Expansion joint and seal

Claim 1

An expansion joint structure useful as bridge deck and pavement joints comprising a pair of opposed, elongated, side frames respectively having a vertical wall and a bottom wall with an upwardly-facing, longitudinal, first groove in said bottom wall, said groove having opposed, horizontal lips, a second longitudinal groove formed at the juncture of said vertical and bottom walls and having a horizontal lip, means for rigidly mounting said frames along the respective edges of a pavement or bridge deck joint, an elastomer tread extending across said joint between said frames with longitudinal side portions of said tread overlying the bottom wall of each of said frames, elastomer, longitudinal beads on the bottom of said tread releasably interlocked in said grooves in said side frames, said side portions of said tread being connected by elastomer wall means which spans the joint and which deforms as the joint contracts, said frames each having a longitudinal flange projecting horizontally away from said bottom wall at the bottom of said vertical wall, slot means in both said bottom wall and said flange for accomodating bolt means for securing said frames to pavement or a bridge deck, and said frames comprising abutting, end-to-end sections with a gasket therebetween, a bracket attached to each end-to-end section by bolts mounted in said slot means, and additional bolt means extending through respective brackets for drawing said sections together and compressing the gasket therebetween.