Cor-Tuf®️ UHPC, the exclusive licensed producer of Cor-Tuf Ultra High Performance Concrete (UHPC) in the United States and the world, is the ideal material to use in the Federal Government’s proposed $2 trillion plan to rehabilitate and upgrade the American infrastructure. And, thanks to our latest innovation—our UHPC mobile batch plant—Cor-Tuf UHPC can now be used anywhere and everywhere, without any special considerations or accommodations.
The proposed infrastructure plan includes $115 billion for much-needed work on America’s roads and bridges. Specifically, it calls for the repair of the ten most economically important U.S. bridges, as well as the repair of 10,000 smaller bridges throughout the country and the rebuilding of 20,000 miles of roads. Efforts to combat climate change are also built into the proposal, with the goal of making roads and bridges more resilient to damage from storms, floods, and fires.
The need for more investment in the country’s infrastructure is quite evident. In its 2021 Bridge Conditions Report, the American Road & Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA) discovered the sad state of America’s bridges. Highlights from the report include the following data:
- 36 % of U.S. bridges (220,000) are in need of repair.
- 79,500 bridges need to be replaced.
- More than 45,000 bridges are classified as “structurally deficient” due to their poor condition.
- Motorists drive across these 45,000 structurally deficient bridges 171.5 million times per day.
- The estimated cost to repair the 45,000 structurally deficient bridges is $41.8 billion.
- The number of bridges in good condition declined by a total of 1,155 between 2019 and 2020.
- At the current pace of work, it would take almost 40 years to repair just the 45,000 structurally deficient bridges.
- Almost one-third (17,643) of interstate highway bridges are in need of repair.
The report also provides some state-by-state data. The states with the most bridges in poor condition as a % of their total bridge inventory are:
- West Virginia (21%)
- Iowa (19.1%)
- Rhode Island (19%)
- South Dakota (17.7%)
- Pennsylvania (14.6%)
- Maine (12.7%)
- Louisiana (12.7%)
- Puerto Rico (12.2%)
- Michigan (10.8%)
- North Dakota (10.3%)
The states with the largest number of total bridges in poor condition are:
- Iowa (4,571 bridges)
- Pennsylvania (3,353 bridges)
- Illinois (2,374 bridges)
- Oklahoma (2,326 bridges)
- Missouri (2,190 bridges)
- New York (1,702 bridges)
- Louisiana (1,634 bridges)
- West Virginia (1,545 bridges)
- California (1,536 bridges)
- North Carolina (1,460 bridges)
The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials now requires new bridges to be designed with a service life of 75 years or more, so bridge engineers and contractors have been turning to UHPC to meet these new requirements. Our proprietary UHPC concrete mix more than makes the grade.
Cor-Tuf UHPC delivers exceptional high strength concrete. Compressive strength can reach 50,000 psi for some mixes (compared to 2,500 to 5,000 psi for traditional concrete). Flexural strength can surpass 2,000 psi, whereas traditional concrete only delivers 400 to 700 psi. Cor-Tuf UHPC also has a 100-year product lifespan, surpassing the new 75-year service-life requirement for new bridges. Cor-Tuf UHPC also provides many other benefits that make it the best choice for infrastructure improvements.
Cor-Tuf UHPC is:
- Pourable, pumpable, and sprayable
- Moisture-resistant / impervious to water
- Resistant to environmental degradation
- Blast- and impact-resistant
- Fire-resistant
- Flexible
- Extremely adhesive (delivering a stronger bond)
Cor-Tuf UHPC can also be mixed and transported with conventional concrete equipment. It can be implemented on your next job without any special tools or training required. Our new mobile batch plant makes it even easier to work Cor-Tuf UHPC into the regular rhythm of any contracting situation, including the production of batch tickets.
Cor-Tuf UHPC can play a critical role in repairing the country’s bridges and roads. This contractor-friendly UHPC is not only the future of concrete, but the future of building the American infrastructure.
