[House Hearing, 115 Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
COMPOSITE MATERIALS:
STRENGTHENING INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT
=======================================================================
HEARING
BEFORE THE
SUBCOMMITTEE ON RESEARCH AND TECHNOLOGY
COMMITTEE ON SCIENCE, SPACE, AND TECHNOLOGY
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
ONE HUNDRED FIFTEENTH CONGRESS
SECOND SESSION
__________
APRIL 18, 2018
__________
Serial No. 115-55
__________
Printed for the use of the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Available via the World Wide Web: http://science.house.gov
______
U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
29-782 PDF WASHINGTON : 2018
COMMITTEE ON SCIENCE, SPACE, AND TECHNOLOGY
HON. LAMAR S. SMITH, Texas, Chair
FRANK D. LUCAS, Oklahoma EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON, Texas
DANA ROHRABACHER, California ZOE LOFGREN, California
MO BROOKS, Alabama DANIEL LIPINSKI, Illinois
RANDY HULTGREN, Illinois SUZANNE BONAMICI, Oregon
BILL POSEY, Florida AMI BERA, California
THOMAS MASSIE, Kentucky ELIZABETH H. ESTY, Connecticut
JIM BRIDENSTINE, Oklahoma MARC A. VEASEY, Texas
RANDY K. WEBER, Texas DONALD S. BEYER, JR., Virginia
STEPHEN KNIGHT, California JACKY ROSEN, Nevada
BRIAN BABIN, Texas JERRY McNERNEY, California
BARBARA COMSTOCK, Virginia ED PERLMUTTER, Colorado
BARRY LOUDERMILK, Georgia PAUL TONKO, New York
RALPH LEE ABRAHAM, Louisiana BILL FOSTER, Illinois
DANIEL WEBSTER, Florida MARK TAKANO, California
JIM BANKS, Indiana COLLEEN HANABUSA, Hawaii
ANDY BIGGS, Arizona CHARLIE CRIST, Florida
ROGER W. MARSHALL, Kansas
NEAL P. DUNN, Florida
CLAY HIGGINS, Louisiana
RALPH NORMAN, South Carolina
------
Subcommittee on Oversight
RALPH LEE ABRAHAM, Louisiana, Chair
FRANK D. LUCAS, Oklahoma DONALD S. BEYER, Jr., Virginia
BILL POSEY, Florida JERRY McNERNEY, California
THOMAS MASSIE, Kentucky ED PERLMUTTER, Colorado
BARRY LOUDERMILK, Georgia EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON, Texas
ROGER W. MARSHALL, Kansas
CLAY HIGGINS, Louisiana
RALPH NORMAN, South Carolina
LAMAR S. SMITH, Texas
------
Subcommittee on Research and Technology
HON. BARBARA COMSTOCK, Virginia, Chair
FRANK D. LUCAS, Oklahoma DANIEL LIPINSKI, Illinois
RANDY HULTGREN, Illinois ELIZABETH H. ESTY, Connecticut
STEPHEN KNIGHT, California JACKY ROSEN, Nevada
RALPH LEE ABRAHAM, Louisiana SUZANNE BONAMICI, Oregon
DANIEL WEBSTER, Florida AMI BERA, California
JIM BANKS, Indiana DONALD S. BEYER, JR., Virginia
ROGER W. MARSHALL, Kansas EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON, Texas
LAMAR S. SMITH, Texas
C O N T E N T S
April 18, 2018
Page
Witness List..................................................... 2
Hearing Charter.................................................. 3
Opening Statements
Statement by Representative Daniel Webster, Subcommittee on
Research and Technology, Committee on Science, Space, and
Technology, U.S. House of Representatives...................... 4
Written Statement............................................ 5
Statement by Representative Daniel Lipinski, Ranking Member,
Subcommittee on Research and Technology, Committee on Science,
Space, and Technology, U.S. House of Representatives........... 6
Written Statement............................................ 8
Statement by Representative Eddie Bernice Johnson, Ranking
Member, Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, U.S. House
of Representatives............................................. 62
Written Statement............................................ 63
Witnesses:
Dr. Joannie Chin, Deputy Director, Engineering Laboratory, NIST
Oral Statement............................................... 11
Written Statement............................................ 13
Dr. Hota V. GangaRao, Wadsworth Distinguished Professor, Statler
College of Engineering, West Virginia University
Oral Statement............................................... 21
Written Statement............................................ 23
Dr. David Lange, Professor, Department of Civil and Environmental
Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Oral Statement............................................... 27
Written Statement............................................ 29
Mr. Shane E. Weyant, President and CEO, Creative Pultrusions,
Inc.
Oral Statement............................................... 39
Written Statement............................................ 41
Discussion....................................................... 58
Appendix I: Answers to Post-Hearing Questions
Dr. Joannie Chin, Deputy Director, Engineering Laboratory, NIST.. 70
Dr. Hota V. GangaRao, Wadsworth Distinguished Professor, Statler
College of Engineering, West Virginia University............... 76
Dr. David Lange, Professor, Department of Civil and Environmental
Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign........ 81
Mr. Shane E. Weyant, President and CEO, Creative Pultrusions,
Inc............................................................ 82
COMPOSITE MATERIALS:
STRENGTHENING INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT
----------
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 18, 2018
House of Representatives,
Subcommittee on Research and Technology
Committee on Science, Space, and Technology,
Washington, D.C.
The Subcommittee met, pursuant to call, at 10:08 a.m., in
Room 2318 of the Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Daniel
Webster presiding.
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Mr. Webster. The Committee on Science, Space, and
Technology will come to order. Without objection, the Chair is
authorized to declare recesses of the Committee at any time.
Good morning. Everyone's here. Welcome to today's hearing
entitled, ``Composite Materials: Strengthening Infrastructure
Development.'' I recognize myself for five minutes for an
opening statement.
The purpose of this morning's hearing is to review a
National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) report on
overcoming barriers to the adoption of composites in
sustainable infrastructure and discuss the value of developing
composite standards for infrastructure applications.
While not widely adopted yet, composites have been used in
select construction projects across the country. As we will
hear from our experts today, fiber-reinforced polymer
composites produced in the United States offer durable,
sustainable, and cost-effective solutions in a variety of
infrastructure applications as diverse as dams, levees,
highways, bridges, tunnels, railroads, harbors, utility poles
and buildings. However, without proper design guidelines and
data tables to harmonize standards and create a uniform
guidance, the practical use of composites to build durable and
cost-effective infrastructure will continue to lag.
