Research Article
Aug 1972
Why Not Plastics Bridges?
Publication: Journal of the Structural Division
Volume 98, Issue 8
Abstract
Considerable knowledge and experience has been accumulated over recent years with the use of structural plastics in buildings, boats, and automobiles but few attempts have been made to construct bridges of reinforced plastics. Factors inhibiting the use of plastics in bridge construction include high material costs, unknown material properties and unfamiliarity with design procedures. Design examples of two 80-ft. (24.4 m) span, posttensioned structural plastic bridges for pedestrians are presented and compared with similar bridges built with steel and concrete and aluminum. Materials cost differentials are decreasing with technological advances in plastics materials, but at the present time, structural plastics are not economically competitive with concrete and metals for general-purpose bridges.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of the Structural Division
Volume 98 • Issue 8 • August 1972
Pages: 1757 - 1767
Copyright
© 1972 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Published in print: Aug 1972
Published online: Feb 1, 2021
Permissions
Request permissions for this article.
Authors
Affiliations
Fred C. McCormick, M.ASCE
Prof. of Civ. Engrg., Univ. of Virginia, Charlottesville, V.A.
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.
Cited by
View Options
Get Access
Access content
Please select your options to get access
Log in/Register
Log in via your institution (Shibboleth)
ASCE Members:
Please log in to see member pricing
Purchase
Save for later Item saved, go to cart Information on ASCE Library Cards
ASCE Library Cards let you download journal articles, proceedings papers, and available book chapters across the entire ASCE Library platform. ASCE Library Cards remain active for 24 months or until all downloads are used. Note: This content will be debited as one download at time of checkout.
Terms of Use: ASCE Library Cards are for individual, personal use only. Reselling, republishing, or forwarding the materials to libraries or reading rooms is prohibited.
Terms of Use: ASCE Library Cards are for individual, personal use only. Reselling, republishing, or forwarding the materials to libraries or reading rooms is prohibited.
Get Access
Access content
Please select your options to get access
Log in/Register
Log in via your institution (Shibboleth)
ASCE Members:
Please log in to see member pricing
Purchase
Save for later Item saved, go to cart Information on ASCE Library Cards
ASCE Library Cards let you download journal articles, proceedings papers, and available book chapters across the entire ASCE Library platform. ASCE Library Cards remain active for 24 months or until all downloads are used. Note: This content will be debited as one download at time of checkout.
Terms of Use: ASCE Library Cards are for individual, personal use only. Reselling, republishing, or forwarding the materials to libraries or reading rooms is prohibited.
Terms of Use: ASCE Library Cards are for individual, personal use only. Reselling, republishing, or forwarding the materials to libraries or reading rooms is prohibited.