THEORETICAL ASPECTS, EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATIONS AND EFFICIENCY IN USAGE OF HIGH-STRENGTH CONCRETE FOR BRIDGE STRUCTURES

In Belarus concrete with strength up to 60 MPA is used for construction. At the same time high strength concrete with compressive strength above 60 MPA is widely used in all industrially developed countries. High- strength concrete is included in regulatory documents of the European Union and that fact has laid a solid foundation for its application. High strength concrete is produced using highly dispersed silica additives, such as micro-silica and plasticizers (super-plasticizers) with a water/cement (w/c) ratio not greater than 0.4.

Theoretical aspects of high-strength concrete for bridge structures have been studied in the paper. The paper shows a positive impact of highly dispersed additives on structure and physico-mechanical properties of cement compositions, namely: reduction of total porosity of a cement stone in concrete while increasing volumetric concentration and dispersion of a filler; binding of calcium hydroxide with the help of amorphised micro-silica; increased activity of mineral additives during their thin shredding; acceleration of the initial stage of chemical hardening of cement compositions with highly dispersed particle additives that serve as centers of crystallization; “binder-additive” cluster formation due to high surface energy of highly dispersed additive particles; hardening of surface area between a cement stone and aggregates in concrete; high-strength concretes are gaining strength much faster than conventional concretes.

Technology of preparation and composition of high-strength concrete using highly dispersed mineral additives and super-plasticizer has been developed in the paper. This concrete will ensure a higher density, wa- ter-and gas tightness, increased resistance to aggressive environment, reduced consumption of concrete and reinforcement, reduced transport and installation weight, increased initial strength, early easing of shutters and preliminary compression, increased length of bridge spans, reduced cross-section of constructions while preserving construction bearing capacity, taking bending moment primarily. Improvement of bridge structure durability makes it possible to increase a period between maintenance that will lead to significant savings in material and labor resources. In the near future there will be a gradual replacement of the conventional traditional concretes with multicomponent concretes.

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