The transportation or logistic industry is constantly looking to utilize existing routes that were not originally designed to support large commercial loads currently being carried. In order to support the full legal loads on these roads, the bridge infrastructure must be upgraded to provide sufficient capacities to support the structural demands being introduced. In October 2011, a recent bridge retrofit was completed on New Brunswick’s Route 109 in Victoria County to allow truckers to haul heavier loads from Plaster Rock to Perth‐Andover. In doing so, time consuming detour routes are no longer necessary as access to western New Brunswick and the United States has been provided over these upgraded structures. The Trout Brook Bridge was originally constructed in the 1960s and consists of four reinforced concrete girders spanning twenty‐one meters over a stream. In a recent analysis performed by the New Brunswick Department of Transportation, the girders were found to have inadequate shear capacity to support the required 50,000 kilogram truck load limit. The outer 5 meters of each girder was strengthened with a externally bonded unidirectional glass fiberwrap system (GFRP) to provide the required additional shear strength while minimizing the total project cost to approximately $80,000.
