FRP Bridge Decks—A Maturing Technology

Fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) composite materials were introduced in civil and transportation infrastructure applications in the 1950s as specialized alternative measures for reinforcing concrete. Since the 1980s, FRP materials have received considerable attention as both internal and external reinforcing materials primarily for concrete structures. Since the mid-1990s, FRP structures have been introduced as viable systems for use in civil and transportation infrastructure applications.

The theme of this Special Issue of the Journal of Bridge Engineering is the application of FRP structural systems in bridge infrastructure in North America. The twelve papers focus largely on the performance and performance evaluation of FRP bridge deck systems. The distribution of paper topics is an indication of the maturity of FRP bridge deck applications. FRP bridge decks are attractive because of their minimal installation time and high strength-to-weight ratios. Their light weight, and thus reduced dead load, is particularly attractive for rehabilitating posted structures, since replacing heavy conventional concrete decking with lighter-weight GFRP decking may translate to additional live-load carrying capacity of the bridge system. The papers presented in this issue are moving FRP bridge decks toward broader acceptance and application.

The first two papers in this issue report a laboratory study and an in situ field study of FRP bridge deck panels. Alagusundaramoorthy et al., in “Structural Behavior of FRP Composite Bridge Deck Panels,” report the experimental load-deflection behavior of FRP panels in relation to performance criteria set forth by the Ohio Department of Transportation. In “Testing, Analysis and Evaluation of a GFRP Deck on Steel Girders,” Stiller et al. assess the in situ performance of a recently erected GFRP deck in North Carolina.

The third paper, “Evaluation of Effective Width and Distribution Factors for GFRP Bridge Decks Supported on Steel Girders,” by Moses et al., brings together data from a number of in situ tests of GFRP decks in South Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Ohio and addresses the development of appropriate LRFD design parameters for such deck systems.

The next three papers all address specific issues of the performance of FRP deck systems. “Vehicle-Induced Dynamic Performance of FRP versus Concrete Slab Bridge,” by Zhang et al., develops an analysis procedure for vehicle-bridge interaction in an effort to assess the dynamic performance of FRP deck systems and establish appropriate impact factors for such systems. In “Fatigue Behavior and Nondestructive Evaluation of Full-Scale FRP Honeycomb Bridge Specimen,” Cole et al. report on a study intended to identify and quantify fatigue-induced damage in FRP honeycomb decks through the use of acoustic emission techniques. This paper not only provides useful performance data but also clearly demonstrates a valuable tool for the nondestructive evaluation of FRP deck systems. In “Performance Evaluation of FRP Bridge Deck Component under Torsion,” Prachasaree et al. report on an analytical study indicating the importance of considering deck torsional properties and offers some guidance in doing so.

The seventh through ninth papers address a variety of thermal effects on FRP bridges. Wu et al., in “Durability of FRP Composite Bridge Deck Materials under Freeze-Thaw and Low Temperature Conditions,” discuss low temperature and freeze-thaw behavior of FRP decks. “Temporal Thermal Behavior and Damage Simulations of FRP Deck” by Alnahhal et al., on the other hand, discusses the effects of elevated temperature from exposure to fire on FRP decks. Finally, in “Thermal Compatibility and Durability of Wearing Surfaces on GFRP Bridge Decks” Wattanadechachan et al. present an important study that assesses the thermal compatibility of wearing surfaces and underlying FRP deck systems.

The final three papers depart from the conventional FRP deck panel systems and present different innovative FRP systems for bridge applications. “Fatigue Behavior of a Steel-Free FRP–Concrete Modular Bridge Deck System” by Cheng and Karbhari reports on a study furthering the development of a unique FRP stay-in-place formed steel-free bridge deck system. In “Development of FRP Short-Span Deployable Bridge—Experimental Results,” Wight et al. describe a complete FRP bridge system designed for military applications to be rapidly deployable and lightweight while having a high load-carrying capacity. Finally, in “Development, Shake Table Testing, and Design of FRP Seismic Restrainers,” Saiidi et al. report a novel application for FRP materials—seismic restrainers—and compare the performance of FRP restrainers with that of steel and shape memory alloy restrainers.

This Special Issue is intentionally devoid of papers addressing internal FRP reinforcing for concrete and FRP retrofit measures for concrete bridge structures. Many such papers are regularly presented in the Journal of Composites for Construction. The editors believe that the unique challenges in adopting FRP bridge deck systems required a specific outlet in this Special Issue.

The adoption of FRP systems is a very fast-moving topic. It was crucial that the materials presented in this issue be published in a timely manner. For this reason, the editor would like to specifically thank all the authors, reviewers, and ASCE staff that allowed this issue to go from a call for papers to publication in only 14 months!