Case Study: Cracking in Deck of Reinforced Concrete Railway Bridge, Denmark

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Problem: Structural cracking due to alkali-aggregate reaction in 1-m thick reinforced deck of railway bridge.

Results: Impact-Echo tests detected horizontal cracking at mid-depth over entire span, a problem unknown to the bridge engineers.

Verification: Cores (and mode of failure during demolition).

Outcome: Bridge judged unsafe and demolished. When first hit with wrecking ball, lower half of deck separated almost as one piece, and fell to the road below.