Performance evaluation of the steel-concrete composite slab for the taxiway bridge that carries heavy aircraft

At Narita international airport, a bridge is inevitable for the part of new taxiway due to constraints of existing structures. The bridge style taxiways are rare in the world and the design method is not clearly established at present. Therefore, after the design of this bridge adopting the method for vehicle bridges, verification of the results by FEM was done. Furthermore, punching shear loading tests using full scale specimens were carried out to confirm the punching shear strength that affects fatigue performance of the concrete slab and to inspect the mechanism of the process to failure.

Through these tests, it was identified that the deck slab has enough durability. Finally, after the completion of the construction of the bridge, loading tests by real aircraft were executed to identify the distribution of stresses inside the slab under normal use. The distribution of stresses matched assumed one well and it was confirmed the bridge is safe enough to support heavy aircraft.