Development of FRP-concrete composite bridge deck in Korea - State-of-the-art review

Abstract

The bridge deck is the most vulnerable element in the bridge system because it is exposed to direct actions of wheel loading, chemical attacks, and temperature and moisture effects including freezing and thawing, shrinkage, humidity, etc. In 1980's, several countries, such as USA, Japan, and Canada, already realized that the service life of the deck is critical for that of the whole bridge, and the research was initiated to develop new material and structural system to improve deck behavior. In recent years, it has been encouraged to develop more durable, easily constructible, and more cost effective bridge deck than the current one in Korea. In this study, a concise state-of-the-art survey of the experimental investigations on the FRP-concrete composite bridge deck under developing in Korea is presented.