Speaking

This presentation will look at several unique bridges and attempt to answer a few fundamental questions: How do you assign a load rating to a bridge that shouldn’t be standing? I never thought I’d see that – now how do I put numbers to it? What were they thinking when they built that?

This case study will be based on bridges that are truly one of a kind: Half truss and half girder, made from retrofitted storage tanks and rail cars, severely damaged from both man and nature, and repaired with non-engineered solutions. While the work may be messy, these bridges still need to be analyzed to meet federal and local requirements and ensure public safety. The analysis of each bridge could be a graduate thesis in of itself, but they need to be rated within a budget and using sound, systematic engineering principles. Communication with the client is paramount to achieve workable solutions to problematic structures that utilize the limited resources available to the client.

Join us for a summary of a decade’s worth of lessons learned from load rating projects across the country.