Joint Fill

In 2006, the first project to use Ductal Joint Fill was a highway bridge over the Canadian National Railway(CNR) at Rainy Lake, Ontario. The Ministry of Transportation of Ontario (MTO) implemented a new solution for replacement of deteriorating highway bridge decks: a precast concrete deck and approach slab panels with Glass Fiber Reinforced Polymer (GFRP) bars in the top mat and curbs. The objective was to expand on the Harryson joint in order to eliminate field formwork and simplify the reinforcing details. Ductal® joint fill was used in the infill portions to develop the continuity in the deck panels.

Since then, the Ductal Joint Fill solution has been used with great success on several bridge deck projects, including the Hawk Lake Bridge, in 2008. Today, with no clearance restrictions, it is estimated that more than 3,600 vehicles (one-quarter heavy trucks), now use this new bridge on a daily basis.

In 2009, the New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) completed two bridge structures using Ductal® Joint Fill between prefabricated elements. The first project was the Route 31 Bridge in Lyons, where newly fabricated, deep prestressed concrete deck-bulb-Tee girders were jointed together. The second project; the replacement of "Route 23" Bridge in Oneonta, consisted of precast deck panels jointed together on top of a steel stringer integral abutment bridge.

In 2010, four bridge structures with Ductal® Joint Fill between precast concrete elements were completed in Northwestern Ontario: the 3-span Eagle River Bridge (where 36 adjacent box beams, approach slabs, precast curbs were jointed with Ductal® and 2 expansion joints were constructed on both ends); the Wabigoon River Bridge near Vermillion Bay; the Chukuni River Bridge near Red Lake and; the La Vallee River Bridge, west of Fort Frances. In addition, three more Joint Fill projects are to be completed by the end of 2010 and (so far) four more have been awarded for construction in 2011. Each project (all in NW Ontario) will utilize this innovative technology to facilitate reconstruction of existing highway bridges or construction of new highway bridges.

Also in 2010, the Hawk Lake Bridge won a PCA (Portland Concrete Association) Concrete Bridge Award while another Joint Fill project, "Route 31 Bridge" (Village of Lyons, New York) received Honorable Mention from the PCI (Precast/Prestressed Concrete Institute) Design Award jury.

Ray Krisciunas, P.Eng., Head of Structural Transportation for the Ministry of Transportation of Ontario