Composite Deck Benefits Infrastructure of Blackfriars Bridge

Bridges are just one of the infrastructure components that can benefit from the use of composite materials. The Blackfriars bridge in London, Ontario, Canada, is a perfect example of the type of structures that can benefit from composites. Composite bridge deck panels were able to bring many benefits to this historic structure during a recent rehabilitation project.

The benefits offered by composite bridge deck panels

When the Blackfriars bridge became a part of London, Ontario’s, infrastructure in 1875, modern composite materials were completely unknown in the infrastructure field. Now, this is historic structure is reaping the benefits of composites during its restoration.

The goal of the Blackfriars bridge restoration project is to use as many of the original bridge components as possible. This will allow the restoration team to recreate a structure that can continue to serve London, Ontario, for many years to come while still retaining the beauty of the original structure. However, it was discovered that the combined weight of modern vehicular traffic and a reinforced concrete bridge deck would have been too much weight for the structure to bear.

That’s where the benefits of composite bridge deck panels come in. These panels bring benefits to the bridge that include:

• Being 80% lighter than the reinforced concrete panels that were the alternative
• Helping to maintain the beauty of this historic structure
• Having a high resistance to corrosive materials
• Reducing reassembly and maintenance time requirements
• Extending the service life of the bridge by at least 100 years

All of these benefits illustrate what a positive thing composites can be for infrastructure applications such as automobile bridges, pedestrian bridges and other types of bridge structures.

Composites One leads North America in the distribution of composite materials

Composite bridge deck panels are just one example of components that the modern composites industry is manufacturing for the infrastructure sector. If your company is involved in creating composite parts for the infrastructure sector, then having a reliable source of composite material supplies is a vital necessity for your business.

At Composites One, we can help you get all of the composite materialsthat your business requires thanks to the thousands of products we have in stock from over 600 suppliers. We can also help you find a supply location that’s close to your business since we have 41 locations across the United States and Canada.

Contact the Composites One team today to find out more about all of the composite material supplies and other services we can offer your business.