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INSTRUCTOR: 
Christopher Gamache, P.E.

Purpose and Background

This local prestressed concrete bridge in St. Petersburg is the first in the State of Florida to utilize fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) reinforced concrete for all of its structural components. The bridge was designed with FRP reinforcing to achieve a long design life with minimal maintenance. The original structure, a prestressed concrete sonovoid slab bridge constructed in 1961, had suffered extreme corrosion in its superstructure due to its proximity to the to the saltwater. Even with 8 ft of vertical clearance, jet skis caused chloride saturation in the slab units of the bridge’s navigational span. The City of St. Petersburg wanted to replace the bridge with a resilient, low-maintenance structure. Residents of the community wanted the bridge to be raised to accommodate larger boats.

The bridge was raised five feet to improve navigation but could not be completely raised out of the splash zone due to the proximity of driveways on either side of the bridge. The design of a shallow prestressed concrete slab beam bridge with FRP reinforcement was an innovative and resilient solution that addressed the bridge’s vulnerability to the highly corrosive environment while minimizing impacts to the surrounding community. The bridge’s prestressed concrete elements, including the piles and slab beams, were designed with Carbon FRP (CFRP) reinforcement while the bridge's cast-in-place concrete elements, including the pile caps and deck, were designed using Glass FRP (GFRP) reinforcement. The retaining walls surrounding the bridge abutments are comprised of GFRP sheet pile walls with reinforced concrete caps.

The Gordie Howe International Bridge is a new 1.5-mile bridge crossing the Detroit River between Windsor, Ontario, Canada and Detroit, Michigan, USA. The bridge’s 2800-foot main span will be the longest cable-stayed bridge span in North America and the longest composite deck cable stayed bridge span in the world.

In addition to the bridge, the project also includes new ports of entry on both sides of the border and a new interchange connecting the main bridge to I-75 in Detroit. The project is being delivered through a public-private partnership, with the private sector partner responsible to design, build, finance and operate the bridge and ports of entry, and to design, build and finance the new interchange in Detroit. This project will provide a new essential crossing option between the two nations for the movement of goods at one of the busiest commercial crossings between Canada and the United States of America. During operations, the crossing will provide additional capacity and foster growth in trade between the two countries, improve roadway connectivity with direct access to efficient highway and freeway systems on both sides of the border and improve border crossing processing, capacity and efficiency.

This presentation will provide a general overview of the project and design features of the bridge including foundations, side-span piers, towers, stay cables, composite edger girder and floorbeam deck system, and erection. It will highlight noteworthy design features including aerodynamics, stay cable design, redundancy, durability considerations, and provide a current construction update.

Learning Outcomes and Session Benefits

Upon completion of this course, you will be able to:

• Explain the benefits and challenges of using fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) reinforcement in bridge design, specifically in highly corrosive environments.
• Describe the design and construction innovations used in the replacement of the St. Petersburg prestressed concrete bridge to improve durability and minimize maintenance needs.
• Discuss the design features of the Gordie Howe International Bridge, focusing on its cable-stayed structure, composite deck system, and aerodynamics.
• Identify the key benefits of the Gordie Howe International Bridge project, including improved cross-border trade, enhanced roadway connectivity, and increased processing capacity at ports of entry.

Assessment of Learning Outcomes

Learning outcomes are assessed and achieved through passing a 10 multiple choice question post-test with at least a 70%.

Who Should Attend?

• Construction engineers
• Structural engineers
• Architectural engineers
• Project Managers
• Consulting engineers
• Public Agency Engineers

How to Earn Your PDHs and Receive Your Certificate of Completion

This course is worth 1 PDH. To receive your certificate of completion, you will need to attend the live session and/or watch the recording(s) and complete the post-session survey. If the course is taken On-Demand, there will also be a 10 multiple choice question post-test.

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