FHWA – Bridge Engineering Training Course
The University of Maryland is contracted by FHWA to host up to 20 sessions of a 4-week course designed to train state, FHWA, and county engineers, plus private consultants as can be accommodated. With up to 20 primary instructors from throughout the U.S., each of whom is an expert in their own field, the course provides bridge engineers with enhanced knowledge in a wide scope of state-of-the-art and state-of-the-practice topics in bridge engineering, including newly published AASHTO LRFD Specifications. Course material for the participants is collected and published by the University of Maryland.
FHWA DP 81 – Load Factor Bridge Design by Computer
The microcomputer and mainframe versions of the MERLIN-DASH program were distributed as part of an agreement with the Maryland State Highway Administration (MSHA), Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), and the BEST Center. In support of this distribution, the BEST Center staff presented instructional short courses to train users, chiefly at state departments of transportation.
This short course concentrates on the LFD and LRFD methods. Specifically, the course was constructed to highlight the latest AASHTO LFD specifications, encourage comparison of bridge designs resulting from the use of WSD and LFD, and to familiarize consultant bridge engineers with computer procedures for the LFD method. Included was coverage of the full use of all provisions of the AASHTO LFD and Autostress methods, minimum cost (and weight) design, bridge rating and the evaluation of bridge structures under overload and permit conditions which were developed initially through the FHWA for State engineers engaged in the design of bridges.
Curved Girder Bridge Design
This short course presents the fundamentals of WSD and LFD methods applied to both I-Girder and Box Girder bridges and will include analysis tools for the engineer and fabrication and erection problems and procedures. Approximate analyses of curved bridges used in the past are discussed. Design correlations of WSD, LFD, and the approximate methods are presented. The current Guide Specifications for Horizontally Curved Highway Bridges are widely accepted and the bridge engineer must be equipped with the tools to design curved bridges using the WS and the LFD Criteria.
LRFD Bridge Design in Computers
The purpose of this short course is to present the fundamentals and theory of LRFD for highway bridge design and how to design the bridges in computer. The AASHTO LRFD Specifications are written based on probabilistic limit state theory with several listed load combinations. Improved from the Standard Specifications for WSD or LFD, the AASHTO LRFD Bridge Design Specifications introduce a limit states design philosophy, based on structural reliability methods, to achieve a more uniform level of safety (reliability) in new bridge design.