Computations for creep and shrink age affect a variety of details in concrete bridge structures. From the size of expansion joints and bearings to the amount of prestress loss and long term deflection, creep and shrinkage in concrete can either govern or greatly influence final design details and construction of our modern bridges. In current practice, the treatment of creep and shrinkage is handled differently than other loads. White we strive to design our bridges for the maximum demands of live loads, dead loads, temperature and other parameters, we have consistently chosen to look at average demand due to creep and shrinkage. This paper presents the viewpoint that the large degree of variability in both concrete properties and method of design justifies a change from our deterministic approach to design for creep and shrinkage to one that accommodates the variability in concrete properties. Because it is a more complex time dependent strain than shrinkage, the focus of this paper is an creep.The current state of the art in analysis of creep effects is reviewed, with ACI and CEB-FIP type analyses related to the real world difficulties in modern bridge design.
