1989-11-29
1991-07-23
Britts, Ramon S.
Bridges
Deck
Joint
52588, E01D 1912
Patent
active
050331477
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a bridge deck of the type used to support mobile concentrated loads, as for example, in roadway systems.
Most bridges, particularly beam bridges, comprise a bridge deck supported by underlying beams. Frequently, this bridge deck is a concrete deck resting on longitudinal and, in some cases, transverse beams. A conventional concrete bridge deck is exceedingly heavy--the weight per m.sup.2, including the asphalf wearing surface, amounts roughly to 700 kg--and is manufactured in a time-consuming manner. In the past few years, a great many bridges were found to be severely damaged, mainly by winter-time salting, and in need of reconstruction. Reconstruction of a bridge with a concrete deck means that the bridge must be closed, wholly or partly, for a very long period. Light bridges are sometimes provided with a deck of planking which in its entirety can be supported by secondary beams or the like. Wooden decks have a relatively short life and must be reconstructed time and again.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The object of the present invention is to provide a completely new type of bridge deck which is very light and is easily laid in both new constructions and reconstructions and when reconditioning, and which has a life far exceeding that of currently available bridge decks. A further object is to provide a bridge deck surfacing having a life which is many times longer than that of the present-day surfacings.
The characteristic features of the new bridge deck are stated in the appended claims.
The inventive bridge deck is preferably made by extrusion of aluminum or like light-alloy metal, whereby it is possible, in a practical manner, to obtain units with insignificant tolerance variations and considerable torsional strength.
To date, light metal, in particular aluminium, has been used but to a limited extent in bridge constructions, and one of the main reasons is that aluminium meets with fatigue failure more easily than e.g. steel, when subjected to pulsating loads. Especially in a bridge deck, the transverse units are subjected one after the other to the load of a passing vehicle, and this causes the units to move relative to one another, no matter how firmly they are affixed to the supporting base. The critical points thus are the joints between the units, where considerable stress occurs when a load leaves one unit and moves to the next. Previous attempts at solving this problem by means of tongue and groove arrangements have been unsuccessful.
The invention is based on the insight that the units or bridge deck slabs must be arranged such that any relative movement in the joints between the slabs is eliminated, and this constitutes an essential feature of the invention.
According to the invention, the units or slabs forming the bridge deck are in fact designed such that one side of each slab is rigidly supported by underlying beams or the like, whereas the opposite side is supported by the rigidly supported side of the neighboring unit. This is achieved in that the bridge deck slabs are provided with a special type of tongue and groove and are anchored to a load-bearing structure so as to guarantee the engagement between the tongue and groove. To achieve such anchoring which is to prevent any play between the bridge deck slabs and the structural beams, the point of engagement of the bridge deck slabs and also the attachment member must be designed in a special manner. To this end, a projecting of the bridge deck slab is provided with an upwardly open channel with which a complementarily designed portion of an attachment member attachable by leverage, as by means of a screw, is adapted to engage so as to press the lower side-edge of the slab against the base with great force.
To guarantee the engagement of the tongue and groove arrangement, the slabs must be pulled closely together in transverse direction. During extrusion, the material may be bent to a certain extent, and this must be accommodated during mounting. To this end, the attachment m
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Britts Ramon S.
Spahn Gay Ann
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