Institute for Transportation

Introduction

Short span steel bridges provide vital links in the nation’s infrastructure network. Yet, nearly a quarter of these bridges are classified as structurally deficient or functionally obsolete. The steel industry has developed technological and design innovations for bridges under 140 feet that save significant time and costs for county and state bridge officials.

The Short Span Steel Bridge Alliance (SSSBA), hosted by the Iowa LTAP, is presenting a 2-part webinar series for bridge professionals on February 5 and February 26, 2021 (attendees will need to register for each week separately) to provide educational information on the design and installation of press brake tub girders and buried soil bridge structures. A distinguished panel of industry experts has been assembled to present.

Click on the right to register for the February 26 (second) event, and click HERE to register for the February 5 (first) event.

Description – Part 2

This presentation is focused on the development of modular shallow trapezoidal boxes fabricated from cold-bent structural steel plate using standard mill plate widths and thicknesses. This concept was developed by a technical working group within the Short Span Steel Bridge Alliance, led by Dr. Karl Barth, West Virginia University. The goal of this project was to develop an innovative and economical modular solution for the short-span steel bridge market.

Presented is the methodology used for the design of this system along with experimental validation of the modular composite girder’s flexural capacity and recently develop standards. A case study will also be presented to showcase the use of this system within a local county. Using experimentally verified analytical methods, the applicability of AASHTO specifications in computing the flexural capacity of the proposed system was assessed. Results of this study show that AASHTO specifications are conservative when employed to compute the composite girder’s ultimate capacity. Therefore, a more accurate means of computing the capacity of the proposed system are proposed.

Speaker Bios – Part 2

Dr. Karl Barth is the Jack H. Samples Distinguished Professor of structural engineering at West Virginia University (WVU). Prior to his appointment at WVU, he completed his doctorate degree at Purdue University and served as a bridge engineer for CH2M Hill. His primary research interest is in the area of steel bridge design, rating, behavior, and analysis. Much of Dr. Barth’s work is in codes and standards development where he was a contributing author to major revisions to the AASHTO LRFD Bridge code provisions for steel girder bridges. Dr. Barth is currently one of the leaders of the Short Span Steel Bridge Alliance’s Bridge Technology Center – and is a nationally known expert on the design and construction of press brake tub girders for short span application.

Guy Nelson is the Business Development Director of Press-Brake-Formed Steel Tub Girders at Valmont Industries, Inc. Prior to Valmont, he was a founding member of TEGcivil Engineering and he continues to provide service as a Senior Structural Engineer with TEG. He has more than 23 years of experience in design and construction services, specifically related to bridges, retaining structures and precast concrete structures. Guy’s structural transportation career started in 1998 on the $2.5 billion I‐15 project in Salt Lake City and he recently worked on the $3 billion I‐4 project in Orlando, FL. His expertise in press-brake tub girders has contributed to successful bridge installation and replacement projects throughout North America. From San Antonia, Texas to Saskatchewan, Canada, Guy can be found providing innovative and effective bridge solutions to the transportation industry.