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Designing and Testing of Concrete Bridge Decks Reinforced with Glass FRP Bars |
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| Authors: | Brahim Benmokrane Ehab El-Salakawy Amr El-Ragaby Thomas Lackey |
| Affiliation: | 1NSERC Research Chair Professor in FRP Reinforcement for Concrete Structures, Dept. of Civil Engineering, Univ. of Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke PQ, Canada J1K 2R1 (corresponding author). E-mail: brahim.benmokrane@usherbrooke.ca 2Research Associate Professor, Dept. of Civil Engineering, Univ. of Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke PQ, Canada. E-mail: ehab.elsalakawy@usherbrooke.ca 3PhD Candidate, Dept. of Civil Engineering, Univ. of Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke PQ, Canada J1K 2R1. 4Bridge Engineer, Vermont Agency of Transportation, Montpelier, VT. |
| Abstract: | In addition to their high strength and light weight, fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) composite reinforcing bars offer corrosion resistance, making them a promising alternative to traditional steel reinforcing bars in concrete bridge decks. FRP reinforcement has been used in several bridge decks recently constructed in North America. The Morristown Bridge, which is located in Vermont, United States, is a single span steel girder bridge with integral abutments spanning 43.90 m. The deck is a 230 mm thick concrete continuous slab over girders spaced at 2.36 m. The entire concrete deck slab was reinforced with glass FRP (GFRP) bars in two identical layers at the top and the bottom. The bridge is well instrumented at critical locations for internal temperature and strain data collection with fiber-optic sensors. The bridge was tested for service performance using standard truck loads. The construction procedure and field test results under actual service conditions revealed that GFRP rebar provides very good and promising performance. |
| Keywords: | Bridge decks Bridges concrete Fiber reinforced materials Fiberglass Field tests Fiber optics |