Long Span Bridges

Population growth followed by the dramatic increase and demand for new services created an urgent and overwhelming need for infrastructures of civil engineering structures. However, the current infrastructure work using various techniques and conventional materials for construction will not solve the traditional and continuous deterioration of concrete structures due to corrosion of steel. One of the most promising avenues, which has been recently explored is to use fibre reinforced plastic, (FRP), for civil engineering applications. FRP could be extremely effective in rehabilitation and repair of deteriorated structures as well as new construction. This paper briefly describes some selected projects to demonstrate the wide range of the current and future use of FRP for civil engineering applications. The paper also summarizes the Canadian experience in the construction of the first smart concrete highway bridge built in Calgary, Alberta. Design and construction details of the second bridge to be built in Canada using FRP shear and prestressing reinforcement is also presented. (1) Professor and Program leader of the Canadian Network of Centre of Excellence on Intelligent Sensing for Innovative Structures, FAG. FCSCE, FASCE. FEIC. (2) Ph.D. Candidate, Civil and Geological Engineering Department, University of Manitoba. Winnipeg. Manitoba. Canada, R3T 5V6.