Bridge reinforcement system tapped for technology award

A group of UW–Madison civil engineers has received a Popular Science magazine “Best of What’s New” award in engineering for a unique technology that may lengthen life of bridges without raising construction costs.

The technology is highlighted in the magazine’s December issue.

Civil and environmental engineering professors Larry Bank and Mike Oliva, along with former graduate students David Jacobson and Mack Conachen, developed the super-size polymer reinforcement system for bridge decks. A three-dimensional grid made entirely of fiber-reinforced polymer material, it could replace conventional epoxy-coated reinforcing bars (rebar) inside future bridges.

Because it is non-metallic, the fiber-reinforced polymer material won’t corrode, giving it the durability to last more than 75 years, while conventional bridge decks need replacing after 30 or 40 years, says Bank. In addition, the system’s pre-fabricated, three-dimensional structure means that cranes can rapidly lay sections in place, as opposed to traditional reinforcing bars, which workers have to place and tie together by hand.

The UW–Madison system is among 100 new products or technologies to receive the Popular Science “Best of What’s New” award, which represents a year’s worth of work evaluating thousands of products, says Mark Jannot, the magazine’s editor.

“These awards honor innovations that not only influence the way we live today, but that change the way we think about the future,” he says.