Extremely Light and Slender Precast Pedestrian-Bridge Made out of Carbon-Concrete

Textile-­reinforced concrete (TRC) is an innovative composite material which uses mesh-­like textile reinforcements and a fine-­grained concrete as basic materials. Unlike steel, textiles are not susceptible to corrosion, thus it is possible to minimize the concrete cover to only a few millimeters. As a result, slender concrete constructions can be built, meeting the needs of modern architecture with both economical and environmental advantages.

This paper presents a precast pedestrian bridge made of TRC, which has a total length of 15,5 m and a width of 2,94 m. Worldwide it is the first reinforced bridge, which uses no steel as reinforcement but rather carbon fibers. As a result the thickness of the construction could be minimized and let to reduction of carbon dioxide emissions in the production process, compared to ordinary steel-­reinforced bridges. Further advantages are lower maintenance costs and, thus, lower life-­time costs. The paper focuses on details of the design, construction and bearing behavior of the bridge.

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