Introduction
Today’s
bridge owners are faced with unique challenges as a result of a
severely deteriorating infrastructure, insufficient funding and
a demanding public. A recently released study (Report
FHWA-RD-01-156) funded by the FHWA, entitled “Corrosion Costs
and Preventative Strategies in the United States”, estimates the
annual direct cost of corrosion for highway bridges to be
$6.43 billion to $10.15 billion. This includes $3.79
billion to replace structurally deficient bridges over the next
10 years and $1.07 billion to $2.93 billion for maintenance and
cost of capital for concrete bridge decks. In addition to these
direct costs, the study’s life-cycle analysis estimates indirect
costs to the user due to traffic delays and lost productivity at
more than 10 times the direct cost of corrosion. Although almost
all bridge owners in the United States continue to make
decisions based on lowest initial cost, it has become extremely
clear that this approach does not work and in the near future
more money will be spent maintaining existing structures than
building new ones. The public has become intolerant of
construction delays and is demanding structures that will last
longer and provide greater value for their tax dollars. As a
result, there are tremendous opportunities for FRP bridge decks
that are corrosion resistant, lightweight, and can be rapidly
installed.
Features and Benefits
FRP composite
bridge decks deliver viable solutions to meet critical needs for
rehabilitation of existing bridges and construction of new
bridges. FRP bridge decks have only been used in the United
States since the mid-1990’s but FRP materials have been used
successfully for over 50 years in a variety of demanding
applications, including the aerospace, marine, and sporting good
industries. Primary benefits of FRP decks include:
-
Durability
(highly resistant to corrosion and fatigue)
-
Lightweight
-
High
strength
-
Rapid
Installation
-
Lower or
competitive life-cycle cost
-
High
quality manufacturing processes under controlled environments
Compared with
cast-in-place concrete decks, FRP bridge decks typically weigh
80% less, can be erected twice as fast and have service lives
that can be two to three times greater. Compared to steel
grating, FRP bridge decks are comparable or lighter in weight
while providing a solid surface deck (protects support structure
from corrosion and environment from pollutants), higher skid
resistance (safer), reduced noise, significantly lower
maintenance and a service life that can be two to three times
greater. FRP bridge deck types may be either self-supporting
structures or panels supported by stringers.
Go to next section:
Structural
Characteristics
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