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In the spring of 2000, the Utah DOT began a massive program to repair and upgrade a number of
bridges in Salt Lake City, built during the 1960's. The program also included the seismic upgrade of
five bridges using carbon fiber reinforced polymers (CRFP). One of the objectives was to have all
construction completed well in advance of the 2002 Winter Olympic Games. All traffic lanes needed
to be kept open during construction, even with the additional volume from the events leading up to
the Olympics. This goal was achieved as construction was completed in June 2001, months ahead of
the Opening Ceremonies.
The heart of the project was to strengthen bridge structures that were in danger of collapsing in the
event of a large earthquake. The Wasatch Fault, which runs along the east bench of the valley, is of
great concern to geologists and engineers as the trigger point for inevitable and deadly seismic events.
The violent shaking during an earthquake could collapse a number of these older and under-designed
bridge structures along I-80.
Engineers at the local university were presented with the unique opportunity to conduct full-scale, in-situ tests of the fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) system on similar bridge bents that were scheduled
for demolition during new freeway construction in another part of the city. This testing confirmed
their design calculations that upgrading these critical bridge locations on I-80 with the FRP system
would make them more resistant to the damaging effects of a large-scale earthquake.
A considerable amount of concrete repair was required on many of these 25+ year-old columns prior
to the installation of the FRP. Once all of the corrosion-induced concrete damage was repaired, the
installation of the FRP was able to move forward. Following the curing and testing of the FRP, it was
coated with a textured coating for UV resistance and abrasion protection. Large amounts of testing
were conducted on the FRP during the installation to verify strengths, stiffness, fiber volume,
resin/fiber ratio, thickness and Tg. Also, long-term testing is being conducted and remotely
monitored by engineers at the university to investigate the performance and environmental impacts
of the FRP.
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Owner
Utah DOT
Salt Lake City, Utah
Project Engineer/
Designer
University of Utah
Salt Lake City, Utah
Repair Contractor
Gerber Construction
Lehi, Utah
Material Supplier
Sika Corporation
Lyndhurst, New Jersey
QC Inspector
Richards Consulting
Salt Lake City, Utah |
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