ABSTRACT
According to a report from Market Development Alliance of the FRP Composites Industry (MDA 2003), today’s bridge owners are faced with unique challenges as a result of a severely deteriorating infrastructure, insuf-‘cient funding, and a demanding public. A released study (Ellis 2011) funded by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) estimates the annual direct cost of corrosion for highway bridges to be $6.43 billion to $10.15 billion. This includes $3.79 billion to replace structurally de‘cient bridges over the next 10 years and $1.07 billion to $2.93 billion for maintenance and cost of capital for concrete bridge decks. In addition to these direct costs, the study’s life cycle analysis estimates indirect costs to the user due to traf‘c delays and lost productivity at more than 10 times the direct cost of corrosion. Although most bridge owners continue to make decisions based on lower initial cost, it has become apparent that this approach does not work, and in the near future more money will be spent maintaining existing structures than building new ones. As a result, there are signi‘cant opportunities for ‘ber-reinforced polymer (FRP) bridge decks that are corrosion resistant, and can be rapidly installed.
