Concrete has been the mainstay of highway bridge construction for decades and has a wealth of benefits. It’s durable, versatile, and consistently meets the demands expected of it. Not to mention the fact it is cost-effective to produce. However, like the bridges made from it, concrete needs support itself.
Moreton Cullimore, managing director of aggregates and haulage specialist The Cullimore Group, explains why the UK needs to be aware that concrete isn’t without its weaknesses, and how looking into alternative materials to use in its manufacture will help prevent an epidemic of so-called ‘concrete cancer’.
Made up of three main composite parts – water, aggregate, and cement – concrete has been the go-to material for motorway bridge construction for decades. Many of them were manufactured at the end of the Second World War or thereabouts and are required to last for approximately 100 to 120 years in order to meet industry regulations.
However, the materials which hold our bridges together may not be as strong as we think. Doing the maths, many bridge structures, constructed during the 1960s, shouldn’t be approaching their twilight years, but up and down the country we see many bridges having extensive repair works done to their structures.
Continue reading Why the UK faces a perfect storm on motorway bridge safety at Specifier Review.
source https://specifierreview.com/2019/06/03/quartzite/
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