The National Institute of Standards and Technology is well-
poised to lead research to provide the evidence and data needed
to set industry standards and design guidelines. NIST has a
deep and varied expertise in advanced composites, which I look
forward to hearing more about in the hearing. It is my
understanding that there are over a dozen projects across NIST
that work to measure, model, and predict the performance of
advanced composites for a variety of applications.
I'm well aware of the challenges our nation's
infrastructure is facing and the anticipated cost of its
restoration. I look forward to learning more about the
potential value of using composites in infrastructure and the
economic case for composites as an alternative or supplement to
conventional materials in infrastructure projects.
I appreciate you all for taking the time to join me for
this hearing. As the Administration and Congress begin to
consider how to tackle the nation's infrastructure challenges,
it is important to understand what role composites can play.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Webster follows:]
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Mr. Webster. I now recognize the Ranking Member from
Illinois, Mr. Lipinski, for an opening statement.
Mr. Lipinski. Thank you. I want to thank Chairwoman
Comstock in her absence today for holding the hearing on this
important topic, and I want to thank the witnesses for being
here to share your thoughts on the use of advanced composite
materials for major infrastructure.
Much of the nation's major infrastructure is nearing or has
passed the end of its design lifespan. The American Society of
Civil Engineers' 2017 Infrastructure Report Card gave our
nation's infrastructure a grade of D-plus based on assessments
of capacity, condition, resilience, innovation, and other
criteria. And our current infrastructure is under increased
strain year after year as our population grows. We must find a
way to ensure the safety of our nation's expanding population
as demands on our roads, bridges, utilities, and other
essential infrastructure increase.
I sit on the House Transportation Infrastructure Committee,
and I understand that the status quo is clearly not acceptable.
In addition, we need to examine our approach to rebuilding
infrastructure as climate change and other factors drive
increases in the intensity of wildfires, hurricanes, and other
extreme events wreaking havoc on dams, bridges, above- and
below-ground utilities, and other essential structures. These
are long-term challenges that require long-term solutions. But
right now, we don't have the funding necessary to close
investment gaps and build the infrastructure we know that we
need.
As we make plans to shore up our infrastructure and build
for the future, we must take advantage of all the tools at our
disposal. This includes using innovative technologies and
emerging materials where they offer the best value for a
project. Materials such as fiber-reinforced polymer composites
or advanced composites which are--which we are examining in
today's hearing, they play a key role in how the nation
addresses its challenges under constrained resources.
Decades of federal and private sector research and
development and investment in advanced composites has resulted
in a significant use of these materials in some sectors such as
defense, aerospace, automobile, and energy industries. While
composites have also been used in some construction and
infrastructure applications such as strengthening concrete,
making bridge repairs, and building bridge decks, they haven't
been used as widely for infrastructure as they have been in
other sectors.
I commend NIST for producing the report we are reviewing in
today's hearing. They brought together federal, private, and
university partners to identify and examine how to overcome
barriers to adoption of composites and sustainable
infrastructure, including challenges to developing a skilled
workforce.
I look forward to hearing from Dr. Lange and others about
ways we can incorporate advanced composites into our
engineering education and training programs to make sure that
all those involved in designing and building our infrastructure
have the knowledge and skills to use whichever material is best
for the job. This will require updates for undergraduate and
graduate engineering curriculum, training programs for the
construction trades, and professional development plans in a
wide range of industries. Doing this successfully necessitates
the cooperation of governments, educational institutions, and
industry. I'm glad we have representatives from all these
sectors here today.
As we examine ways to increase the use of advanced
composites, it is important that we don't lose sight of the
strength of traditional materials like concrete and steel. Both
repair and upgrades of existing infrastructure and for new
projects, we need to have safety and design standards in place
to allow engineers to choose the best material for the job and
allow novel and traditional materials to work together. Finding
smart ways to improve our roads, bridges, pipelines, and other
infrastructure is a major priority of mine. I look forward to
your testimony today. Thank you, and I yield back.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Lipinski follows:]
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Mr. Webster. All right. Now, I'll introduce our witnesses
for today. First, Dr. Joannie Chin, our first witness today, is
the Deputy Director of an the Engineering Laboratory at NIST,
one of the seven resource labs within NIST. As Deputy Director,
Dr. Chin provides programmatic and operational guidance for the
Engineering Lab and includes nearly 500 federal employees and
guest researchers from industry, universities, and research
institutes. It is the Engineering Lab's mission to promote the
development and dissemination of advanced manufacturing and
construction technology guidelines and services to the U.S.
manufacturing and construction industry.
Prior to being Deputy Director, Dr. Chin previously served
as a leader of the Polymeric Materials Group. Dr. Chin received
a Bachelor of Science in polymer science and engineering from
Case Western Reserve University. She received a Master of
Science in chemistry, as well as a Ph.D. in materials
engineering science from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and
State University.
Our second witness is Dr. Hota GangaRao, a Wadsworth
Distinguished Professor in the Statler College of Engineering
at West Virginia University. He also serves as the Director of
the Constructed Facility Center and Director of the National
Science Foundation's Industry-University Cooperative Research
Center for composites infrastructure at West Virginia
University.
Dr. GangaRao specializes in fiber-reinforced polymer
composites, bridge structures, advanced materials research,
composites for blasting, fire resistance, and others. Dr.
GangaRao received his Ph.D. in civil engineering from North
Carolina State University and is a registered professional
engineer.
Mr. Lipinski, do you want to introduce Dr. Lange?
Mr. Lipinski. Thank you. It is my pleasure to introduce Dr.
David Lange, Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering
and Director of the Center for--of Excellence for Airport
Technology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Dr. Lange also serves as President of the American Concrete
Institute, Technical Society, and Standards Developing
Organization.
Dr. Lange holds a B.S. in civil engineering from Valparaiso
University, an MBA from Wichita State University, and a Ph.D.
in civil engineering from my alma mater, Northwestern
University. And I almost majored in civil engineering but I
went with mechanical there as an undergrad, so--he's--Dr. Lange
has been a member of the faculty at the University of Illinois
for the past 25 years and has earned numerous awards and
honors, including the prestigious NSF Career Award, a Fulbright
Award, and several accolades for his publications and teaching.
Dr. Lange's research focuses on interface between the
structural engineering and materials science of concrete and
includes topics such as airport pavement, recycled concrete,
and fiber reinforcement of concrete. His research group has
played an important role in the O'Hare Airport Modernization
Program, coming up with design concepts that save the Chicago
Department of Aviation millions of dollars. I also understand
that when he's not in the lab, Dr. Lange enjoys spending time
with his five-month-old granddaughter and is looking forward to
another granddaughter on the way, and congratulations. And I
want to thank you for being with us today, Dr. Lange, and I
look forward to your testimony.
