Performance of Glass Fiber-Reinforced Polymer Deck on Steel Girder Bridge

Abstract

Because of the continued deterioration of U.S. bridges combined with the increasing cost of bridge maintenance, the U.S. bridge inventory continues to experience a backlog of structurally deficient bridges. One potential solution is the implementation of new high-performance materials. Because of their many beneficial characteristics, including being lightweight, having high strength- and stiffness-to-weight ratios, and being corrosion resistant, advanced polymer composites represent one such alternative. In 1999 the Delaware Department of Transportation rehabilitated a deteriorated concrete slab-on-steel girder bridge by removing the concrete slab and replacing it with a lightweight glass fiber-reinforced polymer (GFRP) deck. In the rehabilitation, the existing abutments were slightly modified and the original steel girders were retained. On July 28, 1999, a diagnostic load test of the bridge was performed using a fully loaded 10-wheel dump truck. The test included stationary load cases, semistatic load passes, and dynamic load passes. The details of the GFRP slabon-steel girder bridge as well as the bridge performance as determined from the field load test are presented.