The primary function of a bridge deck is to support the vehicular vertical loads and distribute these loads to the steel superstructure. This module provides practical information regarding the decking options and design considerations for steel bridges, presenting deck types such as concrete deck slabs, metal grid decks, orthotropic steel decks, wood decks, and several others. The choice of the particular deck type to use can depend on several factors, which may include the specific application, initial cost, life cycle cost, durability, weight, or owner requirements. For the deck types discussed herein, a brief description of the particular deck type is given, in addition to general design and detail considerations.
In many cases, bridge designers concern themselves only with checking the stability and member stress levels in the structure for the in-service condi...
This Guide provides bridge engineers and owners with general information and typical details to help standardize orthotropic steel deck (OSD) bridge d...
Links with this icon indicate that you are leaving a Bureau of Transportation
Statistics (BTS)/National Transportation Library (NTL)
Web-based service.
Thank you for visiting.
You are about to access a non-government link outside of
the U.S. Department of Transportation's National
Transportation Library.
Please note: While links to Web sites outside of DOT are
offered for your convenience, when you exit DOT Web sites,
Federal privacy policy and Section 508 of the Rehabilitation
Act (accessibility requirements) no longer apply. In
addition, DOT does not attest to the accuracy, relevance,
timeliness or completeness of information provided by linked
sites. Linking to a Web site does not constitute an
endorsement by DOT of the sponsors of the site or the
products presented on the site. For more information, please
view DOT's Web site linking policy.
To get back to the page you were previously viewing, click
your Cancel button.
United States Department of Transportation
[PDF-2.41 MB]
