Field Monitoring and Repair of a Glass Fiber-Reinforced Polymer Bridge Deck |
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| Authors: | Jeffrey W. Berman David L. Brown |
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| Affiliation: | 1Assistant Professor, Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Univ. of Washington, 214C More Hall, Box 352700, Seattle, WA 98195 (corresponding author). E-mail: jwberman@u.washington.edu
2Project Engineer, Peterson Strehle Martinson, Inc., 2200 Sixth Ave., Suite 601, Seattle, WA 98121. E-mail: dave2brown@gmail.com
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| Abstract: | This paper reports on the monitoring and repair of a pilot field deployment of a glass fiber-reinforced polymer (GFRP) deck on a small steel girder bridge in the Washington State. Deck deflections were monitored periodically over a 10-month period and were found to increase significantly over that time. The GFRP deck is an adhesively bonded assembly of GFRP tubes and top and bottom plates. After 9 months of service, wearing surface cracking was observed, and upon closer inspection, the top GFRP plate was found to be delaminated from the tubes over a fairly large area. Deck deflections in the area of delamination were found to be considerably larger than those observed during previous monitoring in undamaged locations. A retrofit solution was employed where the top plate was reconnected to the tubes using screws coated with a two-part epoxy that mixed when they were driven. At the time of writing the retrofit was successful in reattaching the delaminated top plate. |
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| Keywords: | Composite structures Bridges Fiber reinforced polymer Glass fibers Bridge decks Monitoring Rehabilitation |
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