GB2062717A

GB2062717A - Expansion Joints for Roads

Info

Publication number: GB2062717A
Application number: GB7937707A
Authority: GB
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1979-10-31
Filing date: 1979-10-31
Publication date: 1981-05-28
Also published as: GB2062717B; HK68883A

Abstract

An expansion joint 31 in which opposing upper wavy end face plates 38A with a regular gap 44 therebetween and lower wavy end face plates 38B with the upper end thereof bonded to the lower end of the upper wavy end face plates are provided oppositely, and an elastic means 45 is interposed between the two upper wavy end face plates. The upper edge of said upper wavy end face plates is made flush with or close to the road surface. Anchor materials 48 are provided protrudingly at the back of the two upper wary end face plates and are connected to reinforcing material. Concrete or synthetic resin is placed at the back of each of said wary end face plates and a small gap is provided between the lower end of said lower wary end face plate and the bottom surface of a joint fitting portion to prevent them from touching each other. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Expansion Joints for Roads This invention relates to expansion joints for bridging joints between pavement slabs in road bridges and elevated roads, and to a method of installing such expansion joints.

In order to compensate for expansion and contraction of concrete floor slabs, prestressed concrete girders, concrete girders, steel floor slabs, etc. in roads caused by changes in ambient temperature, it has been general practice to provide expansion members at the joints. For example, opposing end faces of adjacent concrete floor slabs at the joint are of such a type that as shown in Fig. 22, wavily bent vertical end face plates a, a are placed oppositely with a regular space b therebetween and thereafter concrete is deposited at the back thereof. This vertical end face plate a can be formed into an assembled joint member suitable for use at the installing site by carrying out welding of reinforcing material and preliminary assembling work at a factory or in the vicinity of the joint of a road.However, for the reasons of execution of works, transportation and standardization of size, height c of the vertical end face plate is limited to only several kinds within the range of 100--220 mm. Therefore, the thickness of a protrusion e of after-concreting enclosed with the vertical end face plate is inevitably smaller than the thickness of the floor slab and is not durable enough to stand the high load. In addition, depending upon the structure of a road, configuration of the neighbouring ground and executing conditions, the depths of opposing floor slabs at cutout portion are made larger than originally planned or are made different from each other. In these cases, the above-mentioned disadvantages become more conspicuous, involving such a defect as lack of unbalance of durability to load given by passing vehicles.

Whenever a vehicle passes over an elastic seal means of groove shape, the air is sucked into or sent into the groove, which generates noises. In order to prevent such noises, sealing rubber or the like is usually filled in such sealing rubber Moreover, such sealing rubber is expensive and easy to age. Also one of the features of the abovementioned vertical type expansion joint for road using wavily bent end face plates is that its wavy expansion spacing at the level of the road surface involves less shock caused by slipping in of vehicle tyres, as compared with the case of linear expansion spacing.It is only natural that the larger the angle of bend, the less the shock given to a vehicle passing over it but, on the other hand, in the case of a skew bridge, such problems as limitation on the angle of bend, increased steps of process in execution, higher cost, etc. are raised and it is therefore required to set the angle of bend properly.

The present invention seeks to eliminate or reduce the above-mentioned defects.

In accordance with the present invention there is provided an expansion joint characterized in that in opposing joint member fitting portions with an expansion joint therebetween, opposing upper wavy end face plates with a regular gap therebetween and lower wavy end face plates with the upper end thereof bonded to the lower end of the upper wavy end face plate are provided oppositely, upper edge of said upper wavy end face plates being provided in flush with or close to the road surface, and elastic seal means made of rubber or other soft, elastic material are interposed between said both upper wavy end face plates, anchor materials are provided protrudingly at the back of said both upper wavy end face plates and are connected to reinforcing material, concrete or synthetic resin is placed at the back of each of said wavy end face plates and a small gap is provided between the lower end of said lower wavy end face plate and the bottom surface of the joint fitting portion to prevent the both from touching with each other.

