Transportation Defined: Lost Decks
Transportation Defined: Lost Decks
A lost deck for the bridge at Waddell Road and the Loop 303. The "real" deck is poured on top of the wood framing system.
We’ve got another definition for you, and like last time, this one is related to construction sites.
A Lost Deck is basically a temporary wood framing system that is put in place prior to the rebar and “real” bridge deck being cast. It is built and set at a certain elevation to give the concrete from the “real” deck its proper thickness.
Once the concrete from the real deck is poured, there’s no way to retrieve the lost deck, hence its name.
While the lost deck doesn’t serve much of a purpose once the concrete from the actual deck has dried and strengthened, it is engineered false work that has to be designed to meet certain specifications and carry the weight of the rebar and wet concrete.
The photo above is the lost deck inside the bridge at Waddell Road and the Loop 303.
Transportation Defined is a series of explanatory blog posts designed to define the things you see on your everyday commute. Let us know if there's something you'd like to see explained ... leave a comment here on the blog or over on our Facebook page!