A New Material World

摘要

Back in the 1990s, recalls Heath Carr, president of Fibr-wrap Construction Inc., "everyone would look at you like you were crazy" for proposing to repair a bridge with composite fiber components. But 5,000 retrofits later, the looks are gone. Although fiber reinforced polymers (FRPs) still are not in the mainstream of transportation construction, they are far from esoteric. Carr notes that "the costs of traditional steel and concrete costs have inflated, whereas FRP costs have stayed the same.