Several reports paint a bleak picture of the condition of North America's infrastructure. The 2016 Canadian Infrastructure Report Card says that one third of the municipal infrastructure is in fair, poor, or very poor condition, and the replacement value of the bridges alone was estimated to be CAD 20.8 billion. The 2017 Report Card for America's Infrastructure says that 9.1% of U.S. bridges are rated structurally deficient. To eliminate the deficient bridge backlog in the United States by 2028, the Federal Flighway Administration estimates that they need to invest USD 20.5 billion annually.3 In light of these facts, researchers have been looking for practical, efficient, and economical retrofitting and strengthening techniques to repair deteriorated structures.
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