Post-tensioned segmental concrete bridges have been used in the United States since the mid 80's. Post-tensioning is very economical and efficient for bridges with very long spans. A segmental concrete bridge uses post-tensioning to connect concrete bridge segments and make a long span bridge. A problem that has occurred in some segmental concrete bridges is the corrosion of the post-tensioned strands. A tendon failure can be detrimental to service level bridge performance and reduce the flexural strength.

The Varina-Enon Bridge has a history of corrosion related issues and the objective of this project was to investigate the consequences of transverse tendons rupture. In addition, to determine the behavior of tendons with grouted duct and smoot duct when a stand broke. Also, the results of this project identify if the bridge can perform adequately with no repair or if these failures would develop problems in the long term.

A full scale specimen of a post-tensioned slab with two tendons was built at the laboratory. The full scale specimen was built to contain tendons similar to top flange near the delta frames in the Varina-Enon Bridge, where a transverse tendon was broken. An artificial corrosion process was conducted to corrode the tendons and investigate the effect of break on the slab. The specimen was instrumented with BDI strain gauges to monitor the behavior of the specimen, when the strand rupture occurred due to the accelerated corrosion. In addition, a finite element model was designed similar to the full scale specimen to compare the collected data with the data obtained from the analysis.