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W W W. M A I N E B I Z . B I Z 13 J U N E 2 9 , 2 0 1 5 fender pilings 78 inches wide and 45 feet long for an Amtrak bridge cross- ing water in East Lyme, Conn.; at their installation, they were the largest com- posite fender piling ever made (2012). Other jobs include the first pier made entirely of composites, at Downeast Institute on Beals Island (2011); and harbor "camels" for shipyard berthings at the U.S. Navy's Point Loma Naval Submarine Base in San Diego (2009). Besides the Knickerbocker Bridge, the company has supplied hybrid composite beams for bridge projects in Missouri, New Jersey and Illinois (see sidebar on page 14) and curved components that couldn't be made out of concrete or steel for a bridge built in 2013 in Mandal, Norway. e hybrid composite beams manufactured by Harbor Technologies have three main components: An outer fiber-reinforced polymer shell, concrete that's pumped into an arch conduit within the shell for compres- sion strength and high-strength steel strands that run along the bottom of the shell for tension strength. e encapsulating FRP shell protects the beam from corrosion and provides additional structural support. e beams have a projected lifes- pan of 100 years, a very high "fatigue" strength and typically are one-tenth the weight of a comparable steel or steel-and-concrete beam, which low- ers transportation and installation costs. HCB technology, therefore, seems like a slam-dunk solution for both America's and Maine's aging bridges. So what's keeping it from gaining a greater share of the market? "e big thing is initial cost," says Dale Peabody, director of transportation research for the Maine Department of Transportation. "Most DOTs don't nec- essarily look at the life cycle cost and in- depth analysis of HCBs' other features. We have a long history for steel and concrete beams, as far as understanding their longevity is concerned. We don't have a comparable history for compos- ites. So that's the hurdle right now: Its upfront cost is more." Even so, Peabody shares Grimnes' view that for many bridge projects, HCBs offer long-term savings in life cycle and maintenance costs and can often provide immediate savings in their lower transportation and installa- tion costs to make them competitive. "is is, in fact, a viable material for bridge construction and work is being done to prove it," he says, adding that MDOT is fortunate to have companies Don't lose momentum. Contact Littler today. Tangled up in new laws? And we love small business loans. Federally Insured By NCUA Rick L. Koch Senior Vice President, Commercial Lending Call or email me: (207) 373-5101 rkoch@atlanticregional.com We are locally owned and we make the decisions. www.atlanticregional.com SIZE MATTERS! C O N T I N U E D O N F O L L OW I N G PA G E ยป