Fibre-reinforced polymer composite bars for the concrete deck slab of Wotton Bridge

Abstract

A new concrete bridge in the Municipality of Wotton, Quebec, Canada, was constructed using fibre-reinforced polymer (FRP) bars as reinforcement for the deck slab. The new bridge is a girder type with four main girders simply supported over a span of 30.60 m. One half of the concrete deck slab was reinforced with carbon and glass FRP bars, and the other half with conventional steel bars. The design of the reinforced concrete deck slab was made according to sections 8 and 16 of the new Canadian Highway Bridge Design Code. The bridge was well instrumented at critical locations for long-term internal temperature and strain data collection using fibre optic sensors. The construction of the bridge was completed and the bridge opened for traffic in October 2001. The bridge was then tested for service performance using standard truckloads. Design, construction details, and the results of the field test and 1 year of remote monitoring are discussed. Under the same real service and environmental conditions, very similar behaviour was obtained from the FRP (glass and carbon) and steel bars.Key words: concrete bridges, deck slabs, FRP bars, field test, fibre optic sensors, remote monitoring, serviceability.