Design of an FRP cable-stayed pedestrian bridge. Morphology, technology and required performances

In the past, a pilot project started at the Salerno University to conceive a pedestrian FRP bridge in the campus placed in Fisciano. The project gave the opportunity to start a cooperation among the authors and the result is the preliminary design of a cable stayed bridge, that will be presented after a description of worldwide FRP bridge realizations, including two pioneering cable stayed bridges: the Aberfeldy and the Kolding. The proposed six-span bridge has a total length of 185 m: a) antennas and decks are assembled through PGFRP elements; b) the PCFRP cables are anchored through a mechanical system optimized by defining the barrel and wedge angles. The solution is presented and discussed with regard of pedestrian comfort, joints and cable system. Specifying that dynamic effects due to wind action are under study, it can be concluded that the Capacity/Demand safety factor resulted greater than one as far as damage and ultimate limit states are concerned.