Composite bridge awards

The American Composites Manufacturers Association (ACMA) has announced its Awards for composites excellence (ACE) at the COMPOSITES 2010 event. The awards were presented in a number of categories, with two awards gone to composite bridge structures.
February 8, 2012 Read time: 2 mins
The 1505 American Composites Manufacturers Association (ACMA) has announced its Awards for composites excellence (ACE) at the COMPOSITES 2010 event. The awards were presented in a number of categories, with two awards gone to composite bridge structures. The most creative application award was presented to AEWC Advanced Structures & Composites Center, 1507 University of Maine, Orono, Maine, for its Bridge-in-a-Backpack, a hybrid composite-concrete bridge combining the benefits of advanced composite materials and concrete. The concept offers a cost effective, long-lasting, and easy-to-erect bridge technology. This lightweight, corrosion resistant system for short-to-medium-span bridge construction uses FRP composite arch tubes that act as a stay-in-place form, structural reinforcement, and environmental protection for concrete fill. The lightweight arches can be placed quickly by hand. The infinite possibility award was presented to 1509 Harbor Technologies, Brunswick, Maine, for its hybrid composite beam (HCB), a new structural member developed for use as a girder in bridges and other structures. This is comprised of a shell, compression reinforcement and tension reinforcement. The shell consists of a fibre reinforced polymer box beam. The compression reinforcement consists of concrete, pumped into a profiled conduit (generally an arch) within the beam shell, while carbon, glass or steel fibres anchored at the ends of the compression reinforcement provide the tension reinforcement. The HCB combines the strength and stiffness of concrete and steel with the lightweight and corrosion advantages of composite materials.

Related Content

  • Mersey Gateway Bridge has won IABSE’s Outstanding Structure Award
    September 19, 2019
    The UK’s Mersey Gateway Bridge has picked up the Outstanding Structure Award 2019 from IABSE, the International Association for Bridge and Structural Engineering* Judges described the bridge, designed by Cowi, as "an elegantly integrated solution for a multi-span concrete cable stay bridge in which form follows function". "Everyone involved with the design and construction the Mersey Gateway Bridge over the past six years knows that this is an incredibly special structure,” said Paul Sanders, Cowi’s p
    Read More
  • Formwork developments in bridge construction
    February 23, 2012
    Major infrastructure projects worldwide are relying on innovative formwork solutions for speed and safety as Patrick Smith reports. The 970m long cable-stayed Golden Ears Bridge crossing the Fraser River in Vancouver, Canada, is the core element of a six-lane, highway project near the Canadian west coast.
    Read More
  • Riga's newest bridge improved traffic flow
    April 11, 2012
    An alliance of companies has come together to realise major infrastructure projects in Latvia including its biggest bridge. Patrick Smith reports. Riga, the Latvian capital, has the finest collection of Art Nouveau buildings in Europe and its centre is on the UNESCO World Heritage List.
    Read More
  • Riga's newest bridge improved traffic flow
    May 9, 2012
    An alliance of companies has come together to realise major infrastructure projects in Latvia including its biggest bridge. Patrick Smith reports. Riga, the Latvian capital, has the finest collection of Art Nouveau buildings in Europe and its centre is on the UNESCO World Heritage List. The city of some 750,000 people (the country's total population is 2.2 million) is bounded to the south by Lithuania and to the north by Estonia, and is the second largest in Baltic States. To the east is Russia and Belarus.
    Read More

Highlighted Content