scope:

FOREWORD

Accelerated Bridge Construction (ABC) technologies have evolved from the laboratory to trial installations into mainstream use. To date, the design and construction of ABC projects has been completed using engineering judgement and existing design and construction provisions that are contained in the AASHTO LRFD Bridge Design Specifications and the AASHTO LRFD Bridge Construction Specifications. These specifications fulfill the majority of the design and construction specification needs for an ABC project. This set of specifications is intended to fill the gaps for design and construction specification that are not specifically covered in the current AASHTO specifications.

The approach taken for the development of these guide specifications is to develop a document that supplements the current published design and construction specifications. The breakdown of sections within this document was based on a logical division of design and construction processes for ABC, as opposed to having provisions that would be integrated directly into the structure of provisions in the published documents.

This document was developed under NCHRP Project 12-102.

NCHRP Project 12-98 involved the development of several documents related to ABC. They are entitled Guidelines for Prefabricated Bridge Elements and Systems Tolerances and Guidelines for Dynamic Effects for Bridge Systems. These documents, which are not AASHTO publications, are referenced within this document and are available through NCHRP.