Mr. Webster. Our final witness today is Mr. Shane Weyant,
President and CEO of Creative Pultrusions, Inc. located in Alum
Bank, Pennsylvania. Creative Pultrusions is a subsidiary of
Hill & Smith Holdings, PLC, an international group with leading
positions in the design, manufacture, and supply of
infrastructure products and galvanizing services. Creative
Pultrusions is a leader in the manufacture of fiberglass-
reinforced polymer protrusion products. Mr. Weyant has been
with Creative Pultrusions for nearly 30 years. He received a
Bachelor of Science in economics from Frostburg State
University, where he graduated magna cum laude.
And now, Dr. Chin, you have five minutes to present your
testimony.
TESTIMONY OF DR. JOANNIE CHIN,
DEPUTY DIRECTOR,
ENGINEERING LABORATORY, NIST
Dr. Chin. Chairman Webster, Ranking Member Lipinski, and
Members of the Subcommittee, thank you for this opportunity to
discuss NIST's role in promoting the adoption of advanced
composites to renew our infrastructure and to increase its
resilience in communities prone to or recovering from
disasters.
At NIST, our world-class experts use unique facilities to
measure materials with increasing precision and characterize
new materials for the first time. We help American industries
develop, test, and manufacture products with features that
outperform previous generations. Our broad program in advanced
materials include advanced composites; that is, polymers
reinforced with fibers or other additives.
Advanced composites can play a significant role in renewing
our nation's crumbling infrastructure and help existing
infrastructure be more resilient to both usual wear and natural
disasters. Compared to traditional materials, advanced
composites are often stronger, lighter, and longer-lasting,
thereby offering many cost savings, including fewer days lost
to repair and maintenance. That means fewer hours stuck in
traffic detoured around bridges, roads, and levees under
repair, fewer days in the dark due to broken utility poles, and
more efficient movement of the goods and services that underpin
our economy and quality of life.
The American advanced composites industry contributes about
$22 billion to the economy each year, and although we currently
lead the world in advanced composite technology, adoption of
these materials for infrastructure has been slower in the
United States than in Canada and Europe. To understand the
barriers to using these materials in the United States, NIST
convened a workshop in February 2017 with infrastructure
engineers, designers, and owners, in partnership with the
American Composites Manufacturers Association. This May, we
will hold a similar workshop with stakeholders interested in
using advanced composites to reinforce existing structures to
make them more resilient to seismic events.
So from the NIST ACMA workshop, we learned that many owners
and design professionals don't yet have enough confidence in
the reliability and long-term durability of advanced composites
to specify their use in new structures, as well as to repair
damaged ones. We also learned that designers and engineers need
data and design guidance so they can provide appropriate safety
margins, while maximizing the weight and cost savings of these
materials.
NIST has the expertise to address these needs. We have been
studying advanced composites since the 1980s and are a leader
in characterizing the performance and properties of advanced
composites on all scales from nano to macro. For example, to
study durability, we have developed sensors that visualize the
molecular nature of damage and composites. We also have unique
device that accelerates the effects of weathering on materials
and large-scale testing facilities that evaluate the effects of
strong loads on advanced composite structures.
Our experience providing a data infrastructure for the
Materials Genome Initiative is now helping members of the
advanced composites community capture and share information on
material properties. We will assist the advanced composites
community as they establish a clearinghouse of curated existing
design guides and data from completed projects, which will
inform additional science-based codes and standards.
Our Community Resilience Program provides guidance to
architects, design engineers, and community leaders to enable
critical decisions about which materials help communities
recover rapidly and build back better. While NIST is not a
regulatory agency, we have long provided strong scientific
foundations for the consensus standards developed by industry.
NIST staff members provide leadership and technical expertise
to more than 1,800 positions on committees for ASTM
International, the international organization for
standardization and other standards development organizations.
So we greatly appreciate the Members of this Committee and
others in Congress for their support of federal acceleration of
the adoption of advanced composites for infrastructure, helping
to keep our nation globally competitive and economically secure
and contributing to our quality of life. I am happy to answer
any questions you may have.
[The prepared statement of Dr. Chin follows:]
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Mr. Webster. I recognize Dr. GangaRao for his five minutes.
TESTIMONY OF DR. HOTA V. GANGARAO,
WADSWORTH DISTINGUISHED PROFESSOR,
STATLER COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING,
WEST VIRGINIA UNIVERSITY
Dr. GangaRao. Honorable Congressmen, Chairman Webster,
Members of Research and Technology Committee, I'm immensely
grateful for your invitation to speak on my team today, which
is the infrastructure renovation through smart composites
manufacturing and construction, coupled with testing standards
and enforcement.
As all of you know in this room, our aging, perhaps aged
infrastructure is rapidly deteriorating, certainly not
collapsing. The bulk of our infrastructure problems can be
attributed to $1.5 trillion funding gap between the revenue and
the infrastructure needs for 2016 to 2025. This is costing
$3,400 per year per family and leading to 2.5 million fewer
jobs and, even more importantly, $7 trillion loss to
businesses.
How to bridge this need versus a revenue gap? The--do we
need more debt? Do we need to increase the gas tax? A couple of
these will have adverse effects on our economy, as you all
know. Today, I want to present an alternative to this august
body that is about instead of replacing crumbling
infrastructure, as our Congressman Lipinski pointed out, we
should provide resources to renovate our infrastructure to get
the biggest bang for the buck using advanced composite
materials.
Currently, composites account for less than one percent of
the structural materials by volume in spite of their many
advantages such as the high-strength corrosion resistance,
lighter weights, and better performance per unit weight.
What are the challenges ahead and what are the economic
advantages? Producers of steel and concrete should not view
composites as a competitive product or as a threat to their
markets. Composites will never fully replace traditional
materials, but they are another tool in a toolbox, and they
would be hybridized well with steel and concrete.
Through our National Science Foundation-funded center, the
Center for Integration of Composites into Infrastructure, we
have shown composite wraps have been used to renovate several
deteriorated structures at five to ten percent of the
replacement cost by repairing some of the concrete piers, steel
piles, and the list goes on.
At West Virginia University, we worked on lighter bridge
decks weighing only about 1/4 of a typical concrete deck. We
worked on sheet piles with other industry folks to protect
hostile erosions using composites. We developed utility poles
that cost half the cost of steel transmission towers, and we
also are developing high-pressure gas pipes to push more gas at
a faster rate. We are involved heavily in navigational
structures such as the lock gates, and the list goes on.
