Author(s)

Waseem Ahmad Khatri¹, Muhammed Al Mehthel¹, Mirza M. Baig¹, Tariq Al Baker²

¹Consulting Services Department, Saudi Arabian Oil Company, Dhahran, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
²Transportation & Equipment Services Department, Saudi Arabian Oil Company, Dhahran, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

GFRP poles have been widely used as lighting poles but their use as traffic signs and signal poles is still under development. This paper highlights the literature review and case study of using GFRP poles for traffic signs and signal poles in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia. The case study details the design of poles, construction, maintenance and their performance. Traffic sign poles were manufactured using filament winding and signal poles using pultrusion process. AASHTO Standard “Specifications for Structural Supports for Highway Signs, Luminaires and Traffic Signals” and ANSI 136.2. were used as materials specification and design for the pole. There is a need to develop dedicated design and construction guidelines to standardize the construction process. Further study about the crash resistance of GFRP poles at different speeds needs to be explored. In addition, the paper presents a high level comparison between the different materials like weight, safety, environmental degradation, strength, service life, durability in an aggressive environment, carbon footprint and economics.

Glass Fiber Reinforced Plastics (GFRP), Poles, Foundations, Filament Winding, Pultrusion

Khatri, W. , Mehthel, M. , Baig, M. and Baker, T. (2022) GFRP Poles for Traffic Signs and Signal Poles: A Case Study in Saudi Arabia. Open Journal of Civil Engineering, 12, 476-491. doi: 10.4236/ojce.2022.124027.