In the Netherlands an asphaltic surfacing structure for orthotropic steel bridge decks mostly consists of two structural layers. The upper layer consists of Porous Asphalt (PA) because of reasons related to noise hindrance. For the lower layer a choice between Mastic Asphalt (MA) or Guss Asphalt (GA), can be made. In this paper, a typical Dutch steel bridge deck surfacing system is simulated by means of the three-dimensional fmite element system CAPA 3D. Special attention is given to the structural distress phenomena and the parameters that influenced them. The FE model shows the distribution of strains and stresses inside the surfacing materials depends highly on the wheel load level, wheel load frequency, wheel position, membrane bonding strength as well as the thicknesses and the characteristics of the surfacing layers.