section – Maintenance and Preservation, ABC40 Standing Committee on Transportation Asset Management and AHD35 Standing Committee on Bridge Management.

I had quite a long conversation with Michael about his job, career and commitment with bridge preservation.

Could you talk about your education and career path?

My education includes a Bachelor of Science Degree in Civil Engineering from California State University in Sacramento and a Master in Science with Structural Engineering concentration from the same University.  I am a licensed Professional Engineer in California.

My 28-year long career has been entirely with Caltrans.  I spent my first two years going through the Caltrans’ rotation program, which is a great program for new engineers in the bridge area. During the first two years of employment, a new engineer gains experience of bridge maintenance, bridge design and bridge construction, thus getting a broad understanding of how to design and construct a bridge, and also what kind of maintenance issues a bridge may have.

I started out as bridge inspector and worked for a number of years in this position. Since California was a pilot State for element level bridge inspection, I was very involved with this program early on. It ultimately led me down a path that included co-authoring the AASHTO Bridge Element Inspection Guide Manual that is used today nationwide.

I then progressed to Bridge Management. I ran bridge programs with focus on project scope, funding and decision-making in order to prioritize projects. I was also managing the underwater inspection program, the fracture critical inspection program, in-house paint programs and all of data management for bridge inspection. This job married my prior inspection background with my management expertise.

My current position was created to implement asset management across all of Caltrans managed assets.  In this role I have extended many of the concepts I learned in Bridge Management to a broader set of assets. The biggest physical asset in California is represented by pavement. Bridges are the second most heavily invested asset. We also have a fairly large program for culverts, and transportation management system elements. The big four assets are definitively pavements, bridges, culverts, and our transportation management system elements.

What are your current responsibilities?

I have two broad responsibilities as Caltrans State Asset Management Engineer. The first is to oversee the implementation of asset management in Caltrans. The second broad duty involves the management of Caltrans rehabilitation program, which is $4.4 billion annually. This program covers rehabilitation and replacement of physical infrastructure, safety preservation operations and more. It includes all the facilities that Caltrans owns. It is quite broad.

Could you talk about Caltrans Transportation Asset Management Plan (TAMP), its goals, challenges and achievements?

The TAMP (Ed Note, see links below) presents a fairly high level of strategic framework for how we are managing infrastructures in California. There are many components in this plan, but its core is what we call the three-prong asset management approach.

The first component includes programs to support highway and bridge crews, thus recognizing their importance for the preservation and maintenance of the State Highway System. Caltrans has crews that specialize in bridge maintenance and repairs. Caltrans is also one of the few DOTs that have in-house structural steel painting crews with the number of painters totaling more than 100.

The second aspect of the three-prong asset management approach is the preservation program.  The goal of this program is to slow down deterioration or delay future rehabilitation and replacement. We have a very robust maintenance program including many types of preservation treatments. This program’s expenditure is approximately $500 million per year for pavements, bridges and culverts.

The third and final element of the three-prong approach entails the major rehabilitation and replacement program, which is about $4.4 billion annually.  This program covers physical asset as well as operational aspects, safety, congestion and others.

A major overall achievement of the TAMP program has been the implementation of a Performance driven approach, which is helping us to be more consistent with our investments over time.  In the past, the emphasis was on the value of what was spent on a single asset, while now it is on how much the conditions or the performance of that asset have improved. In the past we also had a tendency to invest heavily in the hot item of the time, thus moving from one hot item to another instead of having a more consistent and disciplined approach.

Finally, through the asset management plan development, we enhanced transparency and accountability in our management. Since we are bringing good results, this approach has led us to get additional resources for the preservation and rehabilitation of our system.  So there has been a very positive outcome as a result of the implementation of TAMP. We now have people and funding to take proper care of our highway system.

How can bridge maintenance engineers at Caltrans take advantage of TAMP?

