ATC-PIARC organizes a workshop on "Reinforcement of Concrete Bridges with Composite Materials"
During the event, more than 150 professionals and technicians from all over the world had the opportunity to exchange best practices and recommendations on the design, implementation and quality control of these materials dedicated to the reinforcement of concrete bridges
Madrid (Spain), 6 April 2017
From left to right: Alberto Bardesi, Director of ATC-PIARC; Imai Kiyohiro, President Technical Committee on Bridges of the PIARC; Jesús Santamaría, Technical Director of the Directorate General of Roads of the Spanish Government; and Álvaro Navareño, coordinator of the ATC Technical Committee on Bridges
A workshop on "Reinforcement of Concrete Bridges with Composite Materials" took place last April 6, 2017. It was organized by the Spanish Technical Road Association (ATC-PIARC) and the committee of bridges of ATC in coordination with the Technical Committee on Bridges of the World Road Association (PIARC). The meeting was held in Madrid (Spain) and was attended by over 150 professionals and technicians of the subject.
The ATC-PIARC bridges committee was created more than 5 years ago. It worked on the "reinforcement of concrete bridges with composite materials" and presented its report in Madrid. This is the result of detailed reflection and synthesis, based on the different international guidelines and recommendations, on the definition and characterization of so-called "composite" materials, as well as in the proposal of recommendations for design, implementation and quality control dedicated to the reinforcement of concrete bridges.
The opening session was chaired by the current President of the International Federation for Structural Concrete (FIB), Hugo Corres, who explained the treatment of existing bridges. Each chapter of the "Reinforcement of concrete bridges with composite materials" report was presented in detail.
During the second session, Imai Kiyohiro, chair of the PIARC Bridges Committee, presented in detail the work of the Committee, which started in 2016 and will continue until the World Road Congress in Abu Dhabi in 2019. Afterwards, several best practice studies at the international level were presented.
A round table was held during the last part of the day, in which the future of this type of materials as well as the trends in reinforcement systems were discussed. The day was closed by the President of the committee of bridges of the ATC, D. Alvaro Navareño, and by the coordinator of the working group, D. Alfonso García.
What is more, the World Road Association (PIARC)'s Technical Committee D.3 on bridges organised its biannual meeting in Madrid in conjunction with this workshop.
It is important to stress that the Technical Road Association (ATC), which also plays the role of the Spanish National Committee of PIARC, has among its objectives the promotion of initiatives that contribute to the improvement of roads and, therefore, those elements which are part of the roads.