RJW Finger Joints are a simplistic design with no moving parts that are designed to accommodate any bridge deck expansion joint movement.
Finger Joints are cantilevered or simply supported steel tooth expansion joints. They are comprised of pairs of independent elements with parallel teeth provided in lengths from 3 feet to full roadway widths. RJW Finger Joints are used to provide support to vehicles as they travel across bridge expansion joint openings. They create an effective seal at the joint opening, preventing water and deleterious materials from contacting the steel support girders and bearings below.
RWJ Finger Joints were installed on the Ohio River Bridge
Why RJW Finger Joints?
The maintenance crews like them because they are designed for ease of maintenance with a small crew and minimal lane closure time. They can be fabricated to meet bridge deck skews and can be supplied with post tensioned anchors into concrete headers, cast into concrete blockouts, or bolted to existing steel members
Bridge owners like them because they can be supplied with post tensioned anchors into concrete headers, cast into concrete blockouts, or bolted to existing steel members and the joints will last the life of the bridge under normal circumstances
Communities prefer them because they provide a smooth transition for vehicular traffic, resulting in low noise
Expansion Joint Systems
RJ Watson is located outside of Buffalo, NY and has a state of the art 70,000 square foot facility for engineering, fabrication and testing of bearings, joints and other structural devices
Testing
A 2 million cycle fatigue test was performed on an RJ Watson finger joint. The universal test fixture with a long actuator was used to repeat the 28 kip axial load. The 6.25 mile cumulative sliding test was performed successfully on the large movement finger joint specimen. Total displacement exceeded 32 inches employing our large stoke actuator which easily accommodated this displacement. The fixture contained aggregate on the slide surface which provided a realistic wear simulation for the test.
