Structural Engineering & Statics
where the load goes
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Orthotropic deck — the ladder

One essay so far against this idea. A ladder is the distinct arguments that stand against one idea, and this one has room to grow.
  1. One plate, three systems, one stress. The stress at the rib-to-deck weld of an orthotropic deck, split by which system produced it. The main girder contributes 120 N/mm², the crossbeam 34 and the trough 13, and they add to 167 because the deck plate is the top flange of all three at once. A calculation that treats the crossbeam as a support rather than a structure understates the total by 26 per cent. The stress RANGE at that weld is 47 N/mm², which is the number the whole deck is designed by, because the weld is a low fatigue category running the entire length of the bridge.

    One plate and three structures

    An orthotropic deck is a single steel plate stiffened by troughs, sitting on crossbeams, sitting on main girders. Nothing about that is unusual until it is noticed that the plate is the top flange of all three, so a wheel standing on it loads every one of them at once.

    rung 1 · sections

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