PROJECT

Fire Retardant FRP Bridge for the City of Redding California

Project Overview

In April 2021 The Redding Trail Alliance in partnership with the City of Redding California built a 70 foot by 5 foot Areté Structures FRP Truss bridge with sloped ends.  This bridge is slate gray in color and fire retardant. The FRP bridge was a necessary part of this project in Redding because of a private property border.  In order for The Lower Salt Creek Trail to be completed there had to be a way to cross a very steep ravine that had an elevation of 15-20 feet above the water.  If the customer did not choose FRP the only other option would have been to create an access road to bring in a crane to set a steel bridge.  Choosing FRP saved the customer time and money.  The bridge was assembled in a field by volunteers then flown in by helicopter, lowered and set on the abutments.  After fastening the bridge to the abutments the volunteers worked on the railing and decking, which they thought went together easily.  There were no missing or wrong parts and the labels that Areté provided were extremely helpful. It took the team of 4 people 5 days to assemble the bridge, and an additional day to fly the bridge in and attach the railing and decking.

Design

FRP Bridge Design

  • Pony Truss Design
  • Bridge Span 70’ x 5’
  • Strongwell EXTREN® 525 Series Fiberglass Reinforced Polymer (FRP) Structural Shape.  
  • Slate Gray Color
  • Galvanized Hardware for Structural Members
  • 18-8 Stainless Steel Decking Hardware
  • 90 PSF Live Load
  • 35 PSF Wind Load 
  • 30 PSF Snow Load
  • Strongwell Design Manual
  • Drawings provided and sealed by a professional engineer in the state of California.