Patent ID: 7556208
Filing Date: 2009-07-07
Classification: E01B

Abstract:
1. A pre-assembled structural unit, which when adjoined at a jobsite with other like units via joints will form a roadway for a high-speed rail line, the structural unit having its longest dimension extending in a longitudinal direction, the structural unit having been prefabricated before it reaches the jobsite where it is to be disposed above a carrier layer of the roadway and beneath the rails on which high-speed vehicles travel above the roadway, each such structural unit comprising: a unitary plate of concrete, the plate defining a first front side and a second front side disposed spaced apart from the first front side and generally parallel to the first front side, the plate defining a length dimension extending in the longitudinal direction between said first and second front sides, the plate defining a width dimension extending in a direction transverse to the longitudinal direction, the plate defining a thickness dimension extending in a direction perpendicular to both the longitudinal and transverse directions and parallel to the direction exerted by the force of gravity on the plate when the plate is disposed in use as part of the roadway for the high-speed rail line; the plate defining a top and a generally flat bottom, the top being spaced apart from the bottom by the thickness dimension of the plate and further away from the source of the gravitational force on the plate when the plate is disposed in use as part of the roadway for the high-speed rail line; the top defining a first dummy joint forming a shallow first groove that extends through the top of the plate but fails to extend continuously from the top to the bottom of the plate and thus forms a first dummy joint extending in the transverse direction, the first dummy joint being spaced in a longitudinal direction from said first front side by a first distance, the top defining a second dummy joint therein forming a shallow second groove that extends through the top of the plate but fails to extend continuously from the top to the bottom of the plate and thus forms a second dummy joint extending in a transverse direction, the second dummy joint being spaced in a longitudinal direction from said second front side by a second distance; at least one steel rod extending in the longitudinal direction completely through the plate, said at least one steel rod defining an intermediate section having opposed first and second ends, said at least one steel rod defining a first covered portion that is connected to and extends longitudinally from the first end of the intermediate section, said at least one steel rod defining a first free end portion that is connected to and extends longitudinally from the first covered portion, said at least one steel rod defining a second covered portion that is connected to and extends longitudinally from the second end of the intermediate section, said at least one steel rod defining a second free end portion that is connected to and extends longitudinally from the second covered portion, the first free end portion projecting externally from the first front side of the plate, the first covered portion extending longitudinally within the plate from the first front side of the plate and toward the first groove for less than the first distance, the second free end portion projecting externally from the second front side of the plate, the second covered portion extending longitudinally within the plate from the second front side of the plate and toward the second groove for less than the second distance, the intermediate section being embedded in and contacting the plate along the entire length of the intermediate section and held fixed against movement relative to the plate, each of the first and second covered portions of the at least one rod being disposed within the plate without being in contact with the plate.