Instrumentation and Testing of Bridge Rehabilitated with Exodermic Deck

Abstract

Recently, an exodermic deck was used to replace a standard, full‐depth cast‐in‐place composite reinforced concrete deck on a bridge over the New York State Thruway. The exodermic deck, consisting of a layer of reinforced concrete poured over a steel grid in prefabricated panels, is much lighter and simpler to install than standard composite decking. Thus, it can be used for redecking existing bridges, or for decking new bridges, much more quickly, and at less expense, than current standard procedures. This particular exodermic deck is the first to be installed in New York State. In order to verify the load‐carrying capability of the exodermic deck, a series of live‐load tests were conducted on this bridge before and after redecking. The results of these tests compare favorably to analytical predictions. While the live‐load strain for the exodermic deck is somewhat higher than for the original deck, as expected, the dead‐load strain is considerably less and the overall strain is well within original design limits.