Efforts are underway to develop composite modular housing
subsystems that are multifunctional, multimodal, mold free, and
durable. Using smart manufacturing and construction methods,
housing costs can come down dramatically, as it has been done
by Henry Ford's assembly line-type operations.
To be at the cutting edge of research, development, and
innovation of composites and infrastructure, NIST workshop--as
alluded now a few minutes ago--of 2017 identified five critical
areas to be overcome. One of them we can do here is to help the
industry develop smart manufacturing and construction tools
with composites and also develop uniform codes and project
qualification through third-party certification, need to
require future projects to consider composites as alternate
designs. We need to invest in 3.2 million workers dealing with
the designs, contracts, maintenance, and management of
composites.
In conclusion, composites are cost-effective and durable.
Large-scale applications of composites will create huge markets
and open new opportunities, including the smart rehab methods
and educating 3.2 million American workers dealing with the
construction-related industry. To enhance American productivity
of workers, we must invest in the composites in terms of
research development and implementation.
Finally, to maintain public safety, investment in
infrastructure restoration through composites and hybridization
with conventional construction materials have to be made in
tandem with standardization of products and quality control.
Thank you very much.
[The prepared statement of Dr. GangaRao follows:]
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Mr. Webster. Dr. Lange, you're recognized for five minutes.
TESTIMONY OF DR. DAVID LANGE,
PROFESSOR, DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL
AND ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING,
UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN
Dr. Lange. Chairman Smith, Ranking Member Lipinski, and
other Committee Members, I appreciate this kind introduction an
opportunity to share my ideas today.
I wear two hats today, one as Professor of Civil
Engineering at the University of Illinois, the second as
President of the American Concrete Institute, an organization
of 20,000 members from the construction industry, the design
profession, and academia.
FRP is a class of high-strength, low-weight, and durable
materials that can be fabricated in a wide array of shapes and
properties. The attractive aspects of FRP have motivated
significant investment in research and many funded
demonstration projects over the years.
Despite attractive attributes and a successful track record
in field demos, we do not see a widespread adoption of FRP in
construction today. Certainly, one explanation is the presence
of two dominant design paradigms in commercial construction:
reinforced concrete and structural steel. These tried-and-true
systems have a 100-year head start on FRP.
Furthermore, concrete and steel technologies are not
standing still. Large organizations like the American Concrete
Institute work tirelessly to advance these technologies. A
century of commitment at ACI assures that today's concrete is
not your father's concrete.
The adoption of FRP depends on a wider effort to harmonize
material systems. The two dominant silos--concrete and steel--
need effective crosstalk and openness to new material such as
FRP. It can be done. As an example, ACI has opened a path for
use of FRP rebar, and ASTM has released specification language
for those bars.
Market penetration of FRP should be driven by authentic
advantages: durability, low weight, organic shapes,
flexibility, high-strength capacity. Those are among the
competitive advantages of FRP.
Indeed, FRP has excelled in certain applications. The
aircraft and marine industries and more recently the market for
wind turbine blades and cooling towers have embraced FRP. In
construction, FRP products have found a place in market niches
such as corrosion-proof rebar and as a material for repair of
concrete structures.
Despite seemingly high potential for FRP and
infrastructure, the topic is almost nonexistent in civil
engineering education. Courses dedicated to FRP and structural
repair are rare among the 220 civil engineering programs in the
United States. Engineering education has not functioned as a
change agent.
There are opportunities to affect civil engineering
education. Like other professions, civil engineering is moving
toward requiring more than a bachelor's degree to practice in
the profession. As master's degrees grow, the curriculum can
better accommodate specialty topics like FRP if the need from
industry were to drive it. Beyond that, we need courses that
harmonize concrete, steel, masonry, wood, and FRP. The future
is a world with better integration of material systems.
Now, a few words about the NIST roadmap. I think the
roadmap has attractive elements. In particular, I'm drawn to
one of the recommendations related to the design data
clearinghouse barrier. The idea is to charge NIST as a neutral
party to compile durability data and define limits using codes
and standards. Indeed, we can see how codes and standards can
spur adoption of FRP. The 2017 release of ASTM D7957 for FRP
rebar has already had impact on the ability for that product to
be specified and designed. Just days ago, an industry
representative shared with me his positive outlook that is
based on an upswing in FRP bridge deck projects in recent
months.
I also endorse the roadmap plan for its emphasis of FRP
curriculum for civil engineers. Given the large body of
existing research, it is reasonable that federal funding could
foster a modernization movement for civil engineering
curriculum that bolsters design of FRP and harmonized material
systems.
Lastly, I want to encourage use of a proven mechanism
available to the Federal Government. That is research centers
that incubate partnership between academia and industry. My own
experience as Director of the Center for Excellence for Airport
Technology has persuaded me that large infrastructure programs
can benefit from sustained partnership with universities. Since
2005, CEAT has received funding from the O'Hare International
Airport and the Chicago Department of Aviation. Every year, we
select our research projects to inform the decision-making
process, reduce risks, and save money. Our 12-year track record
with O'Hare suggests this has been a successful model. Thank
you.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Lange follows:]
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Chairman Smith. [Presiding] Thank you, Dr. Lange. And Mr.
Weyant?
TESTIMONY OF MR. SHANE E. WEYANT,
PRESIDENT AND CEO,
CREATIVE PULTRUSIONS, INC.
Mr. Weyant. Good morning. Chairman Smith, Ranking Member
Lipinski, and the Members of the Subcommittee, on the behalf of
Creative Pultrusions and my fellow members of the American
Composite Manufacturers Association, I appreciate the
opportunity today to testify before you on an issue that is
vital to our industry involving the essential role NIST plays
in materials standards. I am happy to be here to explain the
value that composites offer consumers, communities, and
industries across the nation. With manufacturers in each of
your districts, we're a great example of made-in-America
manufacturing, whose potential has only begun to be realized.
Composites are stronger than other materials such as steel,
concrete, and wood. They are lighter and more energy-efficient
and easier to transfer and install. They offer greater
durability and, most importantly, are resistant to corrosion
and structural degradation. Many of you are already familiar
with fiberglass boats. Saltwater destroys traditional metal and
wood hulls, but fiberglass remains unscathed after decades of
service and has come to dominate that sector due to the
performance.
Using the same material system, we and other composite
manufacturers provide infrastructural solutions with
performance and other benefits that can far exceed traditional
materials of construction. Let me highlight a few examples:
composite bridges that can be manufactured offsite, installed
in less than one day with less traffic disruption, and that
require minimal maintenance throughout their service life;
composite rebar that can replace steel rebar in traditional
concrete construction and is resistant to rust so it won't
degrade; composite utility poles and cross arms that are easier
to install are more durable against extreme weather and fire,
require less maintenance, and last significantly longer. Only
eight utility poles were left standing in the Virgin Islands
this past year after the hurricanes. Those eight poles were
composite poles.
