Design of an innovative composite bridge combining reinforced concrete with Ultra-High Performance Fibre Reinforced Concrete

A novel concept is applied for the design and construction of an innovative 46m long overpass road bridge. The principle of this design concept is to use Ultra-High Performance Fibre Reinforced Concrete (UHPFRC) to “harden” only those zones where the structure is exposed to severe environmental and high mechanical actions, i.e. top surface of the deck slab, kerb elements and the zone above the middle support including a unique UHPFRC hinge. All other parts of the bridge structure remain in conventional reinforced and prestressed concrete as these parts are subjected to moderate exposure. This conceptual idea (originally developed for the rehabilitation of existing concrete structures) combines efficiently protection and resistance functions. The resulting bridge has significantly improved structural resistance and durability. By the time of writing this paper, the bridge was in the tendering phase.