Common research activities in the field of durability of prestressed externally bonded reinforcement (EBR) for reinforced concrete (RC) structures were carried out at both the University of Minho (UMinho) and the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology (Empa). The research includes the study of the durability of (i) the constituent materials (concrete, epoxy and CFRP laminate) and (ii) large-scale RC slabs strengthened with prestressed CFRP laminates with two different anchorage systems (mechanical anchorage and the gradient anchorage), when subjected to different environmental conditions. The main achievements for a better understanding of the durability of RC elements strengthened with prestressed EBR-FRPs are presented in this paper. Finally, the effect of polymer sealings and asphalt application at high temperatures on CFRP/epoxy/concrete connections is also briefly discussed.This work was supported by the following programs: FEDER (European Funds for Regional
Development) funds through the Operational Program for Competitiveness Factors –
COMPETE, Operational Program for Competitiveness and Internationalization (POCI) and
National Funds through FCT - Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology under the
projects CutInDur FCOMP-01-0124-FEDER-014811 (PTDC/ECM/112396/2009), FRPreDur
FCOMP-01-0124-FEDER-028865 (FCT reference PTDC/ECM-EST/2424/2012), FRPLongDur
POCI-01-0145-FEDER-016900 (FCT reference PTDC/ECM-EST/1282/2014) and POCI-01-
0145-FEDER-007633. From the Swiss side, The Swiss Road Authorities (FEDRO) and the
Swiss National Science Foundation are kindly thanked for their financial support
(AGB2012/001 and SNSF No.124401). The authors also like to thank: S&P Clever
Reinforcement Ibérica Lda, S&P Clever Reinforcement Company (Switzerland), Tecnipor -
Gomes & Taveira Lda., Vialam – Indústrias Metalúrgicas e Metalomecânicas, Lda, Hilti
Portugal-Produtos e Serviços, Lda.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
