Osborn was recently presented with the 2004 Award for Excellence by the Ohio Concrete Construction Association for the category of Cast in Place Concrete Bridges. Osborn's award winning project is Miles Road Bridge No. 178 over Deerlick Creek and the Chagrin River in Cuyahoga County, Ohio.
What makes Osborn's design of this bridge special is that it is the first-ever concrete bridge deck in the world to have Fiber Reinforced Polymer (FRP) rebar for both the top and bottom deck reinforcement. FRP had only been used as a substitute for the top steel bars in the past. Now a bridge has been constructed with FRP rebars as the bottom tensile reinforcement right here in Ohio, and The Osborn Engineering Company is proud to be the designer.
This bridge is located in the Southeastern Lake Erie Snow Belt and serves over 10,000 vehicles per day. It requires heavy salting throughout the winter months and is subjected to an average of 53 freeze-thaw cycles per year. The use of FRP eliminates any ferrous metal in the bridge deck, thus creating a corrosion free environment, even in the presence of applied roadway salt during cold weather. Consequently, the FRP deck design not only results in the expected long-term economical cost benefits relative to bridge maintenance, but also should substantially enhance the life of the bridge, with minimal repairs. Plus, with the recent dramatic rise in the cost of steel, FRP is quickly becoming a product with comparable initial material cost.
