ABSTRACT
The root cause of several worldwide bridge collapses in the past 20 years has been identified as resulting from the poor performance of structural details known as halving joints. Concrete halving joints are renowned for their low redundancy, potentially brittle failure characteristic (if not detailed correctly), and high stress concentration zones. Following safety concerns related to a halving joint bridge, an extensive program of structural health monitoring was conducted spanning nearly 2 years. The monitoring data combined with the finite element modelling allowed an investigation of the fatigue risk associated with reinforced concrete halving joint headstocks. This paper presents the results of the investigation into the potential for fatigue to adversely influence the halving joint performance. Despite the obvious issues with the bridge, it was found that the fatigue risk in the headstock halving joints was low.
