Feasibility Evaluation of a Long-Life Asphalt Pavement for Steel Bridge Deck

In order to extend the service life of the steel bridge deck pavement, a long-life steel bridge deck pavement (LLSBDP) was put forward referring to the concept of long-life asphalt pavement. First, the requirements of the LLSBDP were given, based on which, an LLSBDP structure “EAC + SMA” was proposed. Second, a numerical analysis was performed to evaluate the stress status of the “EAC + SMA” structure. Third, an experimental study was conducted to assess the performance of the pavement material and the pavement structure. Meanwhile, for comparison, the performances of traditional steel bridge deck pavement structure “EAC + EAC” were also studied in the numerical and experimental program. The results showed that, with periodical rehabilitation or reconstruction of the SMA surface layer, the EAC base layer can last for a long life without structural distresses. The proposed structure can meet the requirements of LLSBDP and can be used to extend the service life of the steel bridge deck pavement.

This creative work has been published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC-BY 4.0) license which allows copying, and redistribution as well as adaptation of the original work provided appropriate credit is given to the original author and the conditions of the license are met.