Experimental Evaluation of Aluminum Bridge Deck System
Publication: Journal of Bridge Engineering
Volume 17, Issue 1
Abstract
Most of the movable bridges in the United States have open grid steel decks, primarily because they are factory assembled, lightweight, and easy to install. Open grid steel decks, however, are not as skid resistant as solid decks. Costly maintenance, high noise levels, poor riding comfort, and susceptibility to vibrations are among the other disadvantages of these decks. The objective of the research presented in this paper is to evaluate an alternative lightweight extruded aluminum deck system that has a solid surface and meets the loading requirements as well as weight and thickness limits for movable bridge decks. These aluminum deck panels with their tongue and groove connections have previously been used in Europe, mainly in Sweden. A detailed experimental evaluation of the aluminum deck system has been carried out, including static and fatigue load testing on the deck panels, as well as ancillary tests on the connections with the girders. On the basis of the in-depth experimental evaluation and the subsequent finite-element (FE) modeling and predictions, the extruded aluminum deck is shown to be a feasible alternative to the open grid steel deck and ready for implementation on movable bridges as well as bridges that require a lightweight deck.
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Acknowledgments
This study was sponsored by the FDOT under Contract No. FLDOTBD015 RPWO #22, with Mr. Marcus Ansley as Project Manager, to whom this paper is dedicated. The contributions of Dr. Lei Zhao, formerly at the University of Central Florida, and the technical assistance of Mr. Steve Eudy of the FDOT Structures Laboratory are greatly acknowledged. Most experiments were conducted at the Titan America Structures and Construction Testing Laboratory of the Florida International University, except for coupon tests, which were conducted at the Structural Laboratory of University of Central Florida, and the fatigue tests, which were conducted at the FDOT Structures Laboratory. The views and findings reported here are those of the authors alone, not necessarily the views of sponsoring agency.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Bridge Engineering
Volume 17 • Issue 1 • January 2012
Pages: 97 - 106
Copyright
© 2012 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Mar 16, 2010
Accepted: Nov 23, 2010
Published online: Nov 26, 2010
Published in print: Jan 1, 2012
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