Fatigue durability assessment procedure is not well established for expansion joints of highway bridges, although they are subjected to wheel loads directly. First, basic information needed for fatigue assessment of expansion joints, such as axle loading and its number of cycles, ways to determine fatigue strength curves, i.e. S-N curves of the detail, and assessment procedure, is summarized. Then, the procedure is applied to modular type expansion joints, which consisted of center beams, which are supported by support beams with bearings. Wheel loads run on the center beams, of which the number can be changed according to bridge span. The modular type expansion joints thus can be used for medium to long span highway bridges. In this analysis, fatigue assessments of the joints is carried out for design wheel loading, as well as the wheel loadings in service of major highways in Japan, which were measured by Bridge Weigh-in-Motion system.
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