Evaluation and Repair of Wrought Iron and - Purdue e-Pubs ...

11. INTRODUCTIONThroughout the state of Indiana, there are numerous historical bridges thathave been in service since the late 19 th century and need to be either rehabilitated orreplaced. Since the funds needed for replacement is often unattainable by the agenciesowning these bridges, and the demolition of these historically significant bridges wouldbe detrimental to preserving the history of the state, rehabilitation of these bridges is anoption worth investigating.Among the historical bridges existing in Indiana, many are older metal bridgestructures comprised either partially or completely of wrought iron. Figure 1.1 depictsone of these existing bridges in Jackson County, Indiana. The properties and behavior ofthe wrought iron found in these bridges is unknown and varies considerably. It would bebeneficial to determine the properties and behavior of the wrought iron to safelyrehabilitate these existing historical structures.1.1 Problem StatementThere are a number of existing historic metal truss bridges consisting ofwrought iron members throughout the state of Indiana that need to be repaired orrehabilitated. Due to technological advances in material production during the late 19 thcentury, the use of wrought iron diminished, along with a common knowledge ofwrought iron material properties and behavior. When rehabilitating these bridgesengineers often have a difficult time determining not only if the metal is wrought iron,