Abstract
Glass Fiber-Reinforced Polymer (GFRP) bars and Carbon Fiber-Reinforced Polymer (CFRP) strands represent innovative and alternative technologies for the construction of resilient, durable and low-maintenance concrete structures. To support and promote the deployment of FRP bars in infrastructure applications, it is fundamental to address the technology’s feasibility in field projects and their implications in the industry. The purpose of this dissertation is to provide a better understanding of the constructability, adaptability as well as the management, economic and environmental aspects of FRP-Reinforced Concrete (RC)/Prestressed Concrete (PC) structures through a bridge case study, namely Halls River Bridge (HRB). This dissertation is a combination of three interconnected studies. In the first study, constructability and technology’s adaptability are investigated together with means and methods that can be of guidance for both implementation and standardization of the technology. The second study deals with a full innovative Life-Cycle Cost (LCC) analysis. This study verifies the cost performance of four different alternative reinforcement bars for the design of the FRP-RC/PC bridge case study. The four different alternatives to be compared are namely Carbon Steel (CS), Stainless Steel (SS), FRP, and Epoxy-coated Steel (ECS), and the analysis is performed over 100-years. The third study attempts to investigate the contribution of FRP-RC/PC in the domain of sustainability. Global warming is not only increasing the rate of steel corrosion of concrete structures, but also is affecting the sea level rise. Through a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) analysis, the third study provides qualitative and quantitative information regarding the environmental impacts of FRP materials and compares the four bridge design alternatives. The three studies are based on data collected during the construction phase of the Halls River Bridge, where the author was deployed for one year.