In the service of innovation

Mostostal Warszawa has repeatedly demonstrated its open approach to the innovative solutions. For years, the company has been developing research and development activities in cooperation with prestigious scientific units. The showcase of Company R[&]D activities is its own Research and Development Department. The effort and perseverance of the engineers of Mostostal Warszawa led to the creation of an innovative road crossing in the town of Błażowa as part of the Com-bridge project. The technology used for the construction of a bridge as well as the type of used materials constitute a turning point in the use of composites in Polish construction industry.

Patent for a success

The unique composite span made by Mostostal Warszawa for the construction of the Com-bridge bridge has been officially obtained by the Patent Office of the Republic of Poland in early 2018. This prototype structure consists from a composite beam in the form of FRP composite beams (carbon and glass fibers with a synthetic resin) connected to a platform made of lightweight concrete reinforced with FRP rods.

- Mostostal Warszawa and its Com-bridge project showed how an engineering passion can develop Polish engineering idea. Thanks to this PROJECT, we have introduced a high quality product to the market, characterized by a much greater durability than traditionally used building materials such as steel and concrete. Mostostal Warszawa has once again paved the way for innovative technology. I believe that the obtained patent will increase the trust of administrators of Polish road to similar solutions and will facilitate the transformation of Polish infrastructure - said Andrzej Goławski, President of Mostostal Warszawa.

Mostostal Warszawa and partners of the project: Rzeszów University of Technology, Warsaw University of Technology and Promost Consulting, filed a patent application in September 2014. The application went through a standard procedure, during which the experts confirmed the originality of the technical solution under the name 'bridge span' on the scale of global technical achievements. Doubts of the Patent Office were raised by two Chinese patents that could stop the patent procedure. The Mostostal Warszawa engineers submitted explanations confirming the high innovation of the bridge span in Błażowa.

- Mostostal Warszawa patented an innovative and unique product on the Polish construction market. The obtained patent is a confirmation of the validity of the assumptions of research and development in the use of FRP composites in construction, carried out by Mostostal Warszawa S.A. for over 10 years - said Juliusz Żach, Head of Research and Development Department.

The growing importance of composites

The material, a carbon-glass composite commonly called FRP composite (fiber-reinforced polymer), for long has been used in aerospace and automotive industries due to such features as lightness, durability, durability or corrosion resistance. The use of composites in construction industry has been increasing since the 1990s. This material is successfully used for the production of new load-bearing elements, such as main beams/girders or road bridge plates. In Poland, the main barrier to the use of composites on a wider scale is the lack of standards for large-size elements. The Com-bridge project filled this gap, opening to the Polish bridge constructioning a chance for a huge development and improving the quality of Polish infrastructure. It is estimated that the minimum lifetime of composite structures, with low expenditure on repairs, is 50 years. The benefits of popularizing composites are therefore very perspective.

Mostostal Warszawa for many times has been awarded on the industry forum for the construction of an innovative bridge made of FRP composites in Błażowa, for eg. by the main prize in the XIX edition of the competition 'Polish Product of the Future', the main prize in the bridge competition named after Maksymilian Wolff, special prize of the Industrial Development Agency in the Good Design 2016 contest. As part of the Com-bridge project, a second composite bridge was also built in Nowa Wieś, which was officially opened in February 2017.