Despite these benefits, barriers to deployment of
composites remain. Fortunately, some of these obstacles can be
cleared with the help of sensible government and industrial
participation. A great first step was the 2017 workshop that
brought folks from NIST together with a wide range of private
and public stakeholders to work towards solutions. I felt the
workshop was a great example of positive engagement between
industry, academia, and government because it produced
actionable results.
What we know from experience is that the lack of awareness
of--and, importantly, standards for--composites is our
threshold problem. NIST can aggregate existing standards and
design data for composites and validate them for broader
dissemination and use. This will help all stakeholders to see
the totality of data on composites and understand the further
research needed. Their world-class laboratories also can help
develop durability and performance testing for composite
infrastructure products. This data can support further
development of standards of composites and better arm engineers
with the performance knowledge to make them more comfortable
with using composite.
Given NIST's role in standards in research, the agency has
a unique capacity to assemble a broad swath of stakeholders and
ensure that this work is impactful. We believe all materials,
techniques, and designs should stand on their own merit. Our
experience with builders and project engineers show that there
is a limited knowledge about composites as a structural
material throughout the design community. Additional research
and data that can contribute to standards development will help
raise the knowledge about composites.
Likewise, bringing together the various agencies
responsible for infrastructure investment to participate in
this effort can help diffuse knowledge to the asset owners and
designers. An existing example of similar collaboration is what
is going on with the Institute for Advanced Composite
Manufacturing and Innovation. Part of the Manufacturing USA
network, IACMI, working with academia and industry and federal
agencies, has developed an exciting new technology to recycle
composites. Productive collaboration demonstrates that federal
investment in composites pays huge dividends and, coupled with
further structural research by NIST we discovered today, will
help composites contribute more to the overall sustainability
of our infrastructure network.
The demands placed on America's infrastructure have never
been greater. To build a network to support the 21st century
population and economy, there needs to be greater availability
of 21st century technologies. With some smart investment and
hard work together, we can make bridge, water systems, and grid
failures something of the past. The ability to build structures
that last centuries instead of years is here. We look to
Congress for support to help make this happen. Thank you.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Weyant follows:]
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Mr. Hultgren. [Presiding] Thank you all so much. I
appreciate your testimony. I appreciate you being here.
I'm going to wait with my questions and recognize the
gentleman from Indiana first for five minutes.
Mr. Banks. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And thanks to each of
you for being here this morning.
We all recognize the need to improve our nation's
infrastructure, but we also recognize the precarious fiscal
situation that we find ourselves in today. The CBO estimates
that we are on track to run $2 trillion annual deficits by
2028. The CBO also found that we will run $82 trillion in total
deficits over the next 30 years. We need to focus on reducing
government spending wherever we can.
So from what I understand, the main benefit to using
composite materials as opposed to steel or concrete is the
reduction in maintenance costs over the long term. So my first
question for each of you, is there any data on what kind of
cost savings can be expected over a 20 or 30 years by using
composite materials for various infrastructure projects? Dr.
Chin?
Dr. Chin. My colleagues from the industry would have more
specific figures on the actual cost savings, but we're very
much aware of studies and existing installations that have
demonstrated great reductions in installation costs, impact on
the economy in regards to road blockages and delays, as well as
maintenance and repair, as well as replacements over the
lifetime of the structure.
Mr. Banks. Okay.
Dr. GangaRao. Thank you. As I stated in my testimony, we
have rehabilitated over 100 structures across the country from
West Virginia University's Constructed Facilities Center. I'll
give you two examples and I'll shut up. One of them is the East
Lyn Viaduct. We rehabilitated it for about 20 percent of the
cost of replacement in Parkersburg, West Virginia. When I took
that job, they said if it survives five years, back in 1999,
they said they would be happy. Last year, we collected the
data, and it looks brand new.
The second example I'd like to quote, which I have done the
rehabilitation renovation part, was for Army Corps of
Engineers. Again, we were able to rehab that complex bridge
system with $120,000 while in fact it would have costed $4
million to replace it. So the list goes on. I'm not going to
stand here and talk about it anymore. But I would be very happy
to supply you with all the cost data and also the durability
data if you need.
Mr. Banks. Okay.
Dr. Lange. Your remarked that the main benefit of FRP is
reducing maintenance costs. I think there's truth in that
because FRP is a very effective repair material. We're seeing
FRP used in sheet products that are put onto reinforced
concrete structures. It's one of the least-expensive ways to
add strengthening in many cases.
But I'm not sure I would say it's the main benefit of FRP.
I think having a landscape for design--multiple materials being
used, a real portfolio of materials--is where we could get even
more benefit in the future. I think there's been some
limitation to have civil engineering organized in silos where
you have the reinforced concrete community, the structural
steel community working somewhat independently and FRP
wondering how do we fit into this situation.
And I think there's probably a higher calling to try to
figure out how to give all materials sort of equal access. In
some respects engineers should be material agnostic. I don't
really care what particular material is used, I want to get a
result. And having more materials available will be the best
benefit of having FRP in the game.
Mr. Banks. Okay. And, Mr. Weyant, before you answer that
question, perhaps with the time left as well you can answer the
question of what would the cost-benefits of replacing or
restoring electric lines with FRP composite poles be?
Mr. Weyant. On the electric line, it's more in the
reliability, how they withstand a lot of the storms. We see
that a lot with a lot of the electric companies. They're
understanding that value now by investing in composites for
that reliability.
As far as the lifecycle, I look at it a couple ways, not
only on the maintenance side, it's also the installation side.
We have seen cooling towers, marine markets with sheet piling,
and also in the utility industry that we have seen probably 30
percent overall lifecycle cost savings when using composites.
Mr. Banks. Thank you. My time is expired.
Mr. Hultgren. The gentleman from Indiana yields back.
I recognize the gentleman from Illinois, the Ranking
Member, Mr. Lipinski for five minutes.
Mr. Lipinski. Thank you. I wanted to say, first of all,
that as Mr. Banks was talking about the savings for government
and for taxpayers, which I think is critically important, the
other part that I wanted to ask about is the--what can we do as
policymakers here in Washington to make sure that the United
States maintains a strong position in producing in these
materials? Obviously, FRP, when we're talking about even things
as large as bridges can be, you know, put together elsewhere
and brought over to the United States to be put in place. We've
seen that with concrete and steel bridges. So what can we do to
try to make sure we have the right incentives in place for the
United States to really--our economy and jobs to thrive in
this--with FRP? So let's start with Dr. Lange.
