AASHTO Journal, 25 July 2014
The Michigan Department of Transportation this month highlighted a bridge building innovation in a new YouTube video, which also serves to advocate for transportation investment to foster more innovations.
In the video, MDOT showcases a bridge replacement over Plum Creek in Wayne County, the first MDOT bridge containing beams with no steel elements. This was made possible through the use of Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymer, which will not corrode from elements like salt during the winter (unlike steel elements) and will add decades to the structure’s life.
“This is about longer-lasting material that reduces our cost in the future,” MDOT Director Kirk Steudle said in the video.
MDOT worked in partnership with the Lawrence Technological University Center for Materials Research, and Tokyo Rope Manufacturing Co. And while the innovation will bring many benefits in the long term versus traditional bridge building materials, Steudle said that adequate transportation investment is critical in continuing to make strides in transportation innovation, which improves safety and saves money in the long run.
“At the end of the day, all of this takes money,” Steudle said. “As we look forward on how to manage this entire system all across the state—it’s going to take increased funding. That’s where we have to take our hats off to Governor Snyder for really leading the charge to increase the funding for our infrastructure.”
MDOT’s video on CFRP is available here.
