Behavior of Ontario-Type Bridge Deck on Steel Girders: Negative Moment Region and Load Capacity

For the experimental phase of this project, the test specimen was a full-size composite bridge, half of which had a cast-in-place deck, and the other half, cast-in-place topping over precast, prestressed panels. Both decks had Ontario-type reinforcement. The test specimen was supported on a 40-ft span. Tiedown forces were applied at the overhang at each end of the bridge, and two tandem loads were applied at midspan. A series of static loads was applied, along with 5 million cycles of fatigue loading. Finally, the specimen was subjected to concentrated load tests involving single and tandem loads.

Analytical predictions using a finite element model were compared with the experimental results from the negative moment tests. Analytical predictions of deck capacity were compared with the experimental results of the concentrated load tests.