The European project SUREBridge - A case study in Tuscany

Paper in proceeding, 2017

The European project SUREBridge (Sustainable Refurbishment of Existing Bridges) is developing a new concept for the refurbishment of road bridges. The proposed technique takes advantage of the peculiarities of fibre-reinforced materials to perform upgrading, repair, and strengthening in an effective and efficient way in terms of resource consumption, waste production, construction time, and traffic disruption. The technique applies to bridges with reinforced concrete slab and longitudinal girders made of either reinforced concrete or steel. Longitudinal girders are strengthened by bonding carbon fibre-reinforced polymer (CFRP) laminates to their bottom surfaces. Higher structural performances are achieved by pre-stressing the CFRP laminates. The existing concrete slab is not demolished, with savings in both construction time and waste production. Instead, tailor-made glass fibre-reinforced polymer (GFRP) panels are connected to the deck to increase its overall bending strength. Furthermore, GFRP panels enable the widening of the road section, if necessary to upgrade the bridge to increased traffic demand. This paper presents the application of the SUREBridge technique to a real bridge located in San Miniato, Tuscany, Italy. The designed intervention includes both the widening of the road section and the structural strengthening of the deck to comply with current traffic load.