Economical and durable orthotropic composite decks with dowel strips for road bridges

Login Member Area

Orthotropic steel roadway slabs are characterised by their high load-bearing capacity and low weight. Notch sharpness in the details and greatly increased traffic loads led to fatigue damage, which in many bridges required premature repair work or replacement construction. Concrete roadway slabs, as used on reinforced concrete and composite bridges, are less susceptible to fatigue but considerably heavier.

With the so-called orthotropic composite deck in the form of a hybrid supporting structure consisting of a longitudinally stiffened deck plate, a relatively thin reinforced concrete layer and dowel strips as a bonding agent, a lightweight and robust deck slab is developed as an alternative. It offers advantages such as low weight, durability and fast and economical production.

The aim of the planned research project is to create a basis for the design and construction of orthotropic composite deck with dowel strips for road traffic. This creates the essential conditions for the construction method to establish itself as an economical and durable alternative to reinforced concrete roadway slabs and orthotropic steel roadway slabs.

The focus of the experimental, analytical and structural-mechanical investigations are:

• the load-bearing effect of  orthotropic composite deck with dowel strips, in particular the transfer of local wheel loads from heavy goods traffic in the transverse direction,
• the composite effect, load-bearing capacity and fatigue strength of the anchor strips under transverse loading and combined longitudinal and transverse loading,
• the optimisation of the ceiling system in terms of economy and durability,
• the development of design and dimensioning regulations based on the Eurocodes.

Engineering offices, steel construction companies, bridge construction companies, fuel and metal processing companies as well as their suppliers profit from the research results.