Composite Advantage LLC (CA, Dayton, Ohio, USA) reported on Aug. 30 that its FiberSPAN fiber-reinforced polymer bridge deck product was installed on a new three-span steel superstructure at Wolf Creek National Park near Vienna, Va., USA. The new pedestrian bridge was designed to connect two main facilities at the Wolf Trap Performing Arts Center and provide safe crossing over the 10-lane Dulles Access and Toll Road.
The Barnes and Filene Center have traditionally been separated by a narrow road with a crumbling sidewalk, raising safety concerns for the nearly 500,000 visitors to Wolf Creek National Park each season. Steel trusses fitted with the 8,000 ft2/743m2 composite bridge deck will be able to accommodate Wolf Trap patrons, cyclists and pedestrians as well as residents who need access to the Metro stations currently under construction at Tysons Corner.
The composite bridge deck was manufactured with CA’s sandwich construction, which employs fiberglass top and bottom skins and closely-spaced internal webs that function like a series of I-beams. CA molded the 8.3-ft by 15.5-ft (2.5m by 4.7m) panels with curbs and an epoxy aggregate non-slip coating. The deck color was coordinated with the truss coating.
CA’s lightweight prefabricated panels accommodate the growing trend for nighttime construction, which minimizes the impact of construction operations on the public. The composite decking was installed on each truss span adjacent to the bridge site. The light weight of the FRP deck enabled the fully assembled truss span to be lifted into place over the highway. The erection of each span required just 15 minutes of road closure. Each bridge span was lifted into place on three consecutive nights with the largest span measuring 170 ft2/15.8m2 and weighing 140,000 lb/63,503 kg.
