HOUSTON — Abdeldjelil “DJ” Belarbi, Ph.D., a professor at the University of Houston’s Cullen College of Engineering, has received a $600,000 award from the National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) to continue his research into bridge materials that would resist corrosion.
Belarbi, a Hugh Roy and Lillie Cranz Cullen Distinguished Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, received approval for his proposal on “Stainless Steel Strands for Prestressed Concrete Bridge Elements” in July 2020.
According to Belarbi, although his research under the awarded grant is relatively new, it continues his work from previous research, which has now progressed from “science to direct implementation”. The current study is projected to run through March 2023.
Belarbi described how most bridges have been made and how this leads to maintenance problems and associated costs, saying: “The majority of the structural and transportation systems that we design and build are made of steel and concrete. Steel in prestressed concrete structures in most cases, serves as reinforcement to concrete and is embedded in concrete. With time, the steel may undergo corrosion that requires regular monitoring and maintenance and that will ultimately shorten the life of the structure. With a costly consequences of corrosion, steel is not viewed as a cost-effective option in an aggressive environment.”
Comparing civil engineering to pathology, Belarbi thinks of corrosion in infrastructures as cancers in humans and that “eliminating cancer will be a breakthrough in science and the health system”. This comparison has motivated Belarbi to study alternatives to design and provide a corrosion-free civil infrastructure in recent years.
“One of my goals is to reverse the trend and build future bridges that last longer, at least double the current life expectancy from 60 years to at least 120 to 150 years. In addition to making our bridge last longer, this will require less monitoring and maintenance, and therefore, lower the cost overall,” he concluded.