Success Story: West Virginia
West Virginia Uses FRP Decks for Bridge

The West Virginia DOT replaced the existing structurally deficient Howell's Mill Bridge in Cabell County with a superstructure using 727 square meters (7,833 square feet) of fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) deck on weathering steel beams. Carrying County Route 1 over Mud River, the bridge is a two-span structure 74.5 meters (245 feet) long and 9.9 meters (32.5 feet) wide.

Completed in late July 2003, the project demonstrated the use of FRP technology on a larger-scale project on a secondary route with significantly higher average daily traffic-3,400 vehicles per day. The site conditions required serious hydraulic considerations, given that the existing structure's roadway is submerged during flood events. By employing a slight change in grade and using the lightweight FRP deck to reduce dead load and achieve a minimal structure depth, WVDOT now has a structure capable of withstanding a 100-year storm event.

"The FRP decks are installed easily," says John Bargo, assistant bridge engineer at the FHWA West Virginia Division, "resulting in a shorter construction time, thus reducing delay and making the replacement structure available to the public much quicker." With the application of this innovative technology, WVDOT has provided the public with a longer lasting service life for the replacement structure.