The vertical end face plate comprises an upper wavy end face plate and a lower wavy end face plate and, by connecting both end face plates together and installing them at the joint member securing portion, installation work of the upper wavy end face plate is made easier; the thickness of the protrusion of after-concreting is made larger; and the durability to load is increased; and also the wavy end face plate is made flat at both edges of the road, the joint clearance between wavy end face plates is provided either at the inside or the outside of both end faces of the expansion spacing of the joint, the wavy configuration of the wavy end face plate is adapted to different construction conditions according to the amount of expansion and contraction at the joint portion and the direction of bridging, and improvement in the efficiency of installing end face plates at both edges of road, wavy end face plates and elastic seal means is effected.

In the expansion joints of the invention, for a road of such construction that in the joint member securing portions which oppose to each other through the medium of an expansion spacing, adjacent upper wavy end face plates each of which is connected with respective lower wavy end face plate are opposed with a regular gap therebetween and upper edge of said upper wavy end face plate is provided exactly or nearly flush with the road surface, an expansion member made of elastic material such as rubber is interposed between opposing upper wavy end face plates, anchor material and reinforcing material are provided at the back of the both upper wavy end face plates, concrete or the like is deposited at the back of each wavy end face plate and a small gap is made between the lower edge of the lower wavy end face plate and the bottom surface of the joint member securing portion.

In order that the invention may be better understood, several embodiments thereof will now be described by way of example only and with reference to the accompanying drawings in which Figure 1 is a plan view of the expansion joint with no after-concreting; Figure 2 is a cross section of the expansion joint taken on the line Il-I I of Figure 1; Figure 3 is a sketch showing the plan view of an end face plate as it is sectioned; Figure 4 is an enlarged view of an elastic seal means; Figure 5 is a front view of an elastic seal means at the curb portion; Figure 6 is a cross section of the elastic seal means taken on the line VI--VI of Figure 5; Figure 7 is a plan view of the expansion joint in Embodiment No. 2, with no after-concreting;; Figure 8 is a plan view of the expansion joint in Embodiment No. 3, with no after-concreting; Figure 9 is a perspective view of each joint member; Figure 10 is a perspective view of a part of an upper way end face plate of the intermediate joint member cut in lengthwise direction of a bridge; Figure 1 1 is a perspective view of a part of a lower wavy end face plate cut in lengthwise direction of a bridge; Figure 12 is a perspective view of a part of a bottom member cut in lengthwise direction of a bridge; Figure 13 is a cross section of a part of the expansion joint, showing another embodiment of a bottom member; Figure 14 is a cross section of a part of the expansion joint, showing the elastic seal means of Embodiment No. 4; Figure 1 5 is a cross section of a part of the expansion joint, showing the elastic seal means of Embodiment No. 5;; Figure 1 6 is a cross section of a part of the expansion joint, showing the elastic seal means of Embodiment No. 6; Figure 17 7 is a vertical cross section, in lengthwise direction of a bridge, of the expansion joint shown in Figure 7; Figure 18 is a perspective view of the expansion joint of Figure 17; Figure 1 9 is a cross section of a part of the joint member showing the elastic seal means of Embodiment No. 8; Figure 20 is a cross section of the elastic seal means of Embodiment No. 9; Figure 21 is a side view of the elastic seal means of Embodiment No. 9; Figure 22 is a cross section of a conventional expansion joint.

Referring to the drawings, the various embodiments will now be described in turn as follows: Embodiment No. 1 This embodiment is characterized in that the angle a and the angle P, each of which is formed by a wall in a wavy end face plate and the end face of an expansion spacing at the joint portion, are equal to each other as is best shown in Figure 3 where an end face plate 32 is shown in plan view as it is sectioned into an end face plate 38 at a lateral edge portion and an wavy end face plate 42.

