Aluminium system for bridge deck replacement Aluminium has certain advatages over both steel and reinforced

concrete in that it has: a high strength to weight ratio a high resistance to corrosion properties which enable it to be readily fabricated the ability to be extruded into many different shapes resistance to salts (although salts do affect the appearance) Its first use in the USA was to redeck the Smithfield Bridge, Pittsburgh, Pensyl vania in 1933 with a lightweight aluminium deck plate with stringers and asphalt wearing s urface to increase the live load capacity to H20 by reducing the dead load (Trinidad 199 3). Later in 1967 this was replaced by a lighter weight orthotropic aluminium deck with a polyester and sand wearing surface to further increase its live load carrying capacity. Si nce then seven aluminium bridges have been constructed in the USA and all were still in s ervice in 1993 (Trinidad 1993). The exploitation of aluminium as a potential material for the upgrading of steel bridges has been embraced and applied to many failing bridges in Sweden (Svensso n and Pettersson, 1990). A lightweight truss-like system has been developed comprising an orthotropic plate built up from hollow aluminium extrusions which are fitted tog ether by a tongue and groove in the top flange as indicated in Figure 8.12. Each section can rotate freely whilst load distribution is by means of shear at the joints and Svensson and Pettersson (1990) claim that concentrated loads will be carried by at least seven extrusions . Once the old concrete deck has been removed, the pre-assembled alumin ium deck is secured to the existing steel structure via the bottom flange. The surfa ce of the deck is covered with an acrylic-based material called Acrydur, a paving material that has proven successful in Sweden for many years. The combined deck system is only abo ut one-tenth of the weight of the conventional concrete deck, a reduction which all ows the live load to increase without the need to upgrade the foundations. The system has been fully tested both numerically and physically and has been pr oven to function satisfactorily in use. Care has to be taken to prevent contact betwe en the faces of steel and aluminium components to ensure that no galvanic corrosion of the al uminium takes place. The cost of fabrication and erection of the aluminium deck is similar (in Sweden ) to a traditional reinforced concrete deck. But there are a number of significant adva ntages (Svensson and Pettersson 1990): Design time is minimal compared to concrete. Construction time drastically reduced. The reduced weight means that the existing (unmodified) foundations are satisfactory.

Maintenance costs can be kept to a minimum because the Acrydur paving is very ha rd wearing, and the aluminium has a high resistance to corrosion.