ABSTRACT
Replacement of a damaged bridge is difficult when considering the significant social costs. On the other hand, partial section restoration of the damaged area can lead to re-deterioration. The present study proposes a new retrofitting method to improve the load-carrying capacity, environmental adaptability, and maintainability of the damaged bridge while minimizing traffic restriction. In the retrofitting method, new reinforcing girders are joined to existing girders. When considering the limit states of the retrofitted structure, the residual capacity of existing girders is expected to be effectively used while the safety of the entire structure is ensured by independent new girders. In order to investigate the load-carrying behavior of the retrofitted structure, loading tests on a composite girder reinforced with steel girders and a finite element analysis simulating the experiment were performed. The results showed that the reinforced structure had stable load-carrying capacity, even after the existing girder has yielded.