TAMP’s focus is on measured performance outcomes. By doing this, the program really highlights the benefits that maintenance programs bring to the Department. The recognition of these benefits has in turn led to more funding and more people being available for maintenance and preservation statewide. These are certainly of great assistance to maintenance engineers.

California recently enacted a significant gas tax increase; the first one in many years. Politically it was not an easy thing to do. Our work in asset management helped provide confidence that we had a good management structure in place and we can quantify needs very well. A solid asset management approach helped to justify a significant funding package for transportation.

As we are implementing the asset management plan, with focus on performance management, we are also developing a number of new software tools that are available to bridge engineers. As an example, our maintenance engineers can now go to the web site and see every asset in the highway system, color-coded based on current condition and planned projects. This tool allows engineers to understand the relationship between the assets, their condition and the project portfolios. In Caltrans we could easily be juggling 3,000 projects at a time between planning, design, and construction. Knowing what is going on and what is going to happen for each asset helps maintenance engineers make better decisions about what they want to do and where they want to work.

As the chair of TRB “AHD37 Standing Committee on Bridge Preservation”, could you illustrate activity and goals of this Committee?

The TRB Bridge Preservation Committee has a fairly broad and general scope advocating for research and activities that extend the life of existing bridges, communicate measures and benefits of preservation, and expand the development of tools and techniques that further bridge preservation.

Our effort in the Committee takes us into several areas such as non-destructive evaluation and monitoring, design and construction, strategies for improved service life, bridge preservation training, bridge preservation research, products and materials for bridge preservation. We are also looking at bridge preservation reports and research that are being published around the country, and the development of policies related to bridge preservation at national and state level.

Innovation for preservation is one of our general objectives. We want to know what kind of innovation ideas are starting to emerge. Another key objective entails communication. We are looking at how to communicate bridge preservation benefits and to market the value of preservation.

We work seamlessly with various aspects of AASHTO, such as the Maintenance Committee and the Committee on Bridge and Structures. We also work with the TSP2 Regional Partnerships and FHWA. The chairs of the AASHTO Committees and the lead of FHWA and TSP2 Bridge Preservation are all members of the TRB Bridge Preservation Committee AHD37. We have basically brought together the leadership of AASTHO, FHWA and TSP2 in the TRB Committee. This makes it easy for the members of the Committee to keep track what is going on in the area of bridge preservation between the various groups and organizations.

You also have a strong representation from Academia and industry in the TRB Bridge Preservation Committee AHD37. Could you comment about it?

As with all TRB Committees, the AHD37 includes industry members and academic members, in addition to DOTs representatives.  At the core, TRB is a research focused organization and we rely on our academic partners for research.

The industry is also a critical partner, in particular manufacturers who are producing products and materials for bridge preservation and consultants who provide supporting services. The more we engage with the industry representatives, the more they understand the kind of issues DOTs are having and, in turn, can work on developing products, materials and services that are solutions to the problems that have been identified. Our balanced mix of members on the AHD37 helps make the Committee more successful.

What are the focus areas of the AHD37 Committee?

A topic of particular interest to the Committee is trying to answer the question of when and why bridges are taken out of service. We are researching questions like: how old should a bridge be when it is taken out of service? When should a bridge be replaced with a new bridge? We initiated a number of different research projects related to this topic.

We are interested in the condition and performance of a bridge during the last year of service but also in what functional features the replacement bridge has that the prior bridge did not have. More than one research report shows that bridges are not always being replaced because of condition.  A lot of times bridges are replaced because they are no longer functionally adequate or they have other sorts of vulnerabilities.  This viewpoint gives us a very broad definition of bridge preservation.

Another area of interest to the Committee is understanding the decision variables that should be considered before deciding to replace a bridge. There have been a number of instances where there was the perception that the service life of a particular bridge was near the end. However, when the bridge did not actually get replaced for various reasons, it ended up remaining in service and functional adequate for ten or fifteen more years. This makes us wonder if there might be a better criterion for deciding when it is time to replace a bridge. In other words, preservation may be simply a matter of making better decisions of when a bridge is at end of its life.

