Skip to main content

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

  • Delcan wins Concrete Canada 2012 Structural Design Innovation Award
    February 21, 2013
    Delcan, a multi-disciplinary engineering, planning, management and technology firm, has been awarded Concrete Canada’s 2012 Structural Design Innovation Award for their work on the Whitemans Creek Bridge near Brantford, Ontario. Completed in 2011, Delcan, as Engineer of Record, worked collaboratively with the Ontario Ministry of Transportation to complete the replacement of the Bridge. By using what were described as accelerated bridge construction techniques, the Bridge was constructed in only seven weeks,
  • Crushing and screening innovation for quarries
    November 5, 2012
    Novel crushing and screening developments are coming to market - Mike Woof reports A wide array of innovations and market developments are occurring in the sector for quarrying machinery. New technologies are being introduced while business developments are also changing the face of this market segment. There is strong interest in new technology from industry too and this was well highlighted by data from the organisers of the Hillhead quarry show in the UK. The organisers revealed that there was a jump of
  • Success of ICOET 2011 event for sustainable roads
    April 12, 2012
    The ICOET 2011 event proved a success for sustainable transportation – *Leonard Sielecki With over 500 delegates from 21 countries, the recent 2011 International Conference on Ecology and Transportation (ICOET) held in Seattle, Washington, USA proved a success. Organised and co-sponsored by the Center for Transportation and the Environment (CTE) at North Carolina State University, and co-hosted by the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDoT), the five-day conference ran from August 21st-25th
  • 'Soft' option gets results
    February 8, 2012
    Soft engineering techniques, used to prevent soil erosion and stabilise steep cuts and embankments, have allowed engineers to successfully widen the M1 motorway in the UK. Over the 50km length of the work (25km northbound, 25km southbound) on a busy section of the motorway near the city of Nottingham, a total of 48km of slopes had to be modified, split roughly between cutting and embankment. The UK Highways Agency requirements for the work meant that wholesale widening of the corridor was not possible: the