Dr. Lange. Well, one thing that I would like to emphasize
is that there is opportunity when we have very large
infrastructure programs. O'Hare just announced another $8.5
billion program that will add a terminal to the west side of
O'Hare, and these kind of major infrastructure programs extend
for many years.
The opportunity to partner with university researchers to
help answer questions about what is going on in that project
and how new materials might come into it, how new technologies
might benefit the project, that I think is a great opportunity.
The relationship we've experienced in working directly with a
major infrastructure program is not terribly common. It's a
little bit unusual that we have that kind of a partnership. But
I believe it could be a very good policy moving forward that we
have these major programs to pay attention to the research
landscape.
Mr. Lipinski. Anybody else? Dr. GangaRao?
Dr. GangaRao. Thank you. Thank you. I have indicated six
different approaches of how we can keep the lead in terms of
our high-quality products based on composites in my writeup.
And I'll talk about a couple of them. One of them is that we do
not want to be a dumping ground for some inferior product from
outside. Therefore, we need to maintain very high standards and
also enforce these standards of the materials that we are going
to be introducing as composites or for that matter as a
hybridized material, including the conventional materials like
steel and concrete. That's one. I can elaborate on that much
more later.
The second important thing is we need to come up with smart
manufacturing for infrastructure point of view in terms of
creating as large a subsystem as possible under the
manufacturing settings so that we gain certain degrees of
efficiencies and be able to reduce any form of waste that we
have right now. We're 40 percent waste in the construction
industry. So these are the two I would like to focus on. I have
four other items I mentioned in my writeup. Thank you.
Mr. Lipinski. Thank you. Mr. Weyant, do you have anything
to add?
Mr. Weyant. Yes, I echo Dr. Lange and Dr. GangaRao's
position. I think government needs to take a strong position in
two areas. We need to invest to enhance the development of the
technologies to keep us on the forefront and the materials, you
know, to be produced in the United States. Also, we need to
rebuild America with the right materials. While we're facing
these problems of the large spend on building the
infrastructure is because these materials are not lasting. We
got products here that can be 50 years plus design service
life, so down the road, the payback is, as I said earlier, on
the lifecycle. So we need to make that choice today to rebuild
America the right way and put people back to work.
Mr. Lipinski. And Mr. Weyant, it probably may surprise you
that I have driven through Pleasantville many times on my way
from here to Johnstown, so I wanted to ask you about--do you
have issues with labor force getting workers who are capable?
Mr. Weyant. That is a big demand nowadays, but we reach out
to a lot of the local high schools and a lot of the trade
schools, very aggressive on recruiting. But, you know, to train
people, too, you know, that is a concern. And in the rural
area, as you know, Mr. Lipinski, that does put a big demand
because we have a lot of expansion in our areas with a lot of
different manufacturers.
Mr. Lipinski. Thank you. I'm out of time. I yield back.
Mr. Hultgren. The gentleman from Illinois yields back.
I'll now yield myself five minutes. First, again, I want to
thank you all for being here, for your testimony. For me this
is an especially important hearing today. The State of
Illinois, as my colleague and friend from Illinois has already
stated, leads in materials science research conducted at our
wonderful universities and national labs. I want to hear what
we're doing nationally, but I always like to see how Illinois
universities are testifying before this Committee. I'm grateful
for that.
Infrastructure is also a key priority with every local
official I meet with, and it's why I work to preserve key tools
for municipal finance in the tax reform bill that we had, such
as the tax-exempt status for municipal bonds. Local officials
understand the importance of both construction and maintenance,
and they see the long-term impact of more resilient
infrastructure. So thank you for your work.
Dr. GangaRao, if I could address my first question to you.
How would research at NIST be integrated in its standards
development and used by standards development organizations?
Dr. GangaRao. NIST has excellent facilities in trying to
promote any kind of test methodologies, develop the test
methodologies, and also enforce the testing systems. That's one
way they can do it. The second way they can do it is by
providing excellent platform in terms of educational aspects.
There are half a dozen educational aspects that I can talk
about. They can be the lead nuclei in developing some of these
educational aspects.
And thirdly, they have a great amount of technical know-how
through their full-time employees, and they can certainly
interact with not only the university types but also with the
industry types to promote some of these kinds of advances in a
most systematic fashion. Thank you.
Mr. Hultgren. Thank you. Mr. Weyant, in your testimony you
say that there is limited awareness by engineers and asset
owners about the composites as structural material for
infrastructure. I wonder if you could describe in more detail
what you encounter?
Mr. Weyant. A lot of times when we approach the design
community when you have to introduce a composite material, a
lot of the traditional materials have design codes, okay? They
have their own handbooks. When you buy a steel beam from XYZ
company versus ABC, you know you're getting the same steel
beam. Those standards need to be developed, you know.
Composites being fairly new in the construction market, you
know, really came about in the mid-80s to '90s. Those
standards, a lot of the engineers do not understand them. So we
have to educate them. And a lot of the companies are a lot
smaller and don't have those resources to really put, you know,
in the technical design capabilities to help educate the
engineering community.
Mr. Hultgren. Thanks. Dr. Chin, it's been cited in numerous
reports, including one in 2014 by the President's Council of
Advisors on Science and Technology that composites are a
crosscutting enabler for the manufacturing technology of the
future supporting not only infrastructure but also automotive,
aerospace, energy, and other key sectors. I wonder if you could
elaborate on the strategic importance of composites to the
national economy?
Dr. Chin. In regards to the more general application of
composites in the sectors that you mentioned, the weight
reductions through the use of composite materials enable energy
savings. That's the primary driver in the aerospace, marine,
and automotive industries.
In infrastructure, it's not a matter of designing based on
weight constraints, but the availability of composite materials
that can be prefabricated, premanufactured offsite, brought to
the construction sites, and installed much more quickly. The
weight savings in this particular case also lends itself to
much more rapid installation, which mitigates the delays,
obstacles, roadblocks, all of the issues involved with
construction projects that reroute people and goods around the
points where the construction is taking place. Those have an
impact that may not be as measurable in terms of economic
return on investments, but you can definitely see the impacts
on the lost time. And just in terms of the process of getting
people and goods from point A to point B, there is definitely a
dollar value associated with those benefits of composites as
well.
Mr. Hultgren. Thank you. I'm just about out of time. I may
follow up if that's all right with you. I had a question just
in regards to opportunities for students and graduates to
obtain hands-on experience with composites with internships and
research, so I may follow up to see if I can see if you have
suggestions or ideas from that.
