FRP bridges in Poland: state of practice

The state of the art in the field of composite polymer bridges in Poland is presented below. Such bridges were built from 1999. Some of them are fully composite polymer structure. Others are developed as hybrid structure. There are two kind of structures: steel girders with FRP deck and FRP girders with concrete deck. Different production methods of FRP elements were used: pultrusion and infusion. Some bridges are the result of research programs, but there are also some commercial projects. Also, the short application history of FRP bridges all over the world is presented and material properties of the construction material are given in the paper. Those materials are much more lighter than steel or concrete. Low weight of FRP materials is an advantage but also disadvantage. It is good from structural and economical point of view because the dimensions of girders, piers and foundation will be smaller. From opposite side to light structure could cause problems related to response of structure against dynamic actions. As a final result the fatigue strength and durability will be reduced. Of course, the high cost of FRP (CFRP especially) limits at the moment range of application. The presented in the paper bridge structures show that despite of mentioned above problems they are now in good conditions and their future life looks optimistic. It could be supposed that modification and/or development of FRP production technologies more better utilizing their properties will create more elegant and useful bridges.