This report contains a manual for the in-service inspection of fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) bridge decks. Documentation of the research leading to the development of the inspection manual is also included. The material in this report will be of immediate interest to FRP bridge inspectors, designers, and owners. Inspection and monitoring of FRP structures varies widely, from no monitoring, to visual inspection, to experimental nondestructive evaluation techniques. The criteria for field inspection should be based on identification of critical components of FRP decks and determination of critical accumulated damage thresholds in those components. Other inspection issues include accuracy and reliability requirements for inspection data, continuous versus periodic data collection, depth and frequency of inspection, reliability requirements for equipment and sensors, and calibration of the guidelines with field project data. In addition, the type of inspection data collected and the recording format vary. As a consequence, it is difficult to compare one project with another. Thus, there is a need for a standard inspection reporting format to make such comparisons possible. Comparative data would also help the composites industry to refine the technology to better meet the http://gulliver.trb.org/publications/nchrp/nchrp_rpt_564.pdfstates’ needs. The objective of this research was to develop recommended field procedures, evaluation guidelines, and reporting standards for periodic inspection of in-service FRP bridge decks. This material has been assembled into a detailed inspection manual covering all aspects of FRP deck inspection. A report documenting the research effort leading to the development of the manual is bound with the manual, and extensive appendices to the report are available on the NCHRP website. An instructor’s guide, composed of a series of PowerPoint slides suitable for use in an in-house training program in the application of the inspection manual, is available from NCHRP. This research was performed at the Construction Technology Laboratories, Inc., with the assistance of Dumlao Consulting, Inc.; Bridge Engineering Solutions, Inc.; and California Maritime Academy. (Author/publisher) This report may be accessed by Internet users at
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