ضresund Bridge. Temperature and cracking control of the deck slab concrete at early ages

High performance features are required of the concrete for the deck slab of the bridge over ضresund Straight between Denmark and Sweden and, among them, great durability. To guarantee this, it is necessary to assure, in advance, and control during the construction of the deck slabs, that the maximum temperatures and the traction stresses in the deck slab will not be greater than the allowable values, and to control these factors during the construction process. Before beginning construction, the deck slab was calculated using a program of finite elements that considers the heat generated, the shrinkage and creep of the concrete and the ambient conditions. To control the temperature during construction, temperature sensors are installed in various sections of each of the 49 deck spans and the temperatures produced during the first days of hardening are recorded on a computer. The temperatures of the components are also measured in order to estimate the temperature of the fresh concrete.