Railroad Bridges Built from Recycled Plastic

I visit this site called Omnexus.com alot to stay informed about new materials, etc, and read this exciting article today:


Railroad bridge built from recycled plastic
ISPA - Jun 21, 2010

Axion International Holdings, Inc. has announced that it has built the two first railroad bridges constructed from 100% recycled thermoplastic materials, at Fort Eustis, Virginia. These innovative short-pan railroad bridges that have been designed by Parsons Brinckerhoff are based on the Axion patented “Recycled Structural Composite” (RSC) system consisting of nearly 100% recycled post-consumer and industrial thermoplastics and developed in collaboration with researchers at Rutgers University. They can support a load of 130 tons and are approximately 12.2 and 24.4 meter long. They have been built in Fort Eustis, Virginia, home to the US Army Transportation Corps, which is the branch of the US Army responsible for the movement of personnel and material by truck, rail, air and sea. According to Axion International, these bridges are less expensive than conventional bridges made from concrete, steel or wood. They also require less maintenance while being more environmentally friendly.

Hopefully the trend will catch on and more and more construction projects will use this method!