Numeral 31 is an expansion joint for a road according to the present invention. Numeral 32 is an end face plate of steel make comprising an end face plate 38 at a lateral edge portion, including an upper end face plate at a lateral edge portion 38A and a lower end face plate at a lateral edge portion 388 of a lateral edge portion 33 of road, and a wavy end face plate 42, including an upper wavy end face plate 42A and a lower wavy end face plate 42B of a road intermediate portion.In a road joint portion, the afore-mentioned upper wavy end face plates 42A, 42A are opposed to each other with a regular gap 44 therebetween; reinforcing materials 48, 48 are provided protrudingly, in lengthwise direction of a bridge, at the back of said upper wavy end face plates; an intermediate joint member 43 (Fig. 9) is formed by heat-bonding an expansion member 45, such as an expansion plate of groove shape made of rubber or other soft and elastic material, between said both upper wavy end face plates; upper edges 51, 51 of said upper wavy end face plates are made to be exactly or nearly flush with the surface of pavement 57 by using a lateral rod 71 (Fig. 2); the center of the opposing width S between said upper wavy end face plates 42A, 42A is made to conform to the center of the expansion spacing 36 of floor slabs 34, 34 (the fixed position of cutout portion 52, 52); a bottom member 73A made of styrene foam plate, rubber plate or the like which is softer than steel or concrete and has such a thickness (10 m.m., for example) that prevents the lower end of a lower wavy end face plate 428 (to be mentioned later) from touching a bottom 72 of the cutout portion 52 is laid in bridging state; lower wavy end face plates 428, 42B are mounted on said bottom member 73A in opposing state; upper edge portions 74, 74 of said lower wavy end face plates 42B, 428 are butted to lower edge portioms 77,77 of the backs 75,75 (or opposing inner faces 76, 76 in some cases) of said upper wavy end face plates 42A, 42A and the both wavy end face plates 42A, 42A S 428, 42B are fixed together by means of spot welding, intermittent welding, etc to be formed into wavy end face plates 42, 42; the aforementioned reinforcing members 48, 48 are welded to a main reinforcement 53, a bearing reinforcing bar 54 and a distribution bar 55 at intersections; and concrete 56 is placed at the back of end face plates 32, 32 (Fig 4).

The bottom member 73A made of styrene foam plate may be replaced by a bottom plate 738 (Fig. 13) which is kept from touching the bottom 72 of the cutout portion 52 by sheathing boards 78, 78 which are fixed at the back of the lower wavy end face plate 42B and at the side of the bottom plate 73B, whereby a gap Xis made between the bottom plate 73B and the bottom 72 of the cutout portion 52.

The above-mentioned wavy end face plates 42A, 428 can be thin wavy plates (deck plates, corrugated plates, etc) available on the market.

In the above embodiment, the cutout portion 52 is provided on a main girder 35 but a prestressed concrete girder (PC girder) or a concrete girder can be used instead of a main girder.

The aforementioned end face plates 32, 32 are in parallel with expansion spacing end faces 37, 37 of concrete floor slabs 34, 34 or main girders 35, 35 at the lateral edge portions 33,33 of the road and an end face plate 38 at the lateral edge portion is composed inside the both end faces 37, 37 of expansion spacing (or outside of or at the position in conformity to both end faces 37, 37) by an opposing first wall W1 and a second wall W2 which is opposed to the first wall in oblique direction.In the case where expansion spacing of adjacent floor slabs is made small due to shortness and small expansion of bridge girders, the first walls W1, W, can be provided at the outside of the expansion spacing end faces 37, 37 or with the first wall W1 conformed to the expansion spacing end faces 37, 37. Where necessary, the second wall W2 can be provided at a right angle to the first wall W1.

In the road intermediate portion 41 between the both lateral edge portions 33, 33, wavy end face plates 42, 42 are formed by a third wall W3 in parallel with said expansion spacing end faces 37, 37, a fourth wall W4 forming the angle a in relation to said expansion spacing end face, a fifth wall W5 in parallel with said expansion spacing end face and a sixth wall We forming the angle P, which is equal to the angle a, in relation to said expansion spacing end face. Said wavy end face plates 42, 42 and the aforementioned end face plates 38, 38 at the lateral edge portion are opposed to each other, with a regular gap 44 kept therebetween, and are connected to conform to the road width or a widthwise length of the road.

The aforementioned angles a and p are so set that they are within the range of 25 0--60 0.

Upper end portions 46, 46 of an expansion member 45 made of soft material such as rubber, synthetic resin or the like are heat-bonded to upper end portions of the afore-mentioned upper end face plates 38A, 38A at the lateral edge portions and the upper wavy end face plates 42A, 42A. Thus, the expansion member 45 of U shape in section is held deformably and a watertight expansion seal means 47 is composed by the expansion member 45, a particle layer 58 and a covering layer of soft quality 59 (to be mentioned later).

