Shah R, W S R A (2013) Challenges and solutions for management of FRP usage in the UK rail sector. In: Smith, S D and Ahiaga-Dagbui, D D (eds.) Proceedings of 29th Annual ARCOM Conference, 2-4 September 2013, Reading, UK.
Abstract
The first Fibre Reinforced Polymer (FRP) implemented to a UK Railway Bridge was in 2001, since then a number of key railway bridge projects involving FRP have seen completion; six being fully FRP bridges. Although the potential use of FRP on the infrastructure was found in 1998 due to high strength to weight ratio, stiffness and good chemical resistance, the implementation of FRP to small scale rail bridges was found to have several challenges which are faced by industry. Past research studies have predominantly focused on providing further examples of the successful usage of FRP in bridges, the benefits to whole life cycle cost in comparison to steel/timber but fail to address the challenges. In that context, the study is aimed to identify the key challenges for managing the usage of FRP in large scale in UK rail sector and provide possible solution to overcome such challenges so that dependency on traditional materials on railways bridge can be reduced and improve material sustainability aspects. This paper explores the past research and takes a view from the project delivery level. A qualitative approach was adopted to collect the views from professionals associated with clients (Network Rail), designers and contractors using questionnaire. A total of 14 professional’s views were collected through questionnaire and findings outlined. From the analysis, it was found that the lack of standard design codes for FRP, basic understanding of benefits, right price and reliability are key challenges for the management of FRP use in the UK rail sector. The paper concludes that the use of FRP will be an alternate solution in UK rail sector from the material sustainability aspects if confidence of stakeholders can be improved about reliability and the practical benefits of FRP.
| Item Type: | Conference Paper (Paper) |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | bridges; whole life cost; standards; network rail; perception |
| Index terms: | sustainability aspect, implementation, bridge project, project delivery, questionnaire, small scale, qualitative approach, designer, whole life cost, fibre reinforced polymer, whole life cycle |
| Subjects: | production management, traditional and composite building materials, research methods, sustainability assessment, financial analysis, infrastructure and transport systems, data collection methods, profession, project delivery, contractual arrangements |
| Topics: | Roles and Professions, Procurement, Sustainability, Cost Management, Project Management, Research Practice, Construction Materials, Engineering Principles |
| Descriptive scope: | 3 PCA |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here