Durable Repairs on Marine Bridge Piles

Abstract

Durable repairs of bridge piles exposed to a marine environment require a proper repair design, which includes understanding and preventing the deterioration mechanism in such environments and proper construction methods. To understand how repair systems work, it is important to recognize which deterioration mechanism the system prevents and controls. Conversely, to understand why a system does not work, one must determine the deterioration mechanisms that the system failed to control. The deterioration mechanism should be addressed before repair construction starts so that an appropriate solution can be achieved. Also, construction practices that accelerate deterioration mechanisms should be recognized and avoided. This paper describes efficient construction methods that can be incorporated in the construction of bridge pile repairs. It also gives recommendations to increase the life of a bridge pile repair by analyzing deterioration of repaired structures, defining the cause of deterioration, providing suggestions to enhance the performance of the repair by practical and feasible actions, and giving an integrated approach to bridge repair construction processes.