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Project Title: Wacker Drive Viaduct Reconstruction

Sponsored by: Chicago Department of Transportation

Collaborated with: WJE Associates Inc., Northbrook, IL

Research Objectives:

• Produce high-performance concrete for the structural deck (precast HPC) that can have a service life of 75 years or more.
• Produce high-performance concrete for the columns, superstructure, and closure strips (Cast-in-place HPC).
• Preparation of material specifications and review construction details related to concrete durability and corrosion protection.
• Elastic and nonlinear finite element analysis in evaluating the behavior of the complex bridge-deck system.
• Prototype design, fabrication and test.
• Develop monitoring techniques at various constructions level and at service life of the viaduct.

Accomplishments To Date:

• Identify the ingredients for pre-cast high-performance concrete.
• Preliminary evaluation (fresh and mechanical properties) of high performance concrete for the deck system.
• Finite element modeling of the viaduct system for longitudinal and transverse pre-stressing forces.

On-going Work:

• Identify the ingredients for cast-in-place high-performance concrete.
• Durability evaluation of high-performance concrete for precast and cast-in-place.
• Preparation of material specification.
• Finite element analysis to determine the critical locations for instrumentations.
• Linear and non-linear finite element analysis of the viaduct system.
• Prototype fabrication, instrumentation and testing.