The expansion joint according to this embodiment is of universal type and can be applied to a wide range including a long bridge with large expansion spacings, a short bridge with small expansion spacings and even a skew bridge.

Embodiment No. 2 This embodiment is the case where the angle a and the angle ss formed between two wavy walls and expansion spacing end faces are unequal to each other. This embodiment is shown only in Fig.

7 in plan view.

This embodiment is the same as Embodiment No. 1, with the exception that the angle a formed between the expansion spacing end face 37 and the fourth wall W4 of the wavy end face plate 42 is made wider than the angle p formed between said expansion spacing end face 37 and the sixth wall We of said wavy end face plate 42, or the angle a is made almost equal to the right angle, or the angular ratio of the angle a and the angle p is made reverse.

The expansion joint of this embodiment is for a long bridge with big expansion spacings and can lessen shocks generated when a vehicle passes over it.

Embodiment No 3 This embodiment is shown only in Fig. 8 in plan view and is the case where configuration of wave shapes in the wavy end face plate is arcuate. This embodiment is the same as Embodiment No. 1, excepting that wavy end face plates 42, 42 are bent in such a fashion that they have convexed arcuate walls 62 and concaved arcuate walls 63 alternately alongside the end face of expansion spacing end face 37 and thus made into opposing arcuate walls 64, 64 with a regular gap 44 therebetween.

The expansion joint of this embodiment is for a short bridge with small expansion spacings. It is simple in construction and easy to install.

At a factory or in the vicinity of an installing site, firstly an intermediate joint member 43 of 1-2 meters in length is formed by setting up upper wavy end face plates 42A, 42A in opposition, using a proper framework, by heatbonding an expansion member 45 to the end face plates, and by fixing reinforcing materials at the back of said upper wavy end face plates 42A, 42A. At the same time, an offset joint member 39 and an extreme lateral edge joint member 40 which constitute upper lateral edge end face plates 38A, 38A are formed in the desired length and in the construction similar to the intermediate joint member 43. After the preparatory processing of the joint members 39, 40, 43 is completed, they are delivered to the actual spot for installation.

At an intermediate portion 41 of a road, bottom members 73A (73B) are mounted over main girders 35, 35 with an expansion spacing 36 between concrete floor slabs 34, 34 therebetween; lower end face plates 42B,42B are set on the said bottom members to fit the back surface of the upper end face plate 42A to the opposing inner surfaces of said lower end face plates; upper edges 51,51 of said upper end face plate 42A are welded to the substantially same level as the surface of a pavement 57; several intermediate joint members 43, each 1-2 meters in length, are arranged as they are combined and are connected together into an integral member; reinforcing materials 48 for said intermediate joint member 43 are connected by welding to steel bars 53, 54, 55 at intersections.

Then, at the lateral edge portion 33, 33 of roads, an offset joint member 39 and the extreme lateral edge joint member 40 are arranged connectively to the intermediate joint member 43.

In the same way as in the case of the intermediate joint member 43, the back of the upper lateral edge end face plate 38A is welded to the inner surfaces of opposing lower lateral end face plates 38B, 38B and reinforcing materials 48 are welded and fixed to steel bars 53, 54, 55. Thus, joint members 39, 40, 43 are connected to each other and expansion members 45, 45 are also connected to each other and lastly concrete 56 is placed at the back of joint members 39, 40, 43 and the cutout portion 52.

The elastic seal means 47 comprises the expansion member 45 in which mineral particles which are non-water absorptive and weatheringresistant are filled to form a particle layer 58 and a soft covering layer 59 of rubber or the like. Thus, the expansion joint 31 is completed.

The installation of the expansion joint can also be carried out in the following way.

