BASKING RIDGE, N.J., July 21 (UPI) -- The U.S. Army has contracted Axion International for the installation of a thermoplastic composite bridge at Fort Bragg in North Carolina.
New Jersey-based Axion International will install its composite plastics I-beam bridge for tank crossings at Fort Bragg. Officials say the bridge is capable of supporting as much as 140,000 pounds.
Axion International, an Analytical Surveys Inc. subsidiary, developed the composite plastics technology, made up of 100 percent recycled plastic, through a partnership with Rutgers University. Officials say Axion International previously installed a composite bridge at Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri.
"This order for a tank bridge at Fort Bragg validates the success of the bridge located in Fort Leonard Wood, which was constructed in 1998 using our first-generation technology," Jim Kerstein, Axion International chief executive officer, said in a statement.
"The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers strongly supports our innovative plastic composite bridge, due in part to their assessment that the Fort Leonard Wood Bridge has had virtually no maintenance and still looks like new nine years later."
