Multi-award winning bridge

The composite bridge built in Błażowa is the most innovative project realized by Mostostal Warszawa so far. It received three important awards in this year’ prestigious competitions held under the patronage of the Ministry of Development: the Golden Laurael of Innovation, titles of the Polish Product of the Future and Product of the Year. The bridge made of carbon and glass fiber which was created as a part of Com-bridge project is the crowning achievement of many months effort of Polish scientists and engineers. Further, the technology of constructing bridges of composites was developed by the consortium of Rzeszów Technical University, Warsaw Technical University and Promost Consulting company under the leadership of Mostostal Warszawa. The official gala of announcing the results attended: Andrzej Goławski, President of Mostostal Warszawa and Juliusz Żach, Head of Research and Development at Mostostal Warszawa.

‘When we completed the construction of the pilot bridge in Błażowa, with the use of innovative beams, we proved that by bringing together industry and science it is possible to move beyond traditional construction standards. We are aware that we are introducing a top shelf product to the market, offering outstanding features for the users and low maintenance costs. Long term use of such bridges, is profitable for the infrastructure owners’, Andrzej Goławski, President of Mostostal Warszawa.

Great appreciation of scientists

The statuette Top Builder is one of the most recognized awards in the Polish construction market and is awarded for the top shelf products and solutions and projects in which were applied modern architectonical, structural, material and technological solutions and also for IT products applicable in the construction industry. The winners are selected by jury board comprised of valued professors of Scientific Council and Program Council of the Builder magazine, featuring e.g.: dr hab. inż. Jerzy Hoła (Wrocław Technical University), prof. dr inż. Maria Szerszeń (University of Nebraska Lincoln, USA), prof. dr hab. inż. Andrzej Cwirzen (Aalto University School of Enigneering, Finland), prof. Gao Ri  (School of Enigneering Beijing Jiaotong University), prof. dr hab. inż. Piotr Noakowski (Technische Universitat Dortmund, Exponent Industrial Structures Düsseldorf), prof. dr hab. inż. Anna Polak (Univeristy of Waterloo, Canada), prof. dr hab. inż. Bohdan Hnidets (Lviv Polytechnic National University), Edmundas Kazimieras Zavadskas (PhD, DrSc, Professor of Civil Engineering and Mangement, Vilnius Gediminas Technical University), prof. dr hab. inż. Antoni Biegus (Wrocław Technical University), prof. dr hab. inż. Tomasz Błaszczyński (Poznań Technical University), prof. dr hab. inż. Andrzej Flaga (Kraków Technical University), prof. ndzw. PG dr hab. inż. Krzysztof Żółtowski (Gdańsk Technical University). For many years jury’s works have been coordinated by prof. dr hab. Leonard Runkiewicz, chairman of the Scientific Council at the Institute of Building Technology.

Innovation in every way

Each product/service nominated to the award has to fulfill the highest quality requirements. Among the most wanted and highly valued are such features as: innovativeness, technical parameters, possibilities of use and impact on the natural environment. With no doubt in terms of these aspects, the composite bridge turned out to be invincible. It is lightweight and resistant; posses the largest span in the world; was made of materials friendly to the environment, it is also corrosion resistant, and it can be used at least 50 years without any additional costs regarding its maintenance. The technology of prefabricating beams of FRP composite is innovative as well as innovative is the idea of creating full-sized bridge structure from the materials used commonly in the aerospace industry. Furthermore, it is worth noticing that the bridge was constructed despite the lack of established standards for such composite elements and that required to perform a series of laboratory tests and the load test. The prototype bridge in Błażowa has set the new standards for similar constructions indicating at the same time new direction to the development of bridge construction in Poland.