Advances in Novel Bridge Structures Pertinent to High-Performance Concrete

A special issue of Buildings (ISSN 2075-5309). This special issue belongs to the section "Building Structures".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 June 2026 | Viewed by 229

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
School of Civil and Transportation Engineering, Guangdong University of Technology, Guangzhou 510006, China
Interests: prestressed/precast concrete structures; novel steel–concrete structures; UHPC materials and structures; shear behavior of concrete structures; retrofitting/rehabilitation of concrete structures
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Guest Editor
School of Civil Engineering, Southwest Jiaotong University, Chengdu 610032, China
Interests: concrete structures; steel–concrete composite structures; high-performance concrete; geopolymer concrete; nonlinear behavior of concrete structures
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

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Guest Editor
School of Civil Engineering and Transportation, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510640, China
Interests: UHPC; FRP; prefabricated bridge technology
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Recently, enormous varieties of high-performance concrete, e.g., UHPC, ECC, FRC, TRC, etc., have emerged, propelling significant innovations in bridge design and construction. Those novel materials were not only employed in new bridge projects, but also served as the critical structural portions and rehabilitation of deteriorated bridges, aiming to promote rapid construction, exceptional durability, cost-efficiency, and longer service life. Currently, research on novel bridges relevant to high-performance concrete is relatively scarce, which is the primary obstacle to the widespread adoption of the new fruits. The codification of the corresponding standards has also lagged behind technological advancement. The purpose of this Special Issue is to showcase the latest achievements of the novel bridge structures relevant to high-performance concrete. Research on bridge behavior, fundamental investigation, design method, and construction technique is especially appreciated. Relevant studies were published in the previous edition of this Special Issue, which can be accessed using the following link: https://www.mdpi.com/journal/buildings/special_issues/9CS580PPD4

The main topics of interest include, but are not limited to, the following areas:

  • Novel bridges made of high-performance concrete (HPC), e.g., ultra-high-performance concrete (UHPC), fiber-reinforced concrete (FRC), and engineering cementitious composites (ECC), textile reinforced concrete (TRC), etc.;
  • Precast/prestressed bridge structures for accelerated construction;
  • Steel/HPC–concrete composite bridges;
  • Joins or critical portions of bridge elements;
  • Rehabilitation/retrofitting of existing bridge structures.

Prof. Dr. Haibo Jiang
Prof. Dr. Renda Zhao
Dr. Xiaohong Zheng
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • high-performance concrete (HPC)
  • precast HPC segmental bridges
  • joints or critical portions with HPC in bridge elements
  • rehabilitations of bridge structures
  • novel HPC composite bridges

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

26 pages, 7416 KB  
Article
Experimental and Numerical Investigation on Flexural Behaviors of a 30 m Full-Scale Prestressed UHPC-NC Composite Box Girder
by Chengan Zhou, Shengze Wu, Kaisheng Wu, Fan Mo, Haibo Jiang, Yueqiang Tian and Junfa Fang
Buildings 2025, 15(17), 3089; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings15173089 - 28 Aug 2025
Viewed by 131
Abstract
Ultra-high-performance concrete (UHPC) exhibits significantly superior compressive and tensile properties compared to conventional concrete, demonstrating substantial application potential in bridge engineering. This study conducted full-scale bending tests on a 30 m prestressed UHPC-NC composite box girder within an actual engineering context. The testing [...] Read more.
Ultra-high-performance concrete (UHPC) exhibits significantly superior compressive and tensile properties compared to conventional concrete, demonstrating substantial application potential in bridge engineering. This study conducted full-scale bending tests on a 30 m prestressed UHPC-NC composite box girder within an actual engineering context. The testing flexural capacity Mt=34,469.2 kN·m exceeded the design requirement Md=18,138.0 kN·m, with Mt/Md=1.90. Finite element modeling (FEM) was employed to analyze and predict experimental outcomes, revealing a simulated flexural capacity of approximately 37,597.1 kN·m. The finite element models further explored failure mode transitions governed by the loading position while the concentrated load-to-support distance exceeds 9.62 m (shear span to effective depth ratio λ = 6.3), and the box girder fails in flexure; while less than 9.62 m, the box girder fails in shear. The flexural capacity of the test girder was also estimated using Response-2000 software and the recommended formulas from the Chinese code T/CCES 27-2021 (Technical specification for ultra-high-performance concrete girder bridge). The Response-2000 software yielded a flexural capacity estimate of Mr=30,816.1 kN·m. The technical specification provided two estimating results: (with safety factors) Mu1=25,414.4 kN·m and (without safety factors)  Mu2=33,810.9 kN·m. All estimated values of Response-2000 and Chinese code were rationally conservative (Mr, Mu1, Mu2<Mt). Comparative analysis demonstrates that Abaqus FEM accurately simulates the flexural behavior of the prestressed UHPC-NC composite box girders. Both Response-2000 calculations and the Chinese code T/CCES 27-2021 provide critical references for similar applications of prestressed UHPC-NC composite box girders. Full article
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