University of Miami recognized for bridge reinforced with composite materials
The Innovation Bridge is the first concrete bridge on the UM campus entirely reinforced/prestressed with composite materials instead of steel.
The University of Miami (Miami, FL, US) was recognized at the Florida Engineering Society (FES, Tallahassee, FL, US)/American Council of Engineering Companies of Florida (ACEC-FL, Tallahassee, FL, US) 2018 Annual Conference and received not only the Engineering Excellence Award but also the overall Grand Conceptor Award for the UM Innovation Bridge. The awards recognize the team – led by Antonio Nanni, professor and chair of the Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering – for their innovations and outstanding contributions to the design and construction of the first concrete bridge on the UM campus entirely reinforced/prestressed with composite materials instead of steel.
The bridge, which is on the Coral Gables campus, is 70 ft long and connects the campus to the athletic fields. The project provides quantifiable proof of concept of the use of fiber-reinforced polymers (FRP) composites in such structures. The University began construction of the bridge in November 2015; it was completed in May 2016.
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