Seismic Retrofitting of a Bridge Pier with Ultra High Performance Fibre Reinforced Concrete

Abstract

The increasing number of road infrastructures needing repair and retrofit is raising the problem of how to improve seismic behaviour for all those structures for which substitution is unlikely. This work deals with the application of a retrofitting technique for Reinforced Concrete (RC) elements based on the use of Ultra High Performance Fibre Reinforced Concrete (UHPFRC). A thin layer of UHPFRC, cast around an existing RC element, can both improve its structural performance and enhance its durability against environmental actions. This kind of rehabilitation intervention may represent, in many practical cases, a cost effective solution compared with the replacement of the entire structure. The aim of this paper is the definition of a reinforcement strategy and the presentation of a 1:4 scale laboratory test of a highway bridge pier reinforced with a 30 mm layer of UHPFRC.