Strength of Reinforced Concrete Bridge Decks Under Compressive Membrane Action. Discussion and Closure

A discussion of an earlier paper with the aforementioned title, written by A. Hon et al. and published in this journal (Volume 102, Number 3, May-June 2005), is presented. The discussers state that the authors, in dealng with the subject of arching (or compressive membrane action) in bridge deck slabs, do not appear to make use of the considerable body of research conducted in North America and Japan which has been reported in easily-accessible technical literature. A number of points are raised related to the strengths and weaknesses of the original paper, and closure from the authors is provided on the discussers' comments.