Transportation infrastructure is one of the major economic development needs for the Meramec Region. Local roads and bridges affect the economic welfare of the region by providing links to the major routes. Local roads and bridges are the collector systems into the larger state highway system for the transport of manufactured products and agricultural goods, accessing employment centers, and bringing travelers and tourists to the region. While many residents are engaged in agriculture and use the roads for farm-to-market routes, a growing number of people are working in cities and living in unincorporated areas relying on rural roads to commute to work. Aging bridges prohibit growth in much of the region because they severely limit access to many communities. Over one-third of the rural bridges in Crawford, Dent, Phelps and Washington counties are considered deficient by MoDOT standards. Much of the problems with local bridges are due to age and obsolete design.

The objective of this research project is to upgrade the existing flexural capacity of rural bridge structures located in the Crawford, Dent, Phelps and Washington counties using Mechanically Fastened Fiber Reinforced Polymers (MF-FRP) laminates. FRP materials have been proven to be a practical alternative for construction and renovation of bridges. Advantages of FRP materials are that they resist corrosion, long outlive conventional materials, and have high strength-to-weight ratio. The system used in this research project consists of pre-cured FRP laminates bolted onto the concrete surface. The system presents the following advantages in addition to those of a conventional FRP strengthening method:

• Use of simple hand-tools;
• Strengthening can be performed by unskilled labor;
• No surface preparation is required;
• Immediate use of the strengthened structure.

The performances of the bridges will also be determined after their strengthening by performing load tests.

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Jason Cox Training County and MoDOT Personnel	Laboratory Tests
Installation	Bridge After Installation

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