Instead of such construction that the cutout portion 52, 52 are formed by chipping the opposing ends of floor slabs 34 and joint members 39, 40, 43 are connected to said cutout portions, an unconcreted portion (not shown in the drawing) is made at opposing ends of floor slabs when making floor slabs 34, 34 by concreting, and supporting bars 54, 54 at the bottom of the unconcreted portions are connected to both reinforcing materials 48, 48 and main reinforcement 53, 53 and the bottom member 73A (738) is mounted between lower edges of lower end face plates 388, 42B of joint members 39, 40, 43 and the bottom of the unconcreted portion. Then, concrete 56 is placed in the unconcreted portion.In the area of snowfall, in preparations for wear and tear of the surface of pavement 57 by repeated snowremoving work, it is possible that the upper edges 51, 51 of the end face plates 32,32 are made lower than the level of the pavement 57 so as to prolong the cycle of repairing expansion joint due to exposure of the upper edge 51.

Now, referring to the watertight construction at a curb portion, as shown in Fig. 5 and Fig. 6, numeral 65 denotes curb portions at both ends of the road width. Flat end face plates 66, 66 at the curb portions are opposed to each other with the gap 44 (the same gap as in thewcase of end face plates 38A and 42A) therebetween. An inverted-L shape expansion member 67 is connected at its upper end to the end face plate 66 which is nearer the edge of road width and thus a joint member 68 at the curb portion is formed. The expansion member 67 is connected to the expansion member 45 of the extreme lateral edge joint member 40 and the lower edge (at the road side) of the curb joint member 68 is connected to the upper edge of the extreme lateral edge joint member 40.The particle layer 58 and the soft covering layer 59 of the elastic seal means 47 are extended to a part 69 of the curb portion 65 and the back of the curb joint member 68 is fixed to concrete of the curb portion 65 by the reinforcing material 70.

Embodiment No 4 This embodiment differs from Embodiment No.

1 in respect of the elastic seal means.

As shown in Fig. 14, the elastic seal means 47 has an expansion member 45A which is made by providing a proper bottom member (for example, styrene foam plate) between upper wavy end face plates 42A, 42A and liquefied rubber or other soft, flexible material is poured into there to set.

This means is employed widely.

Embodiment No. 5 This embodiment also differs from Embodiment No. 1 in respect of the elastic seal means.

As shown in Fig. 15, the elastic seal means 47 is arranged by making bolt holes in both ends of the elastic member 458 (similar to the elastic member 45 in Embodiment No. 1) at regular intervals in road width direction and by fitting bolts 95 which are passed through the upper wavy end face plates 42A, 42A in said bolt holes 95 and then tightening the bolts by nuts 97, using washers 96. This embodiment is similar to Embodiment No. 1 in the other parts.

Embodiment No. 6 This embodiment is also differs from Embodiment No. 1 in respect of the elastic seal means.

As shown in Fig. 16, the elastic seal means 47 is composed of an expansion member 45C, a particle layer 58 and a sealing member 88. The expansion member 45C is made of rubber or other soft, elastic material and has an expansion portion 83 at the middle part thereof. Cushion portions 85, 85 are made integrally with both end portions 84, 84. Fitting grooves 79 are made in the both cushion portions and are fitted in the upper edges of the upper wavy end face plates 42A, 42A and are fixed. The particle layer 58 is provided in the groove of said expansion portion 83. A sealing member (sealing lid) 88 taking the shape in cross section and having at both ends thereof fitting portions 87, 87 is pressed upon the surface of the particle layer 58. Thus, fitting portions 90, 90 of = shape provided.

at the upper portion 89 of the expansion member 83 lock the fitting portions 87, 87.

Embodiment No. 7 This embodiment is similar to Embodiment No.

6 in the shape of the elastic seal means.

As shown in Fig. 17 and Fig. 18, the elastic seal means 47 is composed of an expansion member 45D, a connecting metal fitting 80, a particle layer 58 and a sealing material 88. The connecting metal fitting 80 comprises a connecting part 81, a bonding part 82 and a groove part 86 which is made by bending a steel sheet in 7-shape in cross section. The expansion member 45D is made of rubber or other soft, elastic material and has an expansion part 83 at the middle thereof. Cushion portions 85, 85 are made integrally with both ends 84, 84 of the expansion part 83. These cushion portions 85, 85 are bonded to the surfaces of the outer side, upper side and inner side of the groove portion 86, which are fitted to the upper end of the end face plate 32, whereby the connecting metal fitting 80 is fixed.

