USE OF HIGH‐ STRENGTH STEEL FOR SLENDER MEDIUM SPAN BRIDGES: TWO RECENT CASE STUDIES IN FRANCE.

This paper presents two cases of existing bridges with prestressed concrete deck replaced by composite steel‐concrete decks. The new decks provide a larger carriage width with increased load carrying capacity according to current design requirements. Furthermore, they have less piers (and therefore larger spans) but still keep the same construction height of the previous solutions. This leads to very slender continuous decks which are an optimal field of application for high‐strength steel. The technical solution adopted is an evolution of the traditional technology of composite steel‐concrete deck, commonly used in the span range between 20m and 40m. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]