With that, my time is expired, and I will recognize the
Ranking Member of the full Committee, Ms. Johnson from Texas,
for five minutes.
Ms. Johnson. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman and Ranking
Member Lipinski, for holding this hearing. And thanks to all
the witnesses for being here.
In addition to this Committee, I serve as a senior member
of Transportation and Infrastructure. And I really do
understand the challenges that we face in crumbling
infrastructure. My home district of Dallas, Texas, was recently
named the fastest-growing metropolitan area in the country by
the U.S. Census. It also rated it as the 10th worst city in the
nation for traffic congestion in another recent report. And
though there has been great improvement from last year's
position, which was number five, commuters still face a daily
tackle with bottlenecks, wasting time and fuel, and this is a
struggle for many communities, I'm sure.
And while it is an example of perhaps reaching the stars,
I'd like you to explain to me what your feelings are about what
type of emerging technologies that we will be looking at for
our infrastructure needs, and also, how would we go about
preparing our workforce? I'm particularly interested in the
emphasis on resilience and materials that we use and the talent
that's needed. We're already looking at aerial transportation,
drones, and all kind of alternative things. What seems to be
realistic? And I'd like to hear from each of you.
[The prepared statement of Ms. Johnson follows:]
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Dr. Lange. Well, let me chime in with one idea here. One
thing that I would like to add about this discussion about
durability is that if you want durable infrastructure, you need
to ask for durable infrastructure. And kind of an old saying,
you get what you ask for. Too often our contracting mechanism
is based on a low bid when people are asked to, say, build a
road or build infrastructure, the winner of that competition is
the one who prices it the lowest.
And when you look at the specifications, they don't
emphasize durability like they should. They don't emphasize
lifecycle, as they should. The choice is made on initial cost
rather than by lifecycle cost where you take into account the
full length of service life of the structure and its
maintenance cost. So one issue that is a policy issue is how
can we move more toward performance specification and looking
at lifecycle cost.
Ms. Johnson. Thank you. Yes?
Dr. GangaRao. I'd like to start out by stating certain
issues with regards to resilient infrastructure. With my center
that is the NSF-sponsored one dealing with the composites for
infrastructure, University of Texas at Arlington is a member of
our center, and they have been using composite to try to
minimize your expansive shale problems for your foundations and
the roads, so there again, we need to use some of these
advanced materials that would help enhance the service life of
each and every one of these infrastructures. That's just one of
the many other parts.
The other part is we need to marry these advanced materials
with the conventional materials so that the longevity can be
improved, the traffic jams can be cut down, and what have you.
And there are many other transportation systems, including some
of the electronics that are going to be built into it coming
into vogue that will greatly enhance the efficiency of movement
from point A to point B. Thank you.
Ms. Johnson. Thank you very much. Anybody else?
Dr. Chin. So one of the big national multiagency programs
that NIST is involved with is the Materials Genome Initiative.
And through that program, we seek to accelerate the development
of these innovative materials that can be used in
infrastructure, as well as many other industry sectors. But
this type of program would enable materials scientists and
engineers and designers to be able to receive the benefits of
materials developed at a much faster rate, which could
potentially be used in infrastructure and making it more
resilient to natural disasters and other types of high impacts.
We also have a Community Resilience Program which seeks
also to develop more infrastructure--more resilient materials
for use in infrastructure.
Ms. Johnson. Thank you. My time is expired.
Mr. Hultgren. The gentlewoman from Texas yields back.
The gentlewoman from Connecticut, Congresswoman Esty, is
recognized for five minutes.
Ms. Esty. Thank you very much. And again, I want to thank
the Chairman and Ranking Member for holding today's hearing.
You'll find I think all of us are on the Transportation
Committee, and there's a reason that we're also on this
Committee, because we recognize the important challenges facing
the country on resiliency in our infrastructure, the aging
infrastructure laid out so well by you.
I've also been working on this, and I want to make sure to
get copies of this for each of you. There's a bipartisan group
of Democrats and Republicans in the House called the Problem
Solvers Caucus. And I was the Co-Chair of this report, which we
released in January, making several of the points that you've
underscored, Dr. Lange. You just recently talked about the
importance of lifecycle costs. We're specifically calling for
that. My father and grandfather were both civil engineers. I
know exactly what you're talking about, and it is the low-bid
problem that's always been a problem but never more acute than
now when we really need to be looking at the entire cycle of
the cost, better from day one and lasting much longer.
I'm also Co-Chair of--and Co-Founder of the Corrosion
Caucus, so we've been looking at these issues in the Resiliency
Caucus, the importance of upgrading those requirements.
So I wanted to also flag--again, so you know, that a number
of us have been working on this in multiple committees. We've
called for the creation--in the report we called for the
creation of something like an ARPA H2O to look at the water
infrastructure, which is often not included in the civil
engineers' report because that alone is, you know, approaching
$1 trillion of unmet needs to replace and upgrade the nation's
water infrastructure. So when I get to questions, I'd ask for
your thoughts of whether you think something like an ARPA H2O
make sense for basic research, especially given that water is
delivered at the local level and cannot possibly have the
research facilities to figure out if you're Detroit and you
need to reduce the size of your mains by 3/4 to keep the flows
in place, they can't be paying for that research. It's just not
reasonable. We need to have a federal role in that.
Chairwoman Comstock and I, who chairs this Subcommittee,
are getting ready to introduce a bill in the coming weeks on
this basic issue of composites, on the importance of
highlighting the need to include this as innovation and to
include this with new standards. One of the pieces we've looked
at are calling for--and it's the IMAGINE Act, the Innovative
Materials in American Grid and Infrastructure Newly Expanded--
you can tell that was put together to make out IMAGINE--but the
IMAGINE Act calls for the creation of an interagency innovative
materials task force to assist in some of these issues we've
talked about this morning for assessing existing standards and
test methods and then compare them against these new materials
and how they compare.
The interagency task force would work to identify key
barriers in the current standards that inhibit market
adaptation and adoption and develop new methods of protocols,
as necessary, to encourage incorporations. This interagency
task force would be chaired by NIST, by the National Institute
of Standards and Technology, bringing together the Federal
Highway Administration, the Army Corps of Engineers, and EPA,
and other standard regulatory agencies.
So, Dr. Chin, can you comment on whether you think that
would be helpful to have a coordinated effort across the
agencies which otherwise are siloed, as we know, which is a
huge problem. Thank you.
