Health & Fitness
Maybe Rochester Bridges Could Use This Revolutionary New Bridge Material
The Avon Road bridge lasted just shy of 50 years. What if I told you there is a new product that could push life spans to 100 years?
One in four bridges in the United States are either structurally deficient or functionally obsolete, according to the website www.infrastructurereportcard.org.
You probably don’t notice how many bridges you travel over every day. In the 3.9 square miles of the city of Rochester alone, there are 7 bridges that cross over waterways. In Rochester Hills there are about 9 that cross over water and 8 that pass over M-59.
Most bridges are rated to last about 50 years and the average bridge in America is about 41 years old. We have seen many of our bridges rebuilt in the last 10 years that were nearing 50 years of age and a few more are in need of repair: Livernois by Avon and Avon by Yates.
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The Avon Road Bridge was built in 1963, almost 50 years ago, and widened in 1972. It was scheduled to be replaced in 2013 but weakened structure from the heavy use of the bridge hastened the rebuilding project. I read it will cost about 2.6 million to rebuild the bridge. What if I told you there is a company that can produce a bridge that should structurally last up to 100 years, requires less maintenance and is kinder on the environment to produce? While reading through the December 2011 issue of Popular Science, which contained a year in review of new products, I discovered a small blurb about a company who made composite boat docks and about their revolutionary bridge materials.
Imagine: bridge beams that will last 100 years, are maintenance free, require no painting, are 90 percent lighter to ship than a concrete beam (reducing emissions when trucking), uses only 20 percent as much concrete as a concrete beam, will not sustain damage from overloading like a concrete beam would and has an infinite fatigue life. What is this magical product? It is a structural system that combines the strength of concrete and steel with a lightweight and corrosion resistant advantage. One of the killers of Michigan bridges is the combination of overloading of trucks with the freeze and thaw of water which accelerates the deterioration of our roadways and concrete box beam bridges. These beams are filled with concrete once they are in place and sealed once they are cured. The composite plastic outer shell keeps the water out.
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Is it safe? Check out their website www.hcbridge.com. On the first page is a photo of a bridge segment made from their materials with a locomotive on top of it. They have been installing their new bridges since 2008.
Perhaps Rochester Hills should look them up when they rebuild the Livernois and the other Avon Road Bridge by Yates in the coming years. 100-year service life? Sounds pretty good to me!
All data points to the fact that traffic in our area will only increase in the coming years so why not build bridges that will meet the future demands, not just our current ones?