World's First Recycled Plastic Bridges
According to the Federal Highway Administration's (FHWA) National Bridge Inventory, one third of nearly 600,000 U.S. highway bridges are classified as structurally deficient or functionally obsolete. Since the majority of bridges were built using wood, steel or concrete, the same conventional materials have been used for bridge replacement or rehabilitation, imposing similar patterns for future deterioration. However, to address recent emphasis on durability, accelerated construction and sustainability, including “Going Green,” new advanced materials are coming on the market. Developed in conjunction with scientists at Rutgers University, a manufacturing company named Axion International, Inc. was able to produce a thermoplastic composite, also called Recycled Structural Plastic Composite (RSPC), made of nearly 100% recycled post consumer and industrial plastics that would otherwise be discarded into landfills. This environmentally friendly thermoplastic was first utilized for railroad crossties and recently extended its application to bridge and structural members. In early 2009, the world's first vehicular bridges made of recycled plastics were built at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. Virtually all bridge components were made from recycled plastics. The bridges were designed for HS25 and the 71-ton M1 Abrams tank. Impressed by these developments, Fort Eustis in Virginia also decided to utilize this material to replace two aged railroad timber bridges. The world's first thermoplastic railroad bridges were designed to carry a Cooper E60 and a 260 kips alternate load. They opened in June 2010. A detailed design process and discussion on this cost-effective and environmentally superior solution will be presented in this paper.
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Availability:
- Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/isbn/9780784412046
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Supplemental Notes:
- Copyright © 2012 ASCE
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Authors:
- Chandra, Vijay
- Kim, John S.
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Conference:
- The International Conference on Sustainable Design and Construction 2011: ICSDC 2011: Integrating Sustainability Practices in the Construction Industry
- Location: Kansas City MO, United States
- Date: 2011-3-23 to 2011-3-25
- Publication Date: 2011
Language
- English
Subject/Index Terms
- TRT Terms: Bridges; Building materials; Construction management; Plastics; Recycled materials; Sustainable development; Thermoplastic materials
- Subject Areas: Bridges and other structures;
Filing Info
- Accession Number: 01367836
- Record Type: Publication
- ISBN: 978-0-7844-1204-6
- Files: TRIS, ASCE
- Created Date: Apr 13 2012 10:07AM