Abstract:To study the variation of axial compressive bearing capacity of ordinary reinforced concrete columns reinforced with ultra-high performance concrete (UHPC), two test columns (unreinforced concrete column RC and UHPC reinforced column UC) are designed and fabricated to analyze the load-displacement curve, bearing capacity change rule and failure mode of specimens before and after the reinforcement. The result shows that compared with RC specimens, the stiffness and bearing capacity of UC specimens are significantly improved, in which the range of bearing capacity increases up to 208%. By substituting into the different calculation methods for the axial compressive bearing capacity of UHPC reinforced columns and combining with the test data, a high-precision, safe and reliable calculation formula has been determined. Relying on the practical projects, a reinforcement scheme for a 50mm thick UHPC bridge pier is designed to increase the load-bearing capacity of the bridge piers by 67% compared with the original ones. Under the same increase in bearing capacity, the thickness of the reinforced layer is reduced by 58% compared with that of conventional concrete.