REPLACEMENT OF REINFORCED-CONCRETE DECK OF CHAMPLAIN BRIDGE, MONTREAL, BY ORTHOTROPIC STEEL DECK

The Champlain Bridge, Montreal, Quebec, has recently undergone replace ment of its deteriorated reinforced concrete deck situated over the St . Lawrence Seaway with a new orthotropic steel deck. The new deck cons ists of 210 prefabricated steel panels which have been installed at th e rate of one panel per night. The panels arrived on site with a base course of pavement to allow traffic flow over the new panels without d isrupting the rush hour and daytime traffic. As a result of the new de ck being 25% lighter in weight, the reserve strength capacity of the s teel superstructure to accommodate live loads has increased sufficient ly to bring the bridge within the governing live load requirements of the CAN/CSA Standard S6-1988 ''Design of highway bridges.'' The govern ing design live loads on bridges have increased by about 50% since the original construction of the bridge over 30 years ago and reflect the larger vehicle weights permitted over Canadian roadways.