You are active in a number of TRB Committees. What is the best way for a bridge preservation engineer to keep up with the work of TRB?

There is a lot going on in bridge preservation between AASTHO, FHWA, TRB, TSP2 Regional Partnerships and State DOTs. It is therefore really difficult to stay on top what is happening.

In order to spread bridge preservation information to all interested people, who many times do not have the opportunity to participate in meetings of the different organizations, we have created the bridge preservation newsletter that is available from the TSP2 Bridge Preservation web site.  The newsletter has sections that highlight new innovative products and practices, provides a listing of recently completed and on-going research projects, and has a links to research results.

The first publication highlights an innovative product for corrosion protection of bridge deck reinforcement. It also highlights some work that is going on between FHWA Bridge Preservation Expert Task Group and TSP2 to produce bridge preservation pocket guides. The newsletter has a fairly comprehensive list of research projects completed in the last couple of years or that are ongoing.

In a limited number of pages, one can get a quick insight of some of the hottest things that are going on in preservation.  The publication is scheduled to be released with some frequency and offers opportunity for publication of topics from different bridge preservation avenues.

Could you comment about TSP2 and your involvement with this organization?

TSP2 is unique in many respects. It brings together peers from neighboring Agencies, thus helping create personal relationships between them. It gathers industry expertise and academic perspective all focused on bridge preservation. Meetings are hands-on and very practical. At TSP2 people do not generally talk about research programs that are going to happen, but the talk is about everyday preservation problems and sharing different ideas on how to address these problems.

I became active with TSP2 because of its peer connection. It can really benefit you to know the people who do your same job in the nearby States. Once you develop the relationship, you can call these people, exchange ideas and get the benefit of their experience.

I have an example of this. The State of Utah’s TSP2 member was concerned about cutting access openings to the bottom of box girder bridges. He was worried that it would cause damage to the bridges. When he called me to ask about my experience with this practice, I had to chuckle. We cut hundreds, if not thousands, of access holes into bridges in California following major earthquakes and we have never had a problem. I was able to provide reassurance to the engineer from Utah DOT about the reliability of the practice. I was also able to share Caltrans standard plan showing how and where to cut access openings in box girder bridges. I am sure that in 20 minutes the Utah representative felt a lot better about what he was going to do and how to plan for its execution. This is an example of the power of TSP2.

In your opinion, what are the major challenges that DOTs and local owners face in the implementation of successful bridge preservation strategies?

I can boil it down to two primary challenges. First and foremost preservation is not really as celebrated as new construction is. Preservation is not particularly attractive in this regard. I think that our culture needs to change. We need to celebrate preservation the same way we would host a ribbon cutting ceremony for a new facility.

The second challenge is closely related to the previous one. In order to make preservation more attractive and investments more appealing broadly, we have to do a better job of communicating the benefits of preservation in a very clear and understandable way.

Could you point out one or more projects that you fondly remember?

I had the benefit of being involved in two projects that kind of stand out for me.

One was an emergency repair of a collapsed bridge at the MacArthur Maze that approaches the San Francisco Oakland Bay Bridge.  A gas truck had caught fire at the interchange causing the collapse of a second level bridge that landed on the bridge underneath and heavily damaged it. This is a very busy highway in California. My team worked on restoring the bridge that was damaged by the upper bridge collapse by implementing a massive heat straightening effort.  Within a relatively short time we actually brought the bridge back from the grave, as badly as it was damaged.

I also worked on another project that was notable, but for a different reason. We had installed an acoustic monitoring system for steel cracking on the old San Francisco Bay Bridge before it was demolished. This project was very innovative and ground breaking. It proved the value of structural health monitoring on large scale bridges. To this day the San Francisco Bay Bridge remains one of the few bridges in the world that had such a system installed. This project demonstrated how we can effectively use structural health monitoring to safely extend the life of bridges.

LINKS

TAMP – http://www.dot.ca.gov/assetmgmt/tam_plan.html