Case Studies

100-year-old concrete piers rehabilitated with Tyfo FRP system. Work carried out during extended periods of below freezing temperatures to enable access to pier surface (low water levels). Floating and enclosed platforms constructed to enable the
installation. Project completed by a 10-person team over four months.

Fyfe Plays a Key Part in the ‘Restore The Corridor’ Project. The Brandywine River bridge makes up a portion of the Delaware Turnpike, carrying I-95 traffic over the Brandywine River in Wilmington, Delaware.

The Fyfe® design was based on replacing the equivalent tensile capacities of the damaged FRP system as well as adding additional strength to areas that were unreinforced in the original retrofit. Without the need for heavy equipment, the highway could stay functional by only blocking off a single lane at a time to perform the extensive clean up of fire damaged material and soot that covered most of the structure.

WIDOT required shear reinforcement for a bridge in Monroe, Wisconsin. The bridge has been in service for many years and required concrete repairs and fiber reinforcement to supplement the loss in reinforcement steel.

The Department of Transportation is responsible for maintaining the heavy highway bridges present in and around the DC area.

Three Caltrans-owned bridge overpasses in central California were found to have columns deficient in shear capacity. As an innovative alternate to steel jacketing, the prequalified Tyfo® system pioneered the use of fiber reinforced polymers for wrapping bridge columns since the late 1980s.

The Arkansas I-440 bridge spanning the Arkansas River was experiencing repeated cracking throughout several concrete piers. Traditional repair methods often involve short-term crack injections that require additional maintenance in the near future, leading to substantial additional costs in the following years.

The Tyfo® system was used for the design by the DOT under section 577.02 calling for the fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) system to be carbon fiber and conform to ACI 440.2R, Guide for the Design and Construction of Externally Bonded FRP System for Strengthening Concrete Structures and the AASHTO 2012 Guide Specification for Design of Bonded FRP System for Repair and Strengthening of Concrete Bridge Elements.

Five pier caps required shear reinforcement for a total of 5,500 square feet of carbon fiber. In addition to performing the installation on the pier caps, Fyfe engineering was required to send a certified material representative onsite to oversee the ASTM D4541 pull off adhesion testing on site.

The Tyfo® system applied on the 1.83 meter diameter pier columns was three layers of Tyfo® SEH-51A glass composite applied 300mm beyond all existing longitudinal crack locations.

In order to provide protection from specified environmental exposure for the desired extended service life, two layers of the Tyfo® SEH 51A system were applied to 64 bridge piles in a full coverage wrap scheme. Because the bridge piles in question are partially submerged in the Kinnickinnic River; the Tyfo® SW-1S water resistant epoxy was used in the saturation and application of the Tyfo® SEH 51A fabric.

Fyfe worked with the Army Corps of Engineers on a bridge project in Warsaw, Kentucky. The Army Corps was assigned to deal with repairs needed on this bridge’s AASHTO beams due to water drainage from the bridge causing spalling and corrosion.

The number of layers required to supplement the flexural capacity lost by the corroded steel varied per location. Beyond this, one layer U-wraps were installed to provide a protective membrane to the AASHTO girders at each repaired location. At the end of the project, the use of fiberwrap materials was noted as a large cost-savings to the owner that allowed the bridge to remain in service during repairs and immediately increased the bridge’s lifespan.

As a result, some ductility was required at the plastic hinge locations at the top and bottom of each column for a total of five-foot, zero inches in both locations. The Tyfo® system was utilized along the full column height, allowing for a uniform aesthetic finish.

Fyfe Co. worked with, Hydratech, a certified applicator in Ohio, who installed the Tyfo® SEH-51A glass fiber on a project for the Indiana Department of Transportation (DOT). Tyfo® RR, was used after the FRP installation as an aesthetic finish as well as a flame and smoke protection.

The Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority required the repair of the existing Robert F. Kennedy Bridge concrete super structure due to concrete spalling and deterioration.

The bulk of the repairs involved reinforcement treatment and concrete patching to the underside of the bridge deck slab units. In lieu of conventional hand-patching techniques at the underside of the concrete deck, a “form and pump” method was utilized.

