UPGRADING BRIDGES WITH FIBRE REINFORCED POLYMER DECKS – A SUSTAINABLE SOLUTION

Paper in proceeding, 2012

Today, road authorities deal with a large stock of bridges in need for maintenance. An important issue for maintenance activities in urban areas is the traffic disruption and user delay costs. Hence, authorities are looking for new structural- and time-efficient maintenance methods. Meanwhile, sustainability is becoming an important requirement for new methods. One solution which has been developed and practiced in the past ten years is the application of fibre reinforced polymer (FRP) bridge decks for refurbishment of existing and construction of new bridges. FRP decks have shown many advantages compared to traditional ones. However, widespread application of these decks needs considering aspects such as sustainability. The aim of this paper is to increase the sustainability awareness of FRP decks by presenting a case study in which the existing concrete bridge deck is replaced with an FRP deck. Analyses prove that the application of the FRP deck is a more sustainable solution in comparison with traditional refurbishment methods.