U.S. Department of Transportation
Federal Highway Administration
1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
Washington, DC 20590
202-366-4000
Federal Highway Administration Research and Technology
Coordinating, Developing, and Delivering Highway Transportation Innovations
| Project Information | ||
| Project ID: | FHWA-PROJ-08-0045 | |
| Project Name: | Guidelines for the Load and Resistance Factor Design and Rating of Riveted and Bolted Gusset-Plate Connections for Steel Bridges | |
| Project Status: | Completed | |
| Start Date: | October 1, 2008 | |
| End Date: | April 30, 2013 | |
| Contact Information | ||
| Last Name: | Ocel | |
| First Name: | Justin | |
| Telephone: | 202-493-3080 | |
| E-mail: | justin.ocel@dot.gov | |
| Office: | Office of Infrastructure Research and Development | |
| Team: | Bridge and Foundation Engineering Team [HRDI-40] | |
| Program: | High-Performing Steel Bridge | |
| Laboratory: | Structures Laboratory | |
| Project detail | ||
| Roadmap/Focus area(s): | Infrastructure Research and Technology Strategic Plan and Roadmap | |
| Project Description: | Recent failures of gusset plate bridge connections and the current national urgency to properly design and rate gusset truss connection points to the need for further analytical and experimental investigations to verify and/or modify existing procedures, and to provide guidance to the bridge engineers for the proper design and rating of riveted and bolted gusset-plated connections. In addition, the lack of uniformity and best practices in the design and load rating of gusset connections results in confusion, unknown safety hazards, and possibly unnecessary checks. There is a pressing urgency to develop safe guidelines and procedures to help bridge owners design and load rate steel bridge gusset connections. These guidelines must be verified to ensure that connections are not only properly designed and rated but most importantly without imposing unnecessary burdens. The new guidelines are expected to assure the safety of new and existing bridges and simplify design and rating to avoid unfavorable failure modes. | |
| Goals: | Todevelop guidelines, specifications, and examples for the load and resistance factor design and rating of gusset connections. | |
| Background Information: | This project was created specifically to address one of the National Transportation Safety Board's recommendations to the Federal Highway Administration and the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials after the conclusion of the I-35W collapse investigation. | |
| Product Type: | Draft standard, specifications, or guidelines Techbrief Technical report | |
| Test Methodology: | Full-scale experimental and parametric finite element modeling. | |
| Other Information: | The study is jointly sponsored and funded by the Federal Highway Administration and the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials-sponsored National Cooperative Highway Research Program, which provided $500,000. The Federal Highway Administration covered the balance. | |
| Expected Benefits: | More reliable design and load rating procedures of steel bridge gusset-plated connections founded in targeted experimental and analytical research, rather than extrapolation of data from similar details. | |
| Deliverables: | 1. Name: "Guidelines for the Load and Resistance Factor Design and Rating of Riveted and Bolted Gusset-Plate Connections for Steel Bridges" Product Type(s): Technical report Description: This report will document the methodology of the entire research project, including all the data, findings, and interpretations of those findings. Publication URL(s): http://www.trb.org/Publications/Blurbs/168923.aspx 2. Name: Ballot items for American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials Subcommittee on Bridges and Structures consideration Product Type(s): Draft standard, specifications, or guidelines Description: Ultimately, these recommendations should be integrated into the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials Bridge Design Specification and Manual for Bridge Evaluation so they can be used by bridge owners and consultants. The recommendations would be presented as a ballot item on which the technical committees could vote. 3. Name: WORKING TITLE - "TECHBRIEF: Guidelines for Design and Rating of Gusset-Plate Connections for Steel Truss Bridges" Product Type(s): Techbrief Description: This is an executive summary of the NCHRP WOD 197 report. | |
| FHWA Topics: | Roads and Bridges--Structures | |
| TRT Terms: | Infrastructure Bridges Research Load Factor Gusset Plates Steel Bridges Truss Bridges Buckling |
|
| FHWA Disciplines: | Structures |
|
| Subject Areas: | Bridges and other structures Maintenance and Preservation Research |
|
 |
||
