Orthotropic composite slabs for road bridges

Large increases in traffic loads led to extensive fatigue damages to existing orthotropic steel deck slabs of road bridges. Reinforced concrete bridges and conventional composite bridges are less susceptible to fatigue but considerably heavier. The ortho‐composite slab is a lightweight and robust alternative construction method, which retains the advantages of the previously mentioned construction methods, but eliminates their disadvantages. Within the framework of the AiF‐FOSTA research project P1265 [1], the construction of the bridge deck was developed using dowel strips as composite elements with high load‐bearing capacity and fatigue resistance. The principle of area composite with loading of the dowel strips in longitudinal and transverse direction was used. Extensive experimental and structural mechanics studies were conducted, particularly investigating the load‐bearing capacity and fatigue strength of the ortho‐composite slab under local load application. The following article describes the load‐bearing structure of the ortho‐composite slab and the motivation for the research project P1265. It gives an overview of the experimental investigations carried out. Finally, the article presents pilot projects that were carried out to apply the construction method. In further articles on Eurosteel, the experimental investigations and structural‐mechanical calculations are described in more detail (see [2] and [3]).