This project developed and tested a lightweight cantilevered fiber-reinforced composite sidewalk for roadway bridges (Figure 1). Work performed in collaboration with Vermont Agency of Transportation (VAOT) defined performance specifications for the sidewalk with reference to material and mechanical properties for bridge application including specific strength and deflection requirements for cantilevered sidewalk system design. The system has a single molded component for cantilevered support. The cantilevered support,which consists of carbon fabric and epoxy resin, is a constant cross section I-beam with an overall height of 18 in. and weighs approximately 125 lb. The length of the cantilevered support is 11 ft. and the width of the walkway portion of the sidewalk system is 6 ft. The flange width, flange thickness, and web thickness are 12.75, 0.5 and 0.25 in. respectively. The composite sidewalk system was sized for a minimum factor of safety (FS) of 3. Validation of design was performed through the use of static and creep tests at the University of New Hampshire. Plans are currently in progress to implement the composite sidewalk system on a bridge in Colchester, Vermont.  The final report is available from the National Technical Information Service (NTIS # PB2002-100006).

The final report for this IDEA project can be found at:
https://www.trb.org/studies/idea/finalreports/highway/NCHRP067_Final_Report.pdf