Pedestrian Bridge, Telluride, Colorado

This remote site would have been a major challenge for a steel bridge. Not for Bedford FRP. Our PROForms^® structural fiberglass shapes helped the U.S. Forest Service save on transportation up front and gain corrosion resistance for the long term.

Challenge

The construction site was 3/4 of a mile up a steep single-track trail — not an easy location to reach with a heavy load of steel. The U.S. Forest Service needed a cost-effective solution. PROForms^® FRP structural shapes appealed to the customer because it’s strong, lightweight and corrosion-resistant while also being aesthetically pleasing.

Bedford Solution

A steel bridge of the same size could easily have cost tens of thousands of dollars to transport by helicopter to the site, whereas Bedford’s customer, BridgeSpans, was able to deliver the lightweight fiberglass pultrusions on its special trailers at a much lower cost. And unlike steel, these fiberglass shapes won’t corrode in the harsh outdoor conditions — potentially saving the Forest Service maintenance and replacement costs well into the future.