Guidelines for Design and Construction of Fibre-Reinforced Polymer Footbridges in Japan

Abstract Fibre-reinforced polymers (FRPs) have been widely used for reinforcement of existing structures due to its light weight and high corrosion resistance. Several hundred examples in the world show that FRP can also be applied to the primary structural elements of bridges. In Japan, although its application to the reinforcement has become a popular technique, only a few FRP bridges have been constructed to date. One of the main reasons for this is that there are not proper standards, guidelines or codes for design and construction of FRP bridges. The Committee of Hybrid Structures of Japan Society of Civil Engineers set up a task committee to publish “Guidelines for Design and Construction of FRP footbridges” in January 2011. The guidelines, where performance-based verification method is adopted, describe design properties of materials, verification of safety, serviceability, restorability and environmental resistance, construction, maintenance, etc. The guidelines also aim to help inexperienced engineers to understand fundamentals and practices of FRP footbridges. This paper describes the outlines and key points of the guidelines which is one of the most advanced codes for FRP structures. Structural details and durability issues of existing FRP bridges in Japan are also presented.