CE 59700 - Advanced Design of Steel Bridge Axial Members and Gusset Plate Connections

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 axial members and gusset plate connections typically used in steel truss bridges. The course focuses on practical application of the current bridge design and load rating procedures. This includes capacity tensile and compression capacity calculations, design and evaluation of bolted and welded gusset plate connections. 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. The course includes a review of loads and load distribution in truss bridges.
  • Prerequisites: CE 371 (Structural Analysis I), CE 470 (Structural Design in Metals) or equivalents
  • Recommended Prerequisities: CE 497 (Loading and Analysis for Steel Bridge Design and Evaluation) or equivalents
  • Course status: Technical elective

Course Goals:

  • Design of truss tension members
  • Design of truss compression members
  • Design of welded and bolted gusset plates
  • Evaluation of gusset plates using corner checks
  • Calculation of non-concurrent and concurrent truss force demands

Course Topics:

  • Review of loads and load distribution in trusses
  • Steel axial member behavior
  • Behavior of gusset plate connections
  • Tension member design per AASHTO LRFD BDS 6.8
  • Non-composite compression member design per AASHTO LRFD BDS 6.9
  • Gusset plate design per AASHTO LRFD BDS 6.9
  • Gusset plate evaluation using corner check methodologies
  • Truss bridge modeling using commercial FEA software.