Market potential in bridge infrastructure
Use of carbon-reinforced shotcrete to increase the shear resistance of prestressed-concrete girders
The German highway network includes over 39,000 bridges with a total length of almost 2,100 km. Most of these bridges were built from prestressed concrete in the period from 1965 to 1985 (Fig. 1). Many of them are in poor condition due to weather impact and corrosion but also because of the exceedingly strong increase in heavy-truck traffic. This trend is likely to continue in the foreseeable future. Also, previous design models and construction rules have been evolving over time, which is particularly relevant to verifying shear resistance because the original shear reinforcement no longer...
