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Field Drilled Connection for F-Shaped Concrete Bridge Railing

Question
State IN
Description Text

Are you aware of testing or documentation that would support
the use of a field drilled connection for f-shaped concrete bridge railing?  Attached is a PDF of the proposed field drilled connection.



This question is not MASH specific, but could be for any
previous crash testing standard.


Bridge Rails


Date August 3, 2017
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Attachment Field Drilled for Concrete F-Shaped Bridge Rail.pdf
Response
Response
(active) 		Utilizing an epoxy anchor for concrete barriers is becoming more common all the time.  We actually did a study for the Wisconsin DOT a few years back detailing the use of epoxy anchors in barriers that included dynamic component testing.  You will likely find some useful information in that report- TRP-03-264-12.  Additionally, we have regularly used epoxied anchors to attach concrete barriers to the tarmac at our test site for use in full-scale testing and have never had issues.

Just a few things to be aware of for field drilling and epoxying anchoring to bridge decks.
1. make sure you have sufficient distance between your anchors and the edge of the deck to prevent weakening of the system and premature damage to the deck
2.  make sure your deck is thick enough for the required embedment of the anchor.  we have typically recommended at least 2 inches of concrete thickness below the bottom of the anchor bar.
3.  Embedment depths and epoxy strengths should be sufficient to develop the full strength of the anchor bar.  Most epoxies have detailed user's manuals to calculate strengths for various configurations.  ACI 318 also covers epoxy anchors in Chapter 17.
Date August 8, 2017
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