This paper presents the construction details, testing, and monitoring results of four FRP
reinforced concrete bridges recently constructed in North America. Three bridges,
Joffre Bridge, Wotton Bridge, and Magog Bridge, are located in Quebec, Canada.
While the fourth one, Morristown Bridge, is located in Vermont, USA. All four bridges
are girder-type with main girders made of either steel or prestressed concrete. The
main girders are simply supported over spans ranging from 26.2 to 43.0 m. The deck is
a 200 to 230 mm thickness concrete slab continuous over spans of 2.30 to 3.7 m.
Different types and reinforcement ratios of FRP reinforcing bars as well as conventional
steel were used as reinforcement for the concrete deck slab. Furthermore, the four
bridges are located on different highway categories, which means different traffic
volume and environmental conditions (frequency of using de-icing salts). The bridges
are well instrumented at critical locations for internal temperature and strain data
collection using fibre optic sensors. These gauges are used to monitor the deck
behaviour from the time of construction to several years after completion of
construction. Three of the bridges were tested for service performance using standard
truckloads. The construction procedure, field tests and monitoring results, under real
service conditions, showed very competitive performance to concrete bridges reinforced
with steel.
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