Newsletter

Every year more than 1 million visitors travel Nevada State Route 28—a two-lane, mountainside road that borders 11 miles of Lake Tahoe’s undeveloped shoreline. With usage expected to double in the next 20 years, limited parking and lack of safe access spurred the Nevada Department of Transportation (NDOT) to initiate a design/build project that would support growing traffic yet protect the area’s fragile ecosystem.

The agency chose Composite Advantage’s fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) FiberSPAN system to help it meet the unique demands of constructing a shared-use path on the region’s rocky uneven slopes. Each bridge span section was delivered as a prefabricated unit of steel beams, FRP deck and railing.

Composite Advantage began prefabricating panels in 2017. Thirty-two 40-foot bridge span sections were installed on an 11-mile section of the path. The spans were grouped to create five distinct bridges. FRP decks were 134 in. wide and have a 5-in. structural thickness at the thinnest section with a 1 percent cross slope. Panels are coated with a 1/8-in. non-slip polymer aggregate surface. FRP panels weigh just 8.8 psf. Deck weight with wear surface, curbs and railing is 12 psf.

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