Innovative materials and methods for sustainable and long lasting structures

The Bridge Engineering research group at the University of Kentucky is focused on innovative materials and methods to construct more sustainable and longer lasting structures while extending the service life of existing structures. We are part of the Resilient and Sustainable Infrastructure focus area as well as the Natural Hazards Engineering focus area within the Department of Civil Engineering. The group also collaborates extensively with the Structures Program within the Kentucky Transportation Center on research projects for the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet and the Federal Highway Administration.

Primary areas of research include: Structural composites for bridge design and retrofit; Bridge load rating through load testing; Seismic evaluation and retrofit design; Structural health monitoring; and Material testing and characterization.

Ongoing research projects include: Design of splicing for Near Surface Mounted (NSM) Fiber Reinforced Polymer (FRP) composites; Live load effects on bond between FRP and concrete during cure; Development of biocomposites for construction; Ultra High Performance Concrete (UHPC) for bridge retrofit; Evaluation of different types of reinforcing under accelerated environmental conditions; Evaluation of concrete repair materials and methods for bridge substructure retrofit; Load rating of bridges without design plans; and Seismic vulnerability assessment of bridges.