July 1, 2025

Fall 2025 Course Spotlight - CE 597: Advanced Design of Steel Bridge Flexural Members

This course provides students with the necessary background to design steel I-section and box-section flexural members, along with their bracing and their connections and splices. The course utilizes FEA software commonly used in steel bridge design to support the fundamentals taught as well as to provide students with practice-oriented examples and exercises.

Course credit hours: 3 | Schedule: T-Th 3:00-4:15PM (KNOY B029) | CRN# 30214

Prerequisites: CE371, CE470, CE474, or equivalent

Lead Instructor

Francisco Bonachera Martin Ph.D., PE. - Visiting Professor, Purdue University

Course Objectives

This course provides students with the necessary background to design steel I-section and box-section flexural members, along with their bracing and their connections and splices.  The course utilizes FEA software commonly used in steel bridge design to support the fundamentals taught as well as to provide students with practice-oriented examples and exercises. 

The first part of the course focuses on the fundamental mechanical phenomena that is the basis of current steel bridge design specifications.  The second and third parts of the courses focus on the implementation of the AASHTO LRFD Bridge Design Specifications for I-section and box-section flexural members, respectively.  The fourth part of the course focuses on the design of steel connections, splices, and bracings elements. 

The course includes a summary review of longitudinal and transversal load distribution analysis in bridges to familiarize students with the calculation of demands used in steel bridge superstructure design.