Performance of Glass Fiber-Reinforced Polymer Deck on Steel Girder Bridge

Because of the continued deterioration of U.S. bridges combined with the increasing cost of bridge maintenance, the U.S. bridge inventory continues to experience a backlog of structurally deficient bridges. One potential solution is the implementation of new high-performance materials. Because of their many beneficial characteristics, including being lightweight, having high strength- and stiffness-to-weight ratios, and being corrosion resistant, advanced polymer composites represent one such alternative. In 1999 the Delaware Department of Transportation rehabilitated a deteriorated concrete slab-on-steel girder bridge by removing the concrete slab and replacing it with a lightweight glass fiber-reinforced polymer (GFRP) deck. In the rehabilitation, the existing abutments were slightly modified and the original steel girders were retained. On July 28, 1999, a diagnostic load test of the bridge was performed using a fully loaded 10-wheel dump truck. The test included stationary load cases, semistatic load passes, and dynamic load passes. The details of the GFRP slabon-steel girder bridge as well as the bridge performance as determined from the field load test are presented.