AVOIDING STRUCTURAL FAILURES DUE TO CREEP IN CONCRETE AND FATIGUE IN STEEL

Creep in concrete and fatigue in steel are material properties that are not always fully recoginized by design engineers. Lack of understanding their effects can result in damage and sometimes in collapse of structures. This paper will, through case histories, present instances and projects where creep in concrete caused damage which could have been prevented. Fatigue in steel bridges is usually caused by improper details and had resulted in bridge collpases. Crack growth in steel bridges is influenced primarily by detail type, live load stress range, the number of truck passages, and quality of bridge fabrication. Proper inspection and evaluation techniques are critical to successfully identifying fatigue problems and retrofitting them before failure occurs.