Back
As a follow up to last month’s post, here are some more ideas to help keep debris/gravel off the bearing seats of bridges with an open steel grid deck. Large amounts of debris, which includes road salt piled against steel members, causes corrosion and deterioration of your bridge. This eventually leads to costly maintenance if not removed.
One bridge owner used old corrugated metal roofing to deflect the debris off of the beam seats (see photo below).
Another bridge owner’s strategy was to weld plates to the bottom of the deck and fill in the area above the beams with concrete (see photo below).
Both tactics can help to limit the amount of debris/gravel that falls on the beam seat areas, but debris will still accumulate and require cleaning at some point in time.
If your municipality is interested in filling an open steel grid deck with concrete, be sure to consult with an engineer first, to understand if there will be any impacts to your structure from the additional concrete dead loads. LDG is always available to help out.