ABSTRACT
FRP products (glass, carbon fibre and aramid) were first used to reinforce concrete structures in the 1950s. During the next two decades, the quality of the FRP materials improved considerably, the manufacturing methods became more automated and material costs decreased. The use of these materials for external reinforcement of concrete bridge structures started in the 1980s, first as a substitute for steel plate bonding, which had been a proven method for many years previously, and then as a substitute for steel confinement shells for bridge columns.
