Composite bridge deck and bridge construction

Abstract

A bridge construction having a bridge support or abutment and a bridge deck supported thereon. The bridge deck includes a composite panel with a top plastic skin, a bottom plastic skin and a core arranged between and attached to the plastic skins. The bridge deck also includes an edge beam extending along at least one edge of the composite panel and resting on the bridge support. The top plastic skin has a protruding part which protrudes laterally relative to the core and the bottom plastic skin. The protruding part of the top plastic skin extends over and is attached to a top side of the edge beam, and both the core and the lower plastic skin extend laterally up to a front side of the edge beam.

Claims

1. A bridge deck comprising a composite panel with a top plastic skin, a bottom plastic skin, and a core arranged between and attached to the plastic skins, and an edge beam extending along an edge of the composite panel, wherein the top plastic skin has a protruding part which protrudes laterally relative to both the core and the bottom plastic skin, wherein the protruding part of the top plastic skin extends over and is attached to a top side of the edge beam, and wherein both the core and the lower plastic skin extend laterally up to a front side of the edge beam.

2. The bridge deck according to claim 1, wherein the core and the bottom plastic skin butt up against said front side of the edge beam or against a filling layer that covers said front side of the edge beam.

3. The bridge deck according to claim 1, wherein the protruding part of the top plastic skin completely covers the top side of the edge beam.

4. The bridge deck according to claim 1, wherein an angle profile is provided at the free edge of the protruding part of the top plastic skin and the edge beam, wherein one leg of the angle profile covers a top surface of the protruding part or a cover layer located on the protruding part, and wherein a further leg of the angle profile extends along a boundary edge of the protruding part of the top plastic skin, the edge beam and any cover layer present on the protruding part.

5. The bridge deck according to claim 1, wherein the composite panel comprises, a top plastic skin, a bottom plastic skin, and a core arranged between and attached to the plastic skins, wherein the top plastic skin has a protruding part which laterally protrudes relative to both the core and the bottom plastic skin, and wherein the protruding part of the top plastic skin includes a row of openings, configured to receive a peg or bolt.

6. The bridge deck according to claim 5, wherein the bottom plastic skin includes a row of lower openings which extends parallel to the row of openings in the protruding part of the top plastic skin, wherein a distance between the row of openings and a edge of the core adjacent to and below the protruding part of the top plastic skin is of the same order of magnitude as a width of the protruding part.

7. The bridge deck according to claim 1, wherein the composite panel comprises a bulkhead that delimits the core, wherein said bulkhead abuts said front side of the edge beam or a filling layer that covers said front side of the edge beam.

8. The bridge deck according to claim 7, wherein the filling layer is an adhesive layer.

9. The bridge deck according to claim 1, wherein the protruding part of the top plastic skin includes openings, wherein the edge beam includes further openings, each of said further openings being aligned with a respective one of said openings, and wherein a peg or bolt extends through each respective pair of aligned openings and further openings.

10. The bridge deck according to claim 9, wherein the top side of the edge beam includes said further openings.

11. The bridge deck according to claim 10, wherein the edge beam has a top flange that at least partly defines the top side of the edge beam, and wherein the top flange includes the further openings.

12. The bridge deck according to claim 10, wherein a row of pairs of openings is provided which extends in the longitudinal direction of the edge beam, of which row at least one pair of openings and the associated peg cooperate closely and other pairs of openings have at least one opening in the form of a slot, the largest dimension of which is directed in the longitudinal direction of the support beam, to compensate for the expansion differences between the edge beam and the composite panel.

13. The bridge deck according to claim 1, wherein the edge beam has a bottom flange on which the bottom plastic skin is supported.

14. The bridge deck according to claim 13, wherein the bottom plastic skin and the bottom flange have lower openings and further lower openings, respectively, wherein each lower opening is aligned with a corresponding further lower opening, and wherein a peg extends through each pair of a lower opening in the bottom plastic skin and an further lower opening in the bottom support flange.

15. A bridge construction comprising a bridge support or abutment for supporting the bridge deck according to claim 1, the bridge deck comprising a composite panel with a top plastic skin, a bottom plastic skin, and a core arranged between and attached to the plastic skins, and an edge beam extending along an edge of the composite panel and resting on the bridge support, wherein the top plastic skin has a protruding part which laterally protrudes relative to both the core and the bottom plastic skin, wherein the protruding part of the top plastic skin extends over and is attached to a top side of the edge beam, and wherein both the core and the lower plastic skin extend up to a front side of the edge beam.

16. An edge beam for a bridge deck according to claim 1, with a top side and a bottom side, a front side for facing the composite panel, and a back side opposite to the front side, wherein the top side has a row of further openings extending in the longitudinal direction, each further opening being configured to receive a peg or bolt, wherein the front side is provided with a bottom flange which protrudes from the front side and in a lateral direction away from the back side, wherein said bottom flange includes a row of further lower openings is, each further lower opening being configured to receive a peg.

