Are Environmental-Friendly Materials Compatible with Lightweight Urban Bridges?

Recently, the main structure of a pedestrian lightweight urban bridge by the river in the city center has been completed. Different from traditional bridges, the deck slab of this bridge adopts recycled aggregate concrete, and the guardrails use plant fiber-reinforced composite materials. The combination of environmental-friendly materials and lightweight urban bridges has attracted attention from both inside and outside the industry.

Characterized by light weight and compact structure, lightweight urban bridges are widely used in urban pedestrian walkways, non-motorized vehicle lanes and other scenarios. Such bridges have high requirements for material strength and light weight, and environmental-friendly materials such as FRP (fiber-reinforced polymer) and high-strength recycled materials can just meet these needs.

The engineer in charge of the construction of this lightweight urban bridge introduced that the environmental-friendly materials selected this time are not only 30% lighter than traditional steel, but also significantly reduce the dust and noise generated during construction. "Lightweight urban bridges themselves pursue low-carbon construction, and the addition of environmental-friendly materials further enhances this low-carbon attribute," he said.

However, the adaptation process is not without challenges. In the early tests, some environmental-friendly materials had insufficient anti-aging performance. The technical team finally solved this problem by adding anti-ultraviolet additives and optimizing the material ratio, ensuring that the material performance matches the service requirements of lightweight urban bridges.

It is understood that this lightweight urban bridge using environmental-friendly materials has completed the load test, and all indicators meet the standards. Residents nearby said that the new bridge not only looks nice, but also feels stable when walking on it, and it can also contribute to urban environmental protection.

Industry experts point out that there are clear technical paths for the adaptation of environmental-friendly materials and lightweight urban bridges. With the decrease in the cost of related materials, this combination mode will be popularized in more urban infrastructure projects, injecting green vitality into urban construction.