New Materials for New Bridges—Halgavor Bridge, UK

Glass-fibre reinforced materials are becoming more widely accepted and understood and are increasingly being chosen on their own merits for bridge construction. The Halgavor Bridge is a 47 m span suspension bridge carrying a footpath, cycle track and bridleway over the busy A30 dual carriageway south of Bodmin in Cornwall. It is the first publicly funded bridge in the UK to use glass fibre reinforced polymer composites (GRP) as the principal structural material. A glass-reinforced vinyl ester resin composite deck is suspended from a conventional primary support system comprising steel masts, steel spiral strand main cables and stainless steel hangers. The bridge was opened in July 2001.