On April 23, 2020, a "Cloud Report" organized by the Innovation Base of Earthquake Engineering Comprehensive Simulation was successfully held online. Professor Riyad S. Aboutaha, Deputy Dean of the Academic Administration and Space Management at Syracuse University, USA, was invited to give a livestream report entitled "Highway Bridge Modification and Strengthening with CFRP (Carbon Fiber Reinforced Plastic) Composites and External Prestressing".
This report was hosted by Associate Prof. Jie Xu from the School of Civil Engineering. Prof. Qinghua Han,Dean of the School of Civil Engineering, attended the report and delivered a welcome speech.
By way of an online classroom, Prof. Aboutaha introduced the application of CFRP in bridge engineering, the corrosion of GFRP reinforced concrete in the marine environment, and the external prestressing reinforcement method of concrete highway bridges. After the report,teachers and students at the meeting conducted lively online discussions on related issues.
A total of 175 teachers and students participated this "Cloud Report", including 9 teachers, 109 graduate students, 21 international students, and 36 undergraduate students.
Dr. Riyad Aboutaha is a Fellow of the American Concrete Institute (ACI). He has over 40 years of construction and research experience. In the last 32 years, he has been researching the use of new materials for renewal of civil infrastructure. Dr. Aboutaha has offered numerous seminars and workshops on evaluation and rehabilitation of concrete bridges with CFRP composites, including some for the U.S.A. Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), and the New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT). In addition, he completed major research projects on the GFRP bar ComBAR for Schöck Bauteile GmbH of Baden-Baden, Germany, on the durability of wearing surfaces for FRP bridge decks, for NYSDOT, and most recently bridge widening using CFRP composites for Shandong DOT, China. Prof. Aboutaha’s current research interests are about preventive maintenance of concrete bridges, and alteration of structural systems using CFRP composites.
By the School of Civil Engineering
Editor: Eva Yin
