Guideway units for elevated guideways

A guideway unit for use in combination with a settable material in the construction of an elevated guideway, the unit comprising:

• an elongated closed end watertight metal channel constituted by a bottom metal wall member, spaced side metal wall members, and end metal wall members closing the respective ends of the channel for the retention of settable material therein, the said channel having respective interior walls provided by the said wall members;
• at least one elongated metal hollow tubular void-forming member extending the length of the channel in the interior thereof, and connected at its respective ends to the end metal wall members so as to constitute longitudinal reinforcement for the channel, each hollow void-forming member being spaced from the channel interior walls and being connected to a channel interior wall along its length by at least one longitudinal web member fastened to the tubular member external wall and to the respective channel interior wall;
• and set settable material filling the metal channel and surrounding each hollow void-forming member and the respective longitudinal web member so as to enclose them;
• the metal channel constituting permanent formwork for the settable material and together with the set settable material constituting a composite slab with composite action between the channel and the set settable material, the metal tubular void-forming members providing tension reinforcement for the composite slab;
• and
• the set settable material having an upper surface capable of providing or supporting a roadway for vehicles moving on the guideway.