The Larnaca Sewage and Drainage Board was created in the later 1970s following heavy rainfall which caused destructive floods in the region. The system at the time needed to be upgraded due to the influx of development in the region, and when the flood occurred the town Major took the decision to place a focus on the provision of improved sewage and draining services.

100-Year-Old Penstock Given New Lease of Life by Tyfo System. The Eagle River Generation Station is a hydroelectric generating station located near the Town of Dryden, Ontario, Canada. Eagle River, in addition to McKenzie and Wainwright stations, provide a combined 3.9 MW of energy to the local power grid.

Intermountain Power (IMP) has been a user of carbon fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) for strengthening of their circulating cooling water systems (CW) for over 10 years.

In 1870, a new 48-inch cast iron water main was installed in the Brookline area of Boston to provide additional potable water supply to residents. Almost 150 years later, this pipeline today now supplies over 21 million gallons (or approximately 15 percent of the total daily water supply) per day to the region.

Denver Water experienced a catastrophic failure in February 2008 when a section of a 66-inch steel pipeline that conveys water to the northern part of the City failed under I-25 due to a sudden surge from a pump failure.

The Tyfo® system was used as a liner to provide corrosion protection and nominal hoop tension strength on a 120-inch diameter steel pipe at a nuclear power plant in Yorktown, Virginia.
The 120-inch diameter steel pipe at this power plant was severely rusted due to the surrounding corrosive environment. A repair solution was needed that could not only withstand the harsh environment but could also be installed with minimal shut down time at the plant.

Howard County, Maryland receives one-third of its water supply by means of the Southwest Transmission Main, a 10-mile long pipeline ranging in diameter from 36 inches to 66 inches.

Site preparation and bypass pumping of the creek water and storm flows was provided by the prime contractor, Massillon Stone Company, which utilized an 8-inch dry prime pump and 8-inch irrigation piping. The pumping system had to overcome a 150 vf levee wall to force the water from the base of the levee wall to the top of the levee for discharge. The trenchless repair was performed by entering the line and hand applying the Tyfo® Fibrwrap® CFRP system.

The fiber wrap design was standalone throughout the straight pipe segments and designed as a composite section at the bends and at the supports; this allowed for the remaining steel section to provide the stiffness required in resisting thrust forces at those locations. Once the fiber installation was completed, compression rings were applied at the fiber terminations for improved detailing and to prevent shear slipping due to longitudinal forces.

The scope of work included conducting the internal surface preparation by media blasting and internal installation of the Tyfo® carbon fiber material on 440ft of 36-inch diameter steel pipe and 310 ft of 32-inch diameter steel pipe including numerous eight tees, five 90° elbows, two reducers and one dead head.

Fyfe/Fibrwrap worked closely with the client to develop a solution that would both satisfy the client’s process safety requirements, and be cost effective to install. Ultimately, a high temperature Tyfo® system was proposed that met the client’s needs and specifications.

The scope of work included strengthening segments on each of the three effluent pipe lines, including conducting the required surface preparation, end detailing, fiber installation, finish coat installation and conducting all the required quality control measures. The pipe length of each repaired section was 13, 18 and 27 lineal feet.

Fibrwrap Construction installed the Tyfo® SCH-41 2X system (unidirectional carbon fiber) both in the circumferential and longitudinal directions. The materials were designed as a standalone repair to withstand operating and transient pressures as well as gravity loads.

A non-ductile concrete tank built on a hillside in Southern California in the 1940s was identified as requiring a seismic upgrade. The reservoir provides water to more than 3,000 homes and has the capacity to supply 10 million gallons of water per day.

Power output dropped at the Mississippi River Power Corp.’s 4.6-MW Brian J. Gallagher Generating Station, on the Mississippi River in Ontario, Canada. The buckled and deformed penstock required rehabilitation.

CSNRI has been a long-term supplier of pipe repair solutions to a refinery in the south of the UK and has become a trusted partner. During an inspection engineers identified deterioration of an existing structural concrete plinth at the refinery. CSNRI was engaged to design a solution with fiber-reinforced polymers (FRP) and perform the installation with a tight schedule.

