Field Application and Characterization of Advanced Composite Materials Short-span Bridge Superstructure

Recently, theoretical and experimental studies on advanced composite materials bridges have been performed in various fields over the worldwide. Compared with the concrete or steel bridge, an advanced composite materials bridge has more advantages of strength, stiffness, transportation, and installation. Many demonstration projects have shown around the U.S, Europe and they are presently being developed and tested in South Korea. This paper describes one of such field application of the first all advanced composite materials short-span bridge in South Korea on a public highway system. Field load testing was conducted under both symmetric and asymmetric vehicle loading and the bridge design, fabrication, installation are summarized. In order to verify the bridge design prior to the field application, a sub-scale bridge superstructure was built and tested in the laboratory. The field load test results were compared with those of the finite element analysis for the verification of validity. The analyzed results are hope to provide as a basic data for future design, fabrication, and installation of advanced composite materials bridge for use in deteriorated bridge decks replacement. Although data on long-term performance are not enough, this study indicates that advanced composite materials are an innovative material for short-span bridges.