Durability Assessment of the First Externally Bonded FRP Repair of a Publicly Owned Bridge in the United States after 26 Years of Service
Publication: Journal of Composites for Construction
Volume 27, Issue 5
Abstract
Although carbon fiber–reinforced polymer (CFRP) composites have been extensively used to rehabilitate many deficient bridges, data warranting their long-term performance is lacking. Current durability testing of CFRP composites involves accelerated conditioning as a part of material specification requirements to ensure that they maintain mechanical and physical properties during their service life. However, relating accelerated conditioning test data to material performance under real-time aging is not possible without field data. Work conducted at the University of Delaware in the early 1990s resulted in the first full-scale application of externally bonded CFRP on a publicly owned bridge in the United States. The original intent of CFRP strengthening was to extend the service life of the Foulk Road bridge in Wilmington, Delaware by 5–10 years. As one of the earliest CFRP-rehabilitated bridges in the United States, it offers a unique opportunity to study CFRP durability over a time span of 26 years. Field evaluation and laboratory testing (calorimetry, spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and tensile testing) of CFRP samples collected from several girders were employed to investigate CFRP degradation and bond quality. The results indicate that after 26-year-long service life, the condition of CFRP repairs considerably deteriorated.
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Acknowledgments
This work was supported by subaward no. 5903-UD-DOT-7103 to the University of Delaware by the United States Department of Transportation—Center for Integrated Asset Management for Multimodal Transportation Infrastructure Systems at the Pennsylvania State University (Federal Grant No. 69A3551847103). The authors thank Gary Wenczel, Manager of the University of Delaware Structural Engineering Laboratory, for providing support during field inspection and Ajay Baniya, a Ph.D. student at the University of Delaware, for his assistance with bond pull-off tests. The authors also thank Jason Hastings, P.E., Chief of Bridges & Structures, and Craig Stevens, P.E., North District Engineer, at the Delaware Department of Transportation, for providing access to the bridge site and inspection records and their assistance with the overall coordination of the research effort. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this paper are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the United States Department of Transportation or the Delaware Department of Transportation.
Author contributions: Sandra Milev: conceptualization, methodology, formal analysis, investigation, writing—original draft, writing—review and editing, visualization, data curation, funding acquisition, and project administration. Jovan Tatar: conceptualization, methodology, formal analysis, investigation, writing–review and editing, supervision, funding acquisition, and project administration.
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Journal of Composites for Construction
Volume 27 • Issue 5 • October 2023
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© 2023 American Society of Civil Engineers.
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Received: Dec 9, 2022
Accepted: May 3, 2023
Published online: Aug 8, 2023
Published in print: Oct 1, 2023
Discussion open until: Jan 8, 2024
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