The composition of the particle layer 58 and the sealing material 88 is the same as in the case of Embodiment No. 6 and therefore no explanation is made of it. In the elastic seal means of this embodiment, the groove 86 of the connecting metal fitting 80 is fitted to the upper ends of the end face plates 32,32 and the connecting portions 81,81 of said connecting metal fitting 80 are welded and fixed to the back of the end face plates 32, 32 by spot-welding.

The above-mentioned connecting metal fitting 80 may be arranged in such a fashion that the connecting part 82 is extended downwardly to be -shaped in cross section and the part which is extended to the inner opposing surfaces of the end face plates 32, 32 is deposited.

Embodiment No. 8 This embodiment differs from any of the foregoing embodiments in respect of the elastic seal means.

As shown in Fig. 19, the elastic seal means 47 is composed of an expansion member 45E, a connecting metal fitting 80A, a particle layer 58 and a sealing material 88. Opposing connecting metal fittings 80A are made of steel sheet which is flat in cross section. The half of the connecting metal fitting 80A is a contact surface 91,91 with the expansion member 45E and the remaining half is a connecting part 81, 81 with the end face plates 32, 32. The end portions 84, 84 of the expansion member 45E are bonded to said contact surface 91, 91 and the connecting part 81, 81 is fixed to the inner side of the end face plates 32, 32 by spot-welding. The particle layer 58 is provided in the groove of the expansion member 45E and the seal material 88 is mounted on said particle layer.This embodiment is similar to Embodiment No. 1 in the other parts Embodiment No. 9 This embodiment also differs from any of the foregoing embodiments in respect of the elastic seal means.

As shown in Figure 20 and Figure 21, the elastic seal means 47 is composed of an expansion member 45F, a connecting metal fitting 808, a particle layer 58 and a sealing material 88. Opposing connecting metal fittings 80B are formed by bending a steel sheet in square trough in cross section. At the inner side pieces 92, 92 of said connecting metal fitting 80B are provided connecting parts 81,81 and bonding parts 82, 82. Both ends 84, 84 of the expansion member 45F are bonded to said bonding parts 82, 82 and the remaining part is the connecting part 81,81. Groove parts 86,86 of the connecting parts 81, 81 are fitted to the upper ends of the end face plates 32,32 and the connecting parts 81, 81 are fixed to the end face plates 32, 32 by means of spot-welding or by other method.Anchor materials 94, 94 are arranged, at equal intervals, at the back of the lower end portion of outer side pieces 93, 93 of the connecting part in road width direction. This embodiment is similar to Embodiment No. 1 in all the other parts.

The foilowing advantages are claimed for the expansion joints described above.

The expansion joint is constructed as described above and concrete portions at the back of end face plates are formed in the thickness corresponding to the thickness of floor slab and pavement, namely, the total height of the end face plates, or 5-10 mm more than that.

Therefore, even if opposing cutout portions are not uniform or are made deeper than planned, the depth of cutout portion can be utilized effectively for increasing the sfrength of the cutout portion.

Waviness of the gap at the joint is effective for decreasing shocks given to vehicles passing over the expansion joint and for preventing water leakage at the gap between end face plates.

Moreover, as the gap at the lateral edge portion of a road is made almost equal to the expansion spacing, connecting structure of the lateral end portion and a curb portion of a road can be made simple.

Such an expansion -means as mentioned in the embodiments make it possible to form joint member, either linear or wavy, not only at a factory but also in the vicinity of the joints of a road. Therefore, adaptability of work to the changes of design and executing conditions is very high and the process control is easy. As the joint member can be made into divided unit parts, stock control and transportation control can be simplified to a large extent. Since fillers in the groove of the expansion member are easy to handle and are particles, such as silica, of uniform diameter, they are free from congealing.

Moreover, as the particle layer is covered with a soft covering layer or sealing material, they are kept from scattering. As the upper side of the soft covering layer or the sealing material is formed in shallow groove-shape, earth and sand deposited in this groove are carried away by the natural wind or the wind generated by passing vehicles.

