A Sustainable Footbridge Made of Textile-Reinforced 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 millimetres. 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 pedestrian bridge with a superstructure made of TRC which has a total length of 97 m and gives information on the design of the construction. Furthermore, beneficial aspects of sustainability are demonstrated from minimizing the cross-section, thereby saving concrete, and reducing carbon dioxide emissions in the production process, compared to ordinary steel-reinforced bridges. Finally, TRC construction results in economical advantages mainly due to lower maintenance costs and, thus, lower life-time costs.