Dr. Chin. Yes, NIST has had a very long history of
collaborating with other federal agencies and other primary
stakeholders in big national initiatives such as the one that
you're describing. We are absolutely committed to working in
the area of water. That is definitely seen as an area of great
importance to the nation.
Ms. Esty. And what's your thoughts on something--or any of
you--on something on the basic R&D side, something like an ARPA
H2O? Is that--do we think we're at a point that there should be
basic research, or is it more a function of standards and
dissemination of best practices?
Dr. Lange. Well, I think on the subject of basic research,
you're touching on one of the biggest challenges that we have,
and that is the durability and interaction of materials with
their environment. Dr. Chin talked about how NIST has a long
history of looking at durability issues. I think that the
durability topics are more challenging and more necessary than,
say, looking at mechanical properties of materials. And so I
would encourage that kind of direction of looking at durability
first.
Ms. Esty. Thank you. Go ahead.
Dr. GangaRao. Basic research is always extremely important,
no question about it. However, to get the biggest bang for your
buck, a good bit amount of monies have to be invested in field
implementations, experimentation, and evaluations as soon as
possible so that we establish a protocol of how to do some of
these in the field and able to disseminate this knowledge base
in a widescale manner. Thank you.
Ms. Esty. Thank you very much, and I see I'm out of time.
Thank you.
Mr. Hultgren. Thank you, the Gentlewoman from Connecticut
yields back.
The gentlewoman from Oregon, Ms. Bonamici, Congresswoman
Bonamici is recognized for five minutes.
Ms. Bonamici. Thank you very much, Chairman Hultgren and
Ranking Member Lipinski. And thank you to all of our witnesses
for being here today. I'm very glad that we're discussing
infrastructure. And listening to my colleague talk about things
like the Corrosion Caucus, you know that we're all interested
in this issue.
We know that making long-term investments in our nation's
infrastructure stimulates the economy, creates jobs, and drives
commerce. And as we restore our roads and bridges and build
affordable housing and invest in public transit and upgrade our
schools and ports and water systems, we need to be responsive
to environmental concerns but also creative in the use of
emerging materials.
And I am the Co-Chair of the Oceans Caucus, and marine
debris is one of our priorities. And recently, I've been
reading about projects that integrate plastic bottles and
materials salvaged from debris in the ocean into asphalt to
create more durable roads. And this is the kind of ingenuity we
need as we develop an infrastructure proposal. And I know the
Chairman of the full committee has gone, but I know that Texas
is working on a pilot project on this as well.
At Oregon State University in my home state, the Kiewit
Materials Performance Lab has been one of the leaders in
innovative efforts to test composite materials. The lab is
conducting sensitive electrochemical investigations to study
both corrosion phenomena and metals and alloys and the
performance and durability of coatings and composite materials.
And I visited there, and they're doing some great work.
Dr. Lange, I wanted to ask you how federally funded
researchers at universities can best partner with engineers in
the private sector to support continued advanced research
testing and standards development?
Dr. Lange. I would say that one of the themes that I have
hit on, this idea of partnering with major infrastructure
programs. This is something I would put back on the table. I
think that when you're spending, as O'Hare is going to spend $8
billion on the next phase of expansion of the airport, there
should be a piece of that investment used for looking toward
the state-of-the-art. Engineers working on everyday tasks may
not have time to see that state-of-the-art very clearly, but in
partnership with universities, perhaps they can.
With respect to recycled materials, I think that's a great
theme to continue to hit. One thing I would encourage is that,
as you think about recycling materials, try to have some
integrity about what you're trying to do with these materials.
Sometimes uses of recycled materials are almost using concrete
as a trash can. How many things can we throw into concrete or
asphalt without caring about the degradation of properties that
happens when we do it? Wwe really want to find synergy where we
get not the only use of recycled material but improvement of
properties, not a degradation of properties.
Ms. Bonamici. Right. Absolutely. Well, I'm from Oregon; we
recycle everything. So in northwest Oregon, it's not a question
of if but when a tsunami triggered by an earthquake happens. We
have the Cascadia Subduction Zone is going to hit our state. We
are overdue. So we've been having many conversations about
rebuilding our infrastructure to withstand these natural
disasters. And in the district I represent, the Newberg Dundee
Bypass has just been built to withstand a 9.0 earthquake.
But an earthquake is not the only threat facing our
Nation's infrastructure. We also need to be resilient to the
effects of climate change. And of course with the ocean, we're
seeing acidification, we're seeing more extreme weather events.
What is the current state of our understanding of how climate
change affects infrastructure, and how has that understanding
shaped the composites research agenda and standards development
to make sure that resiliency is a factor? And anybody who wants
to weigh in on that.
Dr. GangaRao. I want to answer a couple of things along
those lines. Before I do that, I want to talk a little bit
about the recycling aspect of it. At West Virginia University,
we have been doing a lot of recycling of composites. For
example, we can talk in terms of low-grade material recycling,
as well as a very high-grade material recycling, and we have
done polymers to recycle and create core material that are of
low value while in fact create a very high-grade material as a
shell for a given system--
Ms. Bonamici. Interesting.
Ms. GangaRao. --and that helped a great deal. And also, we
are partnering now with Mexico. CONACYT is an equivalent of NSF
of ours where they want to recycle a lot of their high-end
composites coming out of aerospace and other places.
There are three or four different ways of recycling it. One
is just simply burn it. That's not the best approach. There are
a few other chemical ways of recycling, and we are looking at
those kinds of things as well to enhance our productivity
levels in the area of composites as opposed to dumping in the
oceans like you're referring to.
Ms. Bonamici. Right. Right. Thank you. And just--I know I'm
out of time, but with the Chairman's indulgence, would you
address the climate change issue?
Ms. GangaRao. Well, I don't know a whole lot about the
climate change. As Dr. Chin pointed out, I think the amount of
energy required to produce a unit pound of a composite per unit
workability and the efficiency of a composite is much less than
steel or concrete.
Ms. Bonamici. Thank you. I yield back, Mr. Chairman. Thank
you.
Mr. Hultgren. Thank you. The gentlewoman from Oregon yields
back.
I want to thank all of our witnesses for your testimony and
all the members for their questions today. I also do want to
send regards from Chairwoman Comstock, who really wanted to be
here but was not feeling well today, so she sends her regards
and gratitude for each of you being here.
The record will remain open for two weeks for additional
written comments and written questions from Members.
Mr. Hultgren. With that, the hearing is adjourned. Thank
you so much.
Dr. GangaRao. Thank you very much.
[Whereupon, at 11:10 a.m., the Subcommittee was adjourned.]
Appendix I
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Answers to Post-Hearing Questions
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