ABSTRACT

ABSTRACT: On April 10, 2003, a citizen of Delaware noticed that the I-95 bridge over the Brandywine River appeared to have a crack in one of its girders. Upon inspection, it was found that the fascia girder of the northbound bridge exhibited a significant fracture at midspan of the bridge’s main span. Analysis of the fracture indicated that the crack originated in a welded butt splice in a longitudinal stiffener in the tension zone of the fascia girder. Traffic was immediately closed in the rightmost travel lane above the girder, a temporary flange splice was installed, the remainder of the bridge was inspected and critical sections retrofitted, and a permanent repair strategy was developed. On June 19, 2003, installation of the permanent repair was completed. This paper reviews the circumstances leading up to the crack and its cause, presents the temporary and permanent repair strategies, and discusses the diagnostic load tests performed at various stages throughout the process.