Internal Curing and Supplementary Cementitious Materials in Bridge Decks

Abstract

Supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs) in conjunction with pre-wetted fine lightweight aggregate to provide internal curing are being increasingly used to produce high-performance, low-shrinking concrete to mitigate bridge deck cracking, providing more sustainable projects with a longer service life. Additionally, the SCMs aid in concrete sustainability by reducing the amount of cement needed in these projects. This study examines the density of cracks in bridge decks in Indiana and Utah that incorporated internal curing with various combinations of portland cement and SCMs, specifically, slag cement, Class C and Class F fly ash, and silica fume, in concrete mixtures with water-cementitious material ratios ranging from 0.39 to 0.44. When compared with crack densities in low-cracking high-performance concrete (LC-HPC) and control bridge decks in Kansas, concrete mixtures with a paste content higher than 27% exhibited more cracking, regardless of the use of internal curing or SCMs. Bridge decks with paste contents below 26% that incorporate internal curing and SCMs exhibited low cracking at early ages, although additional surveys will be needed before conclusions on long-term behavior can be made.