Thus, depositing of earth and sand in the groove can be prevented. Particles to be filled are very low in cost and, coupled with the installation structure of end face plates at the lateral end portion of a rod, produces sound-arresting effect.

The expansion joint described above also has the advantage that it requires less work for execution and maintenance than the conventional expansion joint.

Claims

1. An expansion joint characterized in that in opposing joint member fitting portions with an expansion joint therebetween, opposing upper wavy end face plates with a regular gap therebetween and lower wavy end face plates with the upper end thereof bonded to the lower end of the upper wavy end face plates are provided oppositely upper edge of said upper wavy end face plates being provided in flush with or close to the road surface, and elastic seal means made of rubber or other soft, elastic material are interposed between said both upper wavy end face plates, anchor materials are provided protrudingly at the back of said both upper wavy end face plates and are connected to reinforcing material, concrete or synthetic resin is placed at the back of each of said wavy end face plates and a small gap is provided between the lower end of said lower wavy end face plate and the bottom surface of the joint fitting portion to prevent the both from touching with each other.

2. An expansion joint as claimed in claim 1, wherein the upper wavy end face plates are in contact with opposing inner surfaces of the lower wavy end face plates.

3. An expansion joint as defined in claim t wherein the upper wavy end face plates are in contact with the back of lower wavy end face plates.

4. An expansion joint as claimed in claim 1, wherein the lower wavy end face plate has a bottom member at the protruding lower end portion thereof.

5. An expansion joint as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the wavy end face plate is formed by walls of circular arc shape.

6. An expansion joint as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the elastic seal means is a grooved expansion plate made of rubber or the like and the end portion thereof, is fixed to an opposing inner wavy surfaces of steel sheets.

7. An expansion joint as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the elastic seal means comprises an expansion member made of rubber or other elastic material, a particle layer filled in a groove made in said expansion member and a soft covering layer which covers the upper surface of said particle layer with rubber or other sealing material.

8. An expansion joint as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the elastic seal means is covered with the expansion plate made of rubber or the like which is fixed to the opposing inner surfaces of the upper wavy end face plates and with the sealing material comprising layer of nonwater absorptive, weathering-resistant, chemically stabilized particles, such as fine gravels, filled in the groove of said expansion plate and a layer of elastic material such as rubber laid on said particle layer.

9. An expansion joint as defined in any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the elastic seal means is fillers of rubber, synthetic resin or the like put in opposing inner surfaces of steel sheets.

10. An expansion joint as claimed in any one of' claims 1 to 5, wherein the elastic seal means has opposing connecting metal fittings, each comprising a bonding portion and a connecting portion, said bonding portion being bonded with both ends of an expansion plate made of rubber or other soft, elastic material and said connecting portion being welded or locked in the lateral edge end face plate and the wavy end face plate.

11. An expansion joint as claimed in claim 10, wherein opposing connecting metal fittings are formed by bending a metal sheet in shape or 7figure shape, upper surfaces of the outer side, upper side and inner side of the groove of said connecting metal fitting are the contact surface with the expansion plate and the remaining is a connecting part with both end face plates, the expansion plate is bonded to said contact surface, the groove is fitted to the upper end of both end face plates and the connecting portion is fixed to the outer surface of both end face plates.

1 2. An expansion joint as claimed in claim 10, wherein opposing connecting metal fittings are metal sheets which are flat in cross section, half of said connecting metal fitting is a contact surface with the expansion plate and the remaining half is a connecting portion with the end face plates, both end portions of the expansion plate are bonded to said contact surface and the connecting portion is fixed to the inside of both end face plates.

13. An expansion joint as claimed in claim 10, wherein opposing connecting metal fittings are formed by bending a metal sheet in square trough shape in cross section, an inner side piece of a groove of said connecting metal fitting is a contact surface with the expansion plate and the remaining part is a connecting portion with the both end face plates, said contact surface is bonded with both end portions of the expansion plate, the groove of said connecting portion is fitted to the upper end of the both end face plates and said connecting portion is fixed to the both end face plates.

14. An expansion joint substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Figures 1 to 21 of the accompanying drawings.