America's Covered Bridges
Soon after the Revolutionary War, bridge construction became more important in the United States. Early builders developed by trail and error an economical, permanent, long-span covered...
Alaska's Native Log Bridges
There are several thousand bridges of this type which carry heavy logging trucks in Alaska and remote areas of the lower 48 states. Covers bridge safety, wheel-load distribution, field...
West Virginia Cooling Tower Collapse Caused by Premature Form Removal
The collapse of a reinforced concrete cooling tower under construction at Willow Island, W.Va. in April 1978 resulted in 51 fatalities, making it the worst construction accident in American...
Re-decking a Bridge With Precast Concrete
Re-decking a 1627-ft deck girder bridge on the Pennsylvania Turnpike with precast concrete slabs allowed the bridge to remain partially open to traffice during the entire construction...
Computerizing Public Works Design
Computers are an easy way to increase engineering design productivity. This is especially important to public works departments who have decreasing budgets and increasing work loads. This...
Cognac: World's Tallest Offshore Oil Platform
Shell Oil's 1980 OCEA-winner is a three-sectioned design of steel fabrication and deep-sea installation. Cognac is currently the world's tallest, heaviest, and...
Baltimore Borrows Bridge Beams
A look at the construction of the Baltimore Convention Center, its four domelike exhibition halls, the main lobby and its service areas. The Center's four columnless exhibit...
Vail Pass Highway�Respecter of Mountain Ecology
Environmental constraints to a large degree controlled both the design and construction of a 14-mi segment of Interstate Highway 70 through Vail Pass in Colorado and necessitated adoption...
Parrotts Ferry Bridge: Pioneer in Lightweight, Pumped Concrete
Spanning the Stanislaus River in Northern California, this bridge includes a 640-ft center span that is the world's longest span in lightweight concrete and the longest bridge...
Part Two: Basics in Failure Analysis of Large Structures
Part two of a article, with part one appearing in May, 1980. Part two begins with microscopic examination which includes the use of scanning and transmission electron microscopes. Covers...
Ontario Writes New Bridge Code
In 1976, Ontario's Ministry of Transportation and Communications decided to write its own bridge design code, breaking away from the AASHTO code, because: (1)It wanted a metric...
Intercity Bridge: First Major U.S. Cable-Stayed Bridge
The Intercity Bridge spans the Columbia River, connecting the cities of Pasco and Kennewick, Wash. It is the longest cable-stayed, concrete bridge in the U.S. (2,403-ft) and it has been...
Transportation Engineering Research Needs
In June 1979 a workshop on Civil Engineering Research Needs was convened by the National Science Foundation and ASCE. Of 10 subfields into which civil engineering was split, one was transportation...
World's First Iron Bridge
In 1779, using a new man-made material, skilled English workmen built a single-span bridge of cast iron over a steep river gorge about 140 miles northwest of London. The result was a 424-ton...
Repair and Strengthening of Old Steel Truss Bridges
During the early 1900's, numerous pin jointed steel bridge trusses were constructed throughout the United States. In the intervening years, these trusses were replaced by...
Pittsburgh's Troubled Bridges: What to Do About Them�
The Pittsburgh area is troubled by old bridges that are badly deteriorated. The metropolitan area has more bridges�� 1,700�� than any other. And some 66 of them have weight limits posted....
Fatigue Cracking�Problem for Welded Steel Bridges
A recent problem with welded steel bridges is fatigue cracking at welded details. Fatigue cracks begin in small flaws or discontinuities at welded connections and grow to a critical size...
Counteracting Chloride-Induced Damage to Bridge Decks with Latex and Plastic
Salt used to control ice causes deterioration of reinforced concrete bridge decks, but recent developments, though still somewhat expensive, can prevent deterioration of existing decks....
New River Gorge Bridge: World's Longest Steel Arch
For 45 years, the Bayonne Bridge had reigned as the world's longest steel arch bridge. No longer. The New River Gorge Bridge in West Virginia has a steel arch spanning 1700...
Second Hampton Bridge-Tunnel Complete
The second Hampton Roads bridge-tunnel, which cost $96,000,000, opened to traffic on June 3, 1976. It is a two-lane facility carrying traffic across 3.5 miles of water between Hampton...
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