FHWA researchers build "strong floor" to test bridge structures - Technical News - Brief Article

Public Roads, Jan-Feb, 2003

Researchers with the bridge design and construction team at FHWA's Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center (TFHRC) are building a "strong floor," which is a 0.9-meter (3-foot)-thick steel-reinforced concrete pad that can be used to test a variety of structures, including bridge supports.

The strong floor's first assignment will be to test a full-scale Geosynthetic Reinforced Soil (GRS) bridge abutment located on the hill above the Federal Outdoor Impact Laboratory (FOIL) site at TFHRC. The project, which is being conducted in partnership with the Transportation Research Board's (TRB) National Cooperative Highway Research Program, is designed to evaluate and refine GRS technology for bridge support. The testing is expected to continue until spring 2003.

For more information, contact Mike Adams at 202-493-3025 or mike.adams@fhwa.dot.gov.