A _____ (or road bed) is the roadway, or the pedestrian walkway, surface of a bridge.

• A. Bridge deck system
• B. Bridge deck
• C. Roadbed
• D. Deck slab

Answer: (B)

The surface on a bridge that carries vehicles and pedestrians is the bridge deck. It sits atop the supporting structure and forms the horizontal plane that traffic travels on, typically built as a reinforced concrete slab or steel deck with a topping and wear surface. The roadbed refers to the foundation and preparatory layers beneath pavement, so it isn’t the surface of the bridge itself. A deck slab is a component of the deck, not the whole surface, and a deck system denotes the entire deck assembly including its supporting elements. Since the question is about the surface used as the roadway or walkway on a bridge, the correct term is bridge deck.