Recycled plastic bridges - innovative Virginia project showcases environmentally friendly material

Corrosion of steel bridges, and of reinforcing steel in concrete bridges, is a major cause of bridge deterioriation. The search for a wonder material that bears heavy loads, yet won't corrode, has been a dream of infrastructure engineers for many years. And now perhaps such a material's time has come. Recycled structural plastic composite - or RSPC - has been tested since the 1990s, beginning with railroad ties. More recently RSPC is being used in bridges of increasing size. This material is made of recycled plastics, such as milk containers and car bumpers, which might otherwise end up in landfills. In this segment of The Infrastructure Show podcast series, Host Professor Joseph Schofer of Northwestern University's Infrastructure Technology Institute, and Co-Host Tom Herman of Vocalo.org 89.5 FM talk with Vijay Chandra of Parsons Brinkerhoff, the principal in charge of the design of two RSPC rail bridges in Ft. Eustis, VA. They discuss the project - the largest bridges built to date of RSPC, to support the heaviest loads (120-ton locomotives used by the U.S. Army) - and also the potential for the use of this environmentally friendly material in future infrastructure projects. For more information, see the web-site: www.theinfrastructureshow.com.