1. FRP Wraps for Next Generation Sustainable and
Cost‐Effective Rehabilitation of Coastal Transportation
Infrastructure in the Mid-Atlantic Region
Wael Zatar1, Hai Nguyen1, and Osman Ozbulut2
1 College of Information Technology and Engineering, Marshall University
2 Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Virginia
Introduction
About 26% of the highway bridges in the United Sates are in need of repair or replacement.
Corrosion deterioration costs due to deicing and sea salt effects are estimated at $150 billion.
The use of FRP wraps to reinforce or strengthen concrete elements is a practice that has been addressed with some success nationally and internationally.
In West Virginia, over the past 20 years, various projects have benefitted mainly from having FRP as an internal reinforcement.
As funds are anticipated to be limited in the future, the ability of designers to look at alternative means of replacing or strengthening structures is important. It is anticipated that both West Virginia and Virginia could benefit by having members strengthened or stabilized with the use of FRP wraps.
Research Goals and Objectives
The goal of this project is to inventory the processes that are available in repairing or strengthening concrete bridge elements. The possible pool of candidate bridges that would benefit from the strengthening/rehabilitation will also be evaluated.
The ultimate goal is to determine which structures are available for repair, how many structures could benefit from this process, and to determine the next phase of developing specifications and standard details for the repairing or strengthening.
Figure 4. Example MIRA tomographer image showing rebars at different depths and an artificial void in a mock-up concrete beam specimen tested at University of Virginia
Figure 3. MIRA A1040 ultrasonic tomographer
Work Plan
Task 1: Perform critical review of FRP retrofit literature for highway structures/elements and evaluate FRP-retrofitted projects in few mid-Atlantic states
Task 2: Evaluate acceptance levels of FRP-retrofitted projects by DOTs and FHWA
Task 3: Evaluate candidate structures/elements suitable for FRP retrofit
Task 4: Develop criteria for application of FRP retrofit to candidate structures/elements.
Task 5: Evaluate VDOT and WVDOT candidate structures against the criteria established in Task 4
Task 6: Review and evaluate existing national guidelines
Task 7: Evaluate adapting FRP retrofit into VDOT and WVDOH structural programs
Task 8: Compile a final report, provide training workshops and disseminate the findings
Acknowledgments
The principal investigators gratefully acknowledge the financial support of the Mid-Atlantic Transportation Sustainability Center – Region 3 University Transportation Center for this research project.
Figure 1. Deterioration of steel reinforcements in RC bridges due to chloride attack (photo courtesy of PWRI, Japan)
Figure 2. CFRP wraps for hollow RC columns of the Sakawa-Gawa bridge, Tomei Expressway in Japan