Glass FRP Composite Bars for Concrete Bridge Barriers

The expansion of highway systems increased the need to provide corrosion-free reinforced concrete components for highway bridges.An extensive research program to investigate the behaviour of two types of concrete bridge barriers, PL-2 and PL-3, reinforced with glass fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) bars has been going during the last four years at the Universite de Sherbrooke (Sherbrooke, Quebec) in collaboration with the Ministry of Transportation of Quebec (MTQ).A new corrosion-free connection between the barrier wall and the slab using GFRP bent bars was investigated.A total of 8 full-scale 10-m long barrier prototypes were constructed and tested in the field under impact load..The tests included 4 PL-2 and 4 PL-3 prototypes.For each type of barriers, two prototypes were reinforced with GFRP sand-coated bars and the other two were reinforced with steel bars.Pendulum crash tests using a 3.0-ton pear-shaped iron ball were performed under the same conditions for each type of barriers.The behaviour of the barriers was evaluated in terms of cracking pattern, crack width, and strains in reinforcing bars.Based on the results of this investigation, it is concluded that the behaviour of PL-2 and PL-3 concrete bridge barriers reinforced with GFRP bars is similar to their counterparts reinforced with conventional steel in terms of cracking, energy absorption, and strength.

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