Behavior of RC bridge decks with flexible girders

The current design practice for concrete bridge decks requires a top mat and a bottom mat of reinforcing bars. The chloride attack of the top mat of reinforcing bars is a major cause of deterioration of bridge decks. Empirical evidence has indicated that the top transverse reinforcing bars can essentially be eliminated without jeopardizing the structural integrity of a deck. To explore this issue, the behavior of a four-span highway bridge deck subjected to a test truck and normal traffic loads is being investigated. The behavior of the bridge deck under the test truck and various combinations of truck loads has been analyzed with the finite-element method. These results confirm the fact that a properly designed bridge deck does not require top transverse reinforcement for sustaining the negative bending moment induced by traffic loads.