The Kentucky Transportation Center has developed CatStrong CRP-X, carbon fiber reinforced polymer rod panels that are bonded to existing reinforced and deficient pre-stressed concrete bridge structural members to increase their capacity. Production uses small-diameter carbon fiber rods set on a fiberglass mesh to form a sheet ranging from CRP-70 to CRP-195.

A CatStrong CRP-80 panel can resist more than 80,000 pounds of tensile force per 1-foot-wide section and weighs only 2.9 ounces per square foot, according to its maker. That square foot provides a strength equivalent to a square foot of A36 steel that is 0.12 inches thick and weighs 4.85 pounds. Visit www.betterroads.com/info.