ISU Civil Engineering leads research on earthquake-resistant bridges

POCATELLO, Idaho (KYVI) – Drivers may be able to see a piece of pioneering concrete on Interstate 15 at Exit 80 in Fort Hall. This is thanks to the work of researchers at Idaho State University.

The new interchange has a precast concrete pier that supports the 222-foot-long, 88-foot-wide bridge over the highway. Unlike cast-in-place piers, precast concrete components are cast off-site in controlled environments and transported to the construction site for final assembly. The pier is one of a few similar ones in Idaho.

“The precast pier system includes structural elements such as columns and beams in a Lego-like construction,” said Mustafa Mishal, associate professor of civil engineering at Idaho State and principal investigator on the project. “The connections between elements are essential for seismic resilience. They must be strong enough to resist forces and deformations during an earthquake.

The first concept for the piers was created by Leonard Ruminski, a former ITD bridge designer who now works as a senior bridge engineer at Burgess & Niple. Ruminsky collaborated with researchers in Idaho and hypothesized that strategically placing a steel tube filled with concrete at a critical location of the bridge within the abutment would better disperse the enormous stresses placed on piers during an earthquake.

“At the time, the only method used in Idaho to attach a precast column to the pier foundation and pier caps required special, precisely positioned couplers,” Ruminski said. “The precision needed to install the couplers was difficult and often delayed construction. This new system uses only traditional materials and is easier to install, reducing the amount of delay in the project.

Large-scale testing of the piers began in 2019 at ISU's Structural Laboratory (SLAB). At SLAB, Mishal and his students tested the idea, building 11-foot-tall and 15-foot-wide models of the most common bridges.

“The extensive laboratory testing we conducted for this project was, and may still be, the largest ever done in Idaho,” Mishal said.

The team used a hydraulic motor to see how much force each model could withstand and how the models deformed before they broke. The finished dock finally appeared at the top. After some promising testing, prefabricated pavement has been incorporated into the design of the I-15 Fort Hall Interchange project.

“Constructing a bridge is a long process and can have significant traffic impacts and the Fort Hall interchange is an extension of the I-15 corridor that can result in significant traffic delays due to construction,” Idaho Department of Transportation Bridge Engineer Michael Johnson said. He said. “Constructing bridge piers typically takes several months, and by using precast columns and curved beams, we were able to reduce this time to several weeks. Additionally, most precast piers construction can be completed during light traffic hours, minimizing impacts on The traveling public and increases the safety of passengers and construction workers.

The ISU research program was led by graduate students Corey Marshall, Ali Shukergozar, Katherine Hogarth, and Jared Cantrell, a former graduate student and current research engineer at Idaho State. The findings were recently published in a paper by Mahesh Acharya, doctoral candidate, Jose Duran, master's student, Arya Ebrahimpour, professor of civil engineering and co-principal investigator, Cantrell, and Mishal in the American Society of Civil Engineers' Bridge journal. engineering.

“Thanks to the research conducted by ISU, the new pavement system promises to be adequate and completely superior in seismic performance compared to conventional pavements currently used as standard,” Ruminski said. “The research results gave us enough confidence to integrate this new system for the first time into the Fort Hall Interchange Bridge Replacement Project, and I hope it will eventually gain popularity in upcoming projects in Idaho and other states.”

“It gave me great joy to see the research I contributed to in the real world,” Acharya said. “It motivated me even more to work hard and continue my research in building effective concrete systems for structures in seismically active areas.”

ITD funded a second research project in Idaho in 2022 to investigate the rehabilitation of precast bridges cast with high-performance concrete after an earthquake. The testing was conducted at SLAB and ended in 2023. The researchers plan to publish the results soon. Mashal, the principal investigator, Ebrahimpour, the co-principal investigator, Cantrell, Hogarth and Manish Acharya are members of the second research team.

“ISU has been a pioneer in precast concrete research and education in the country,” Mishal said. “We have many ongoing collaborations with industry partners and look forward to helping implement more new precast concrete technologies that are seismically resilient and durable.”

More information about the ISU Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering can be found here.

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