Case study of frp application: The halls river bridge

A special and innovative vehicular bridge is under construction in Homosassa, Florida. The FDOT District 7 Structures Design group designed this Bridge utilizing innovative Fiber Reinforced Polymer (FRP) materials with the support of the FHWA Every Day Counts and FDOT Invitation to Innovation programs. This Bridge Replacement project is a demonstration project and is like no other bridge in Florida. The 186-foot (56.7-m) bridge features special Glass Fiber Reinforced Polymer (GFRP) bars and Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymer (CFRP) prestressing strands. By using CFRP-PC Bearing Piles, CFRP-PC/GFRP-RC Sheet Piles, hybrid GFRP-RC sheet piles, Hybrid Composite girders, GFRPRC bent caps, GFRP-RC bulkhead caps, GFRP-RC deck, GFRP-RC Traffic Railings and Approach slabs and a 66-foot long GFRP-RC gravity wall, the Department was able to virtually eliminate regular carbon-steel reinforcement on the bridge. This FDOT bridge replacement project is crucial as the corrosion of the steel reinforcement in the existing bridge has severely impacted the future reliability and safety of the bridge. The chlorideattack that has occurred over that last 63 years has resulted in loss of effective reinforcing steel, especially in the substructure. Having a bridge made in composite materials prevents this problem in the future. After carefully considering all options, FDOT opted for composites primarily because of the high costs of maintaining traditional steel-reinforced bridge elements in the state’s saltwater and wetland environments.