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  4. Long-term performance of a glass fiber-reinforced polymer truss bridge
 
research article

Long-term performance of a glass fiber-reinforced polymer truss bridge

Keller, T  
•
Bai, Y  
•
Vallée, T  
2007
Journal of Composites for Construction

In the summer of 2005, after eight years of use as a temporary bridge during the winter, the Pontresina Bridge for pedestrians was transported to the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne for a detailed assessment of the structural safety, serviceability, and long-term durability of the bridge. The assessment included a visual inspection, quasistatic testing identical to that performed in 1997, and detailed investigations of material degradation. The visual inspection showed a variety of different local defects and damage such as local crushing caused by impact, local cracks due to inappropriate storage and lifting of the structure, fiber blooming, degradation of cut surfaces, and damage due to vandalism. Comparisons between load tests performed in 1997 and 2005 showed, however, that the structural safety and serviceability of the bridge have not been affected by these local damages. The stiffness of the pultruded shapes remained unchanged, whereas a slight decrease in strength between 13 and 18% was measured, which, however, is not critical when taking into consideration the high effective safety factors. In view of a further service period of 5 years until the next inspection, the visible damages were repaired. This experience showed that the durability is primarily affected by inappropriate constructive detailing and that pultruded glass fiber-reinforced polymer shapes, if correctly manufactured and processed, can offer good long- term performance and durability. © 2007 ASCE.

  • Details
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Type
research article
DOI
10.1061/(ASCE)1090-0268(2007)11:1(99)
Web of Science ID

WOS:000243547500011

Author(s)
Keller, T  
Bai, Y  
Vallée, T  
Date Issued

2007

Published in
Journal of Composites for Construction
Volume

11

Issue

1

Start page

99

End page

108

Subjects

Trusses

•

Degradation

•

Glass fiber reinforced plastics

•

Glass fibers

•

Inspection

•

Pultrusion

Note

Composite Construction Laboratory, BAT. BP, Station 16, CH- 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland

Editorial or Peer reviewed

REVIEWED

Written at

EPFL

EPFL units
CCLAB  
Available on Infoscience
June 22, 2007
Use this identifier to reference this record
https://infoscience.epfl.ch/handle/20.500.14299/9286
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