The Taromeo Creek bridge on the D’Aguillar Highway in Blackbutt, Queensland was Wagners Composite Fibre Technologies’ (CFT) first bridge for the Department of Main Roads and the time of construction the largest FRP road bridge in Queensland. The new bridge replaces an old timber structure that had reached the end of its serviceable life, with two-spans (10m and 12m) using traditional concrete substructure and FRP bridge decking.
When constructed in 2005, the traffic volume was around 2,500 vehicles per day with approximately 400 (16%) of those heavy vehicles. Wagners CFT ‘Generation 4’ design used four prefabricated units of 2.1m and 2.6m widths and all eight deck units for the two spans were placed on the substructure within one day.
Longitudinal joints were cast in situ using a high strength grout. The weight of these deck units is almost 50% of the standard Main Roads concrete deck unit bridge. By way of example, the 12-metre span FRP bridge deck weighted aroun 70 tonne as opposed to an equivalent Main Roads standard 12 metre span concrete deck unit system which weighs around 155 tonne including asphalt.