The Larnaca Sewage and Drainage Board was created in the later 1970s following heavy rainfall which caused destructive floods in the region. The system at the time needed to be upgraded due to the influx of development in the region, and when the flood occurred the town Major took the decision to place a focus on the provision of improved sewage and draining services.

Fibrwrap Construction was selected to perform the rehabilitation work. The scope of work included strengthening nine (10) segments of PCCP, including conducting the required surface preparation, end detailing, fiber installation, finish coat installation and all the required quality control measures. Both the return and supply cooling water lines had segments which required structural strengthening. The access limitations only allowed for man entry and ventilation on each end of a the two 1,200-ft long segments of pipe.

Intermountain Power (IMP) has been a user of carbon fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) for strengthening of their circulating cooling water systems (CW) for over 10 years.

The fiber wrap design was standalone throughout the straight pipe segments and designed as a composite section at the bends and at the supports; this allowed for the remaining steel section to provide the stiffness required in resisting thrust forces at those locations. Once the fiber installation was completed, compression rings were applied at the fiber terminations for improved detailing and to prevent shear slipping due to longitudinal forces.

The scope of work included conducting the internal surface preparation by media blasting and internal installation of the Tyfo® carbon fiber material on 440ft of 36-inch diameter steel pipe and 310 ft of 32-inch diameter steel pipe including numerous eight tees, five 90° elbows, two reducers and one dead head.

Fyfe/Fibrwrap worked closely with the client to develop a solution that would both satisfy the client’s process safety requirements, and be cost effective to install. Ultimately, a high temperature Tyfo® system was proposed that met the client’s needs and specifications.

The scope of work included strengthening segments on each of the three effluent pipe lines, including conducting the required surface preparation, end detailing, fiber installation, finish coat installation and conducting all the required quality control measures. The pipe length of each repaired section was 13, 18 and 27 lineal feet.

Fibrwrap Installations reinforced the bottom six-feet of the two tanks with 4 layers of Tyfo SEH-51A System. An additional two-layers (16-inches wide), was then applied around the openings extending 12-inches beyond the opening edges.

Five layers of Tyfo SEH® 51A was applied in a band around the top of the tank walls to provide confinement and prevent flexing. The Tyfo® was painted with Tyfo® A Acrylic Finish Coat to protect the Fibrwrap from UV and blend the retrofit area to the rest of the tank.

Concrete repair work was required and the Tyfo® Fibrwrap® Systems were utilized to supplement the corroded longitudinal and transverse steel reinforcement. Fyfe worked with the engineer of record to detail a carbon fiber strengthening system that would not only make up for the loss of structural capacity due to the section loss in the reinforcing steel, but also provide additional strength and protection to the structures moving forward.

A 100-year-old, 130-ft tall and 16-ft diameter rivetted steel surge shaft, which forms part of a hydro power facility in the mountains of South America was identified as suffering from corrosion.

A United States Army post for more than 100 years, Fort Mason is now a National Historic Landmark and part of the Golden Gate National Recreation area in San Francisco. The marine environment had corroded the concrete pier serving the area, with the rebar on the underside of the deck suffering from corrosion. Approximately 250 4-foot diameter cassions were found to be in need of additional confinement and shear strength to resist anticipated seismic loads.

The 90 ton gantry crane in the photo above, is being supported by a 50 ton rated pier. Although the crane is not typically fully loaded, the pier experienced some overloading from time-to-time.
The beams directly below the crane rails required both shear and flexural enhancement to accommodate the service loads. Fibrwrap Construction provided a design build proposal based on the engineers performance requirements.

An upscale restaurant and adjoining apartment complex, which was in poor condition structurally and aesthetically mostly due to exposure to marine weather conditions was in dire need of structural rehabilitation. The restaurant actually sets out into the ocean on concrete pilings and ocean surf is continually surging up against the bottom of the restaurant’s floor. The city required a permanent repair of corrosion damage to pilings, beams and slab or the restaurant would have to be demolished.

The Tyfo® Systems restored the structural capacity back to original strength and was completed in an environmentally-sensitive area where seals and sea lions make their natural habitat.