17. The edge beam according to claim 16, comprising a box section that defines said front side from which the bottom flange protrudes.

18. The edge beam according to claim 16, wherein the bottom flange is located at non-zero distances from the top side and from the bottom side, viewed in a height direction of the edge beam.

19. The edge beam according to claim 18, wherein the top side has a top flange which protrudes from the back side and in an opposite lateral direction away from the front side, wherein said top flange includes the row of further openings.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

(1) Embodiments will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying schematic drawings in which corresponding reference symbols indicate corresponding parts.

(2) FIG. 1 shows a vertical cross section through the bridge construction according to an embodiment of the invention, with bridge deck and abutment;

(3) FIG. 2 shows the top view according to II of FIG. 1;

(4) FIG. 3 shows a front view of an edge beam wherein the composite panel has been removed;

(5) The figures are meant for illustrative purposes only, and do not serve as restriction of the scope or the protection as laid down by the claims.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

(6) The following is a description of exemplary embodiments of the invention, given by way of example only and with reference to the figures.

(7) FIG. 1 shows in vertical cross section, a bridge deck 1 with an abutment 2 which in the example shown has a road surface 3 and a support 4 for the bridge deck 1 at a lower level. The bridge deck 1 itself is formed by a composite panel 5, known in itself, together with the steel edge beam 9. This composite panel diagrammatically comprises the top plastic skin 6, a bottom plastic skin 8 and the core 7 in-between. Around this, a bulkhead 29 is provided. This bulkhead 29 and the bottom plastic skin 8 of the composite panel 5 abut the front side 10 of the edge beam 9. The top plastic skin 6 extends with the protruding part 28 past the core 7 to over the top side 11 of the edge beam 9.

(8) The edge beam 9 has a bottom flange 24 on its front side 10. On the opposing back side 12 of the edge beam 9 is a top flange 14 which connects to the top side 11 of the edge beam 9. The bottom side 13 of the edge beam 9 has support ridges 15 with which the bridge deck 1 is supported on an abutment 2. Said top side 11, bottom side 13, front side 10, and back side 12 in the example shown define the box section, indicated as a whole as 26, with rectangular cross section. Other cross sections are, however, possible for this box section. Furthermore, cross sections are possible without box section, such as a Z-shaped edge beam.

(9) The top flange 14 has a row of holes 16, as shown in the top view of FIG. 2. The bottom flange 24 also has a row of holes 17 as shown in FIG. 2. Pegs 18 are received in the holes 17 of the bottom flange 24 and extend into holes 19 in the bottom plastic skin 8 of the composite panel 5. Bolts 20 are inserted in the holes 16 of the top flange 14 and in the openings 27 of the protruding part 28 of the top plastic skin 6, the heads of which bolts are countersunk in recesses 21. These bolts 20 extend through the road surface 22 which is applied on the top plastic skin 6, through the protruding part 28 of the top plastic skin 6, and through the top flange 14. An angle iron 23 is applied over the top edge formed by the top support flange 14, the protruding part 28 of the top plastic skin 6 and the road surface 22, and also partly covers the heads of the bolts 20.

(10) The top plastic skin 6 and the road surface 22 thus extend from the core 7 of the composite panel 5 continuously to the transition to the road surface 3 on the abutment 2. There will therefore be no wheel contact with the edge beam 9 so that a uniform transition for the wheel loads from the composite panel 5 to the abutment 2 is obtained. Differential deformation between the edge beam 9, which normally consists of steel, and the composite panel 5 consisting of plastic is thus reduced or even avoided, yielding a bridge construction with an improved resistance to fatigue.

(11) An adhesive layer 25 may also be provided between the composite panel 5 thus formed and the adjacent surfaces of the edge beam 9. Although, in the exemplary embodiment shown, the edge beam 9 is located at the edge of the composite panel which faces the abutment, such edge beams may alternatively or additionally also be placed at the other edges of the composite panel.

(12) It should be clear that the embodiments described above are described merely by way of example and are not in any way restrictive, and that various modifications and adaptations are possible without leaving the scope of the invention, and that the scope is determined only by the attached claims.

LIST OF REFERENCE SYMBOLS

(13) 1. Bridge deck 2. Abutment 3. Road surface on abutment 4. Abutment support 5. Composite panel 6. Top plastic skin 7. Core 8. Bottom plastic skin 9. Edge beam 10. Front side of edge beam 11. Top side of edge beam 12. Back side of edge beam 13. Bottom side of edge beam 14. Top flange 15. Support ridge 16. Opening in top flange 17. Opening in bottom flange 18. Peg 19. Hole in bottom plastic skin 20. Bolt 21. Opening for bolt head 22. Road surface 23. Angle iron 24. Bottom flange 25. Adhesive layer 26. Box section 27. Opening in top plastic skin 28. Protruding part of top plastic skin 29. Bulkhead