Patent ID: 7354219
Filing Date: 2008-04-08
Classification: E01D

Abstract:
1. A road expansion joint mounted in a space between vertical faces of first and second concrete roadway sections, the joint comprising: a first load-bearing member mounted to the vertical face of the first roadway section, the first load-bearing member having a retention cavity having an opening to provide access to the interior of retention cavity; a second load-bearing member mounted to the vertical face of the second roadway section, the second load-bearing member spaced from the first load-bearing member, the second load-bearing member having a retention cavity having an opening to provide access to the interior of the retention cavity of the second load-bearing member with the opening of the retention cavity of the second load-bearing member facing and spaced from the opening of the retention cavity of the first load-bearing member; first and second support members, the first support member securely mounted to the first load-bearing member with the first load-bearing member and the first support member in a fixed relationship to one another to provide a first chamber having an elongated opening to provide access to the interior of the first chamber, the second support member securely mounted to the second load-bearing member with the second load-bearing member and the second support member in a fixed relationship to one another to provide a second chamber having an elongated opening to provide access to the interior of the second chamber, with the elongated openings of the first and second chambers facing one another; an elongated first seal having a first side and an opposite second side, with the first side of the first seal in the retention cavity of the first load-bearing member and the first seal extending out of the opening of the retention cavity of the first load-bearing member and the second side of the first seal in the retention cavity of the second load-bearing member and the first seal extending out of the opening of the retention cavity of the second-load bearing member, wherein the first seal is recessed below the roadway over which traffic is expected to move; and an elongated second seal having a first side and a second side, with the first side of the second seal in the first chamber and the second seal extending out of the opening of the first chamber and the second side of the second seal in the second chamber and the second seal extending out of the second chamber, wherein as the first and second load-bearing members move away from one another, the first seal is put under tension and the ends of the second seal slide in their respective chamber and portions of the second seal move out of their respective chamber and, as the first and second load-bearing members move toward one another, the first seal compresses and the ends of the second seal slide in their respective chamber and portions of the second seal move into their respective chamber, wherein the first and second seals are not secured together and move independent of one another, and with the sides of secondary seal removed from their respective chamber the openings of the retention cavities of the first and second load-bearing members are accessible from above and below the expansion joint, and with sides of the primary seal in their respective retention cavities, the openings of the chambers are accessible from below the expansion joint.