Pultrusion bridge

Pultruded sections are used for handrails, cable trays, ladders and even bridge construction. The parallel orientation of the continuous fibres ensures that they are protected with a covering of resin, which enhances weathering properties a polyester veil can be used to improve protection. Despite this, some deterioration in surface gloss is experienced fairly rapidly on standard pultrusions if a surface coating is not used, but mechanical properties are retained for many years. 

To date, the process has penetrated the application areas such as land transport, construction, infrastructure, electrical, marine and offshore, and aerospace. With the introduction of newer technologies, pultrusion can be used to produce nearly any constant cross-sectional shape (Meyer, 1985) such as channels, tubes, beams, bars and many other profiles for handrails, ladders, cable ducts, antennae, rail covers, tent poles, hockey sticks, fishing rods, pipes, slide guides, luggage racks, leaf springs, window frames, farm wagons, bridge sections, roof profiles, etc. 

Fig. 13. Clean injection die pultrusion process and equipment is producing structural elements such as beams for bridge decks and one-piece 224-cm by 297-cm floor panels for semitruck cab and sleeper. Courtesy of Glasforms Inc.

Creative Pultrusion Inc. use a compression process to manufacture parts of bridges and other products, including cables, plates, Bethlehem beams and wooden panels, and even platform coverings for public transport have been manufactured and tested. A new product has been developed, known as SuperLoc composite plate pier, which has a unique ball-and-stock connection between the panels. The main application areas for this new product are in swimming pools, pedestrian walkways, docks, shipyards, and so on. Another new product is DuraSpan, which is designed for use in fibre-reinforced polymers for bridge construction [32]. 

Bonded connections between GFRP panels of bridge decks (courtesy of Creative Pultrusions). 

Ushakov A E, KJenin U G, Sorina T G, Hayretdinov A K and Safonov AA (2009), Pultrusion composites and products with high fire resistance on the base on nanomodified polymers in bridge engineering , Hawaii, Seventeenth Annual International Conference on Composites/Nano Engineering (lCCE-17). 

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