CE 49700 - Design and Evaluation of Steel Highway Bridges

Credits and contact hours:

  • 3 credits
  • Lecture meets 2 times per week for 75 minutes per meeting for the duration of the semester

Specific Information:

  • Catalog description: This course provides students with the necessary tools to perform the design of straight steel I-girder bridge superstructures with non-slender webs.  The course focuses on practical application of the current bridge design and load rating procedures. This includes capacity calculations for I-girder sections and bracing members, design and evaluation of bolted and welded connections, and calculation of camber and screed elevations.  These will be as detailed in the AASHTO LRFD Bridge Design Specifications and the Manual for Bridge Evaluation.  Finite element analysis software used in bridge design will be used to illustrate the theoretical background and to apply the course content.
  • Prerequisites: CE 371 (Structural Analysis I) or equivalent
  • Recommended Prerequisities: CE 497 (Loading and Analysis for Steel Bridge Design and Evaluation)
  • Course status: Technical elective

Course Goals:

  • Design steel I-girders for which Appendix A6 of the AASHTO LRFD Bridge Design Specifications applies.
  • Calculate capacity of steel I-girders for load rating. 
  • Design of steel tension members.
  • Design of steel compression members.
  • Design of welded and bolted connections between bracing and I-girders. 
  • Use commercial FEA software to compute camber and screed calculations.

Course Topics:

  • Review of loading and demand calculations for steel I-girder design and evaluation. 
  • Calculation of section properties used in steel I-girder design and evaluation. 
  • Flexural capacity calculations. 
  • Shear capacity calculations.
  • Tensile capacity calculations.
  • Compression capacity calculations. 
  • Computation of stresses for service, constructability, and load rating. 
  • Discussion of bracing systems. 
  • Capacity calculations for bracing members. 
  • Capacity of bolted connections. 
  • Capacity of welded connections. 
  • Camber calculations using FEA software. 
  • Screed calculations using FEA software.