Alternative reinforcement is an area of ongoing research. There are issues with cost and stiffness of the more exotic types. Research is probably slower because of the need to at all times be confident our structures are safe. We cannot freely experiment with exotic reinforcement in the built environment. It needs to be proven, first analytically then in the laboratory, then in pilot projects, and then in the legal and political forum before adoption in life safety critical applications like bridges and buildings.
toss1|2 years ago
Yet in this case, the existing tech is known bad (although TBF, the how-bad is well-characterized), and the new technologies are already qualified to fix this bad tech, e.g., carbon-fiber re-wrap of disintegrating steel-rebar bridge columns [0,1,2].
Certainly seems that applications like road-bed construction that require rebar, where the worst-case is a part of the road gets potholes prematurely, vs abridge or building collapsing, should already be mandated to use composite rebar. That would significantly increase the data set that can be used for real-world aging studies, with minimal risk?
[0] https://www.hj3.com/blog/dot-bridge-column-repair
[1] https://www.advancedfrpsystems.com/how-to-repair-concrete-co...
[2] https://hydratechllc.com/resources/case-study-dot-bridge-con...