Objective:
The objective of Project 100 was to design, manufacture and install 100 composite bridge decks across the state of Ohio (one in each of Ohio’s 88 counties and 12 Department of Transportation districts).
Goal:
Economic development through the establishment of a wealth-creating Ohio-based composite bridge deck industry capable of producing and supplying product to the eastern United States.
Challenge:
The magnitude of Ohio’s bridge problem already exceeds budget available to remedy the problem, yet demographic projections show the worst of the problem will occur over the next 20-30 years. Thus it is imperative a long-term, cost -competitive solution to the problem be identified.
Solution:
Composite materials, by virtue of the fact they do NOT corrode, are a long-term solution (testing to date has simulated a 75 year service life with less than 2% cumulative degradation - life projections are estimated to be 150+ years). Additionally, feasibility and viability of composite bridge structures have been demonstrated across the country (Ohio is a pioneer with the nation’s First Smart All-Composite Vehicular Bridge: TECH-21). However, all of these demonstration projects have been done on a prototype basis which translates into a significant cost premium (currently 2-3x). Despite the fact that composite bridge structures can win a life-cycle cost argument, ODOT and the county engineers refuse to pay a significant premium since the taxpayer is demanding as many roadways as possible be made fully functional on the existing tax base. Project 100 planned to enable the volume necessary to achieve cost-competitiveness. Once cost-competitiveness was achieved, the life-cycle benefits make composite bridge decks the obvious choice for ODOT and the county engineers.
Project 100 Accomplishment:
NCC selected Hardcore Composites of New Castle, Delaware to supply the deck panels. In return, Hardcore agreed to invest in local facilities to manufacture the panels, thereby creating anew industry in Ohio that will stimulate significant job growth as the demand for FRP products in infrastructure markets increases in coming years. By the end of the Phase I in September 2001, Project 100 sponsored nine FRP bridge deck installations in Ohio. Details on the decks are shown in Table.
FRP Composite Decks Installed in Ohio under Project 100
| Bridge Name | Owner | Dimensions | Total Sq. Ft. | Manufacturer | Completion Date |
| Shaffer Road | Ashtabula Co. | 175’ x 17’ | 2,975 | Hardcore | Oct 2001 |
| Sintz Road over Rock Run | Clark Co. | 62’ x 30’ | 1,860 | Hardcore | Nov 2000 |
| Five Mile Road Bridge # 0171 | Hamilton Co. | 44’ x 28’ | 1,232 | Hardcore | Nov 2000 |
| Five Mile Road Bridge # 0087 | Hamilton Co. | 47’ x 30’ | 1,410 | Hardcore | May 2001 |
| Five Mile Road Bridge # 0071 | Hamilton Co. | 43’ x 30’ | 1,290 | Hardcore | Aug 2001 |
| Elliot Run | Knox Co. | 38’-10” x 25’-6” | 975 | Hardcore | July 2000 |
| Spaulding Road | Montgomery Co. | 83’-1” x 56’ | 4,653 | Hardcore | May 2001 |
| Westbrook Road | Montgomery Co. | 34’-3”’ x 32’-8” | 1,119 | Hardcore | April 2000 |
| Hebble Creek | Wright Patterson AFB | 32’ x 17’2” | 544 | Comptek / Webcore | July 2001 |
1. Sandwich constructions molded using the VARTM process.
2. All wearing surfaces were asphalt.
Status:
To support the program objective of establishing an FRP bridge deck industry in Ohio , the original goal of Project 100 was to design, manufacture, and install 100 composite bridge decks in Ohio during the period CY2000 through CY2005. The volume of product required to accomplish this goal would have been sufficient to stimulate creation of a manufacturing base in Ohio . Two conditions were required for this to happen: a single supplier would have to be “guaranteed” a significant share of the market to justify investment in an Ohio plant, and state funding would be required to subsidize bridge owners for more costly FRP decks in the near term until costs were reduced to a point at which FRP decks became competitive with conventional materials.
Unfortunately, while these conditions were satisfied for the first 18 months of the project, neither condition will be satisfied for the full planned duration of the program. The first factor forcing a redefinition of the program was lack of state funding for Phase II of Project 100. The Ohio biennial budget for FY02-03 did not include funds for Phase II of Project 100. The Second factor is procurement regulations make it impossible to direct a sufficiently high enough volume of business to a specific supplier (Hardcore Composites) to set up an adequate economic presence in Ohio . Therefore, NCC was compelled to consider other ways to achieve the economic development objective of the program.
NCC will also be exploring other infrastructure applications using composites as part of its C4I initiative. These applications include repair and reinforcement of traditional infrastructure applications.