The bayshore Route of The Metropolitan Expressway, Japan.
Fatigue cracks were detected on welded joints between longitudinal trough rib and orthotropic deck plate after 15 years of service.
The outline of the bridge structure is as follows.
- Bridge length : 232.0m,
- Span length :70m+92m+70m
- Structure : Box girder bridge with orthotropic deck system
Fluctuating loads due to highway live load.
Fatigue cracks were detected on welded joints between longitudinal trough ribs and orthotropic deck plates(Fig.1).
Fig.1 Crack location
Cause of fatigue cracks was as follows:
- Localized stress concentration which resulted from the out-of-plane of the deck plate deflection due to the wheel load.
Emergency repair
Stop holes were drilled at the crack tips(Fig.2).
Fig.2 Stop holes
Permanent repair
The SFRC pavements were constructed on the orthotropic deck plates instead of asphalt pavements.(Fig.3,Fig.4,).
Fig.3 Construction circumstance of SFRC pavements