See Us in Action
TSC and Congressional Composites Caucus Events
Members of the TSC will be briefing Members of Congress and their staff at a November Congressional Caucus event to be held in Washington, D.C. on Thursday, November 12. They will discuss how composites can economically and effectively renew our nation’s crumbling bridge infrastructure and advocate for composite materials to be included in the transportation re-authorization bill.
Find out more about the Congressional Composites Caucus.
IBC Workshop W-1
FRP Composites in Accelerated Construction
Monday, June 7, 2010 • 1:30–4:30 pm Room 330
(David L. Lawrence Convention Center, Pittsburgh, PA)
Read Summary of Presentation (pdf)
Technical Workshop (W-15) – FRP Composites for Bridges: Setting New Standards in Rapid Construction & Repair
The 26th International Bridge Conference
Pittsburgh, PA • June 14-17, 2009
Read Summary of Presentation (pdf)
FRP composite technology for use in bridge engineering offers solutions that range from routine repairs to innovative designs for complex installations. This workshop explored new repair techniques that significantly improve existing transportation structures; ground-breaking bridge applications made possible by using FRP composites; and implementation of recent codes and standards by AASHTO and ACI that make specifying FRP composites easier. The objective of this course was to equip the bridge design engineer with a tool kit of FRP composite design possibilities that can offer cost-effective solutions for decks and structural rehabilitation in bridges.
Key features of composites multiple strengths and wide-ranging design possibilities were illustrated using current installations as a benchmark to future applications. The workshop also discussed specifying composites when preparing a bid contract, including initial cost considerations and how to capture lower overall costs due to benefits inherent to FRP composites, such as easier transportation, rapid installation, and life cycle cost advantages over traditional materials. New designs, including superstructures, decks, and repairs on bridge structures, were also highlighted.
This workshop was equally beneficial for those professionals who were just exploring the use of FRP composites in bridge applications for the first time and those with more composites experience who were interested in specification, design or repair of transportation structures.
Session attendees learned how to design and specify composites with recently approved codes and standards from ACI and AASHTO. In addition, new products and installation techniques were highlighted using case histories of field applications that focused on accelerated construction and longer life cycles.
