Lincoln (Neb.) - Dec. 4, 1997 - The University of Nebraska- Lincoln and the Nebraska Department of Roads, along with collaborators in academe, government and industry, have won the Civil Engineering Foundation's 1997 Charles Pankow Award for Innovation for a research project that resulted in the nation's first high-performance steel bridge.
The bridge, dubbed the Snyder South Bridge, is on a county road over a stream south of Snyder.
The award featured the Snyder South Bridge as evidence that high-performance steel, which boasts a higher toughness rating than common steel, can be introduced into the construction industry in a very short time. The collaboration that produced the bridge was lauded as exemplary of an emerging, highly useful engineering strategy. The bridge was completed less than 2 1/2 years after the collaboration began.
The Nebraska Department of Roads and the Tennessee Department of Transportation brought the collaborators' efforts to fruition by building high-performance steel bridges in both states. A simple 150-foot span, the Snyder South project was adopted for its conservative design and short length to provide a test application of the new material. A two-span, 500- foot- long bridge made of the new steel is nearing completion in Tennessee.
The university researchers were led by Atorod Azizinamini, associate professor of civil engineering. Other collaborators in Nebraska included the bridge division of the Nebraska Department of Roads under the direction of bridge engineer Lyman Freemon and assistant bridge engineer Moe Jamshidi; the local branch of the Federal Highway Administration, led by bridge engineer Milo Cress; the Nebraska steel industry; the Mid-America Transportation Center, a federal transportation center hosted by the university; and the university's Center for Infrastructure Research.
The American Iron and Steel Institute, the Federal Highway Administration and the U.S. Department of the Navy collaborated to develop the new steel. Northwestern University helped develop the chemistry for it. Researchers at NU and Lehigh University conducted projects funded by the highway administration and the American Iron and Steel Institute aimed at updating bridge design codes to allow for the new steel's use in bridge construction.
Designers at J. Muller International, well known for long- span bridges, and at Modjeski and Masters assisted in developing bridge configurations that could use the new material. The American Association of State Highway Transportation Officials also collaborated.
The NU project is sponsored mainly by the Federal Highway Administration. Other sponsors include the Mid-America Transportation Center and the Center for Infrastructure Research at the university, the American Iron and Steel Institute, the Nebraska Department of Roads and the National Steel Bridge Alliance. Lincoln Steel constructed test specimens. Phase I of the project is nearing completion. Phases II and III, during which two more steel bridges will be built in Nebraska, are scheduled to begin in September 1998 and last for three years.
Promotion of the use of high-performance steel by the construction industry is just beginning, Azizinamini said. Under his direction, the university is leading national research to revamp bridge design codes to allow bridge builders to use high- performance steel to its full capacity. His research team includes graduate students Aaron Yakel and Pat Mans, who conduct full-scale tests and analytical work. The Nebraska team also works with researchers at Lehigh University and Georgia Institute of Technology.
For further information, call Azizinamini, (402) 472-
5106,
or Mike Beacham, (402) 479-3929.
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