National Center for Wood Transportation Structures

About the research

Accelerated Bridge Construction (ABC) has grown tremendously over the past several years, due in part to the maturation of new materials that have properties conducive to working in an ABC environment. In recent years, Caterpillar Inc. has developed several formulations of a cementitious material for building purposes called CEMPOSIT, which is a variation of macro-defectfree (MDF) concrete.

This material is unlike any cement-based material currently available and is much more closely related to various types of rubber—although with vastly different properties than rubber. These favorable properties include high strength (comparable to ultra-high-performance concrete), rapid early strength, extremely low permeability, and the ability to be extruded on-site to fit specific project needs.

The goal of this work was to assess important material characteristics of MDF concrete and to develop conceptual uses for the material with a specific focus on accelerated/robotic bridge construction. The findings from the material tests are presented, along with discussion of applicability for usage in the accelerated bridge construction field, in this report.