Once a bridge type is selected, the designer then advances to the detailed design of the bridge. Since the vast majority of steel bridges designed today are steel girders made composite with concrete bridge decks, this module covers many detail issues that are encountered when designing a composite deck girder system. This module addresses the desi
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Sections 1 and 3 of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) Load and Resistance Factor Design (LRFD) Bridge Design Specifications, 7th Edition discuss various aspects of loads. The load factors are tabulated in Table 3.4.1-1 of the AASHTO LRFD and are associated with various limit states and further various l
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This project was undertaken to investigate alternative Bridge Information Modeling (BrIM) standards. The process developed is called OpenBrIM. OpenBrIM is an alternative method for exchanging bridge information modeling data between different application platforms, organizations, and users. It is a community driven, free, open, on-cloud information
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The purpose of this example is to illustrate the use of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) Load and Resistance Factor Design (LRFD) Bridge Design for the design of a continuous two span steel I-girder bridge. The design process and corresponding calculations for steel I-girders are the focus of this exam
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The behavior of steel structures is an intricate and fascinating topic. This module is intended to serve as a guide to the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) Load and Resistance Factor Design (LRFD) Specifications and their representation of the behavior of steel bridge systems and members. The module focuse
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Tub girders, as closed-section structures, provide a more efficient cross section for resisting torsion than I-girders, which is especially important in horizontally curved highway bridges. The increased torsional resistance of a closed composite steel tub girder also results in an improved lateral distribution of live loads. For curved bridges, wa
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Tub girders are often selected over I-girders because of their pleasing appearance offering a smooth, uninterrupted, cross section. Bracing, web stiffeners, utilities, and other structural and nonstructural components are typically hidden from view within the steel tub girder, resulting in the tub girder’s clean appearance. Additionally, steel tub
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While the main focus of the Steel Bridge Design Handbook is the design of steel girder superstructures, the overall design process associated with the design of substructures is equally important. This module provides an overview of many issues associated with substructure and foundation design. Many factors influence the selection of substructure
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Fatigue in metals is the process of initiation and growth of cracks under the action of repetitive tensile loads. If crack growth is allowed to go on long enough, failure of the member can result when the uncracked cross-section is sufficiently reduced such that the member can no longer carry the internal forces for the crack extends in an unstable
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Redundancy is “the quality of a bridge that enables it to perform its design function in a damaged state” and it is considered a desired characteristic of good design. The consideration of redundancy affects the design, fabrication and in-service inspection of steel bridge members especially when they are classified as fracture critical member (a s
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The preparation of shop drawings is a very specialized process with its own language and methods. The drawings and data for fabrication are developed from information presented on the contract drawings. These drawings contain the basic bridge geometry, pier and sub-structure locations and design, as well as the sizes of all material, weld and bolt
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Load rating is defined as the determination of the live load carrying capacity of a bridge using as-built bridge plans and supplemented by information gathered from the latest field inspection. Load ratings are expressed as a rating factor or as a tonnage for a particular vehicle. Emphasis in load rating is on the live-load capacity and dictates th
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In the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) Load and Resistance Factor Design (LRFD) Bridge Design Specifications, a limit state is defined as “a condition beyond which the bridge or component ceases to satisfy the provisions for which it was designed.” Bridges designed using the limit-states philosophy of the
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The basic application of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) Load and Resistance Factor Design (LRFD) Bridge Design Specifications to the design of straight steel I-section flexural members is illustrated through this design example. The example illustrates the design of a typical three-span continuous st
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Horizontally curved steel bridges present many unique challenges. Despite their challenges, curved girder bridges have become widespread and are commonly used at locations that require complex geometries and have limited right-of-way, such as urban interchanges. Some of the important issues that differentiate curved steel girders from their straigh
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This design example presents an alternative design for that presented in the Steel Bridge Design Handbook Design Example 2A. Specifically, the design of a continuous steel wide-flange beam bridge is presented using a standard shape rolled I-beam, as an alternative to the plate girder design. The American Association of State Highway and Transportat
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Typically it is not possible to fabricate, handle, ship or erect the entire length of a girder in one piece. In these cases, provisions must be made to splice multiple pieces of the girder together in the field to provide the required length. These splices must be capable of transmitting the shear and moment in the girder at the point of the splice
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The primary function of a bridge deck is to support the vehicular vertical loads and distribute these loads to the steel superstructure. This module provides practical information regarding the decking options and design considerations for steel bridges, presenting deck types such as concrete deck slabs, metal grid decks, orthotropic steel decks, w
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In many cases, bridge designers concern themselves only with checking the stability and member stress levels in the structure for the in-service condition after erection of the entire superstructure is complete. But many times the critical stress in a particular component is encountered during the erection of the bridge where large unbraced lengths
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One of the initial choices to be made by the bridge designer is to select the most appropriate bridge type for the site. While this choice is not always straightforward, selecting the right structure type is probably the important aspect of designing a cost-effective bridge. This particular module provides bridge designers with the tools to select
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