Special Maintenence to Control the Instability of Aging Bridges

When bridges are poorly constructed, they may fail due to load they carry, collision by derailed trains or even by vehicles that lose control leading to catastrophic incidences. However, if bridges are well-constructed, the chances or injury are greatly minimized in the event of an accident. Discussed in the subsections are the requirements of AS 5100 standards in relation to cable-stayed bridges and include design requirements for bridges, bridge aesthetics, bridge functional requirements, bridge component design requirements and bridge construction

The report debates the Tacoma narrows bridge failure and the different theories of how it came about, using information about what type of bridge it is and the forces acting on it before and during the collapse. It also discusses ways in which the failure could have been avoided, from changes in the design to modifications to the bridge after its construction.

In the late 19th century, the transportation demands of Quebec and other provinces success in transportation like Montreal’s success in railways led to proposals for bridging the St. Lawrence River. Quebec Bridge has a long story behind it, a bridge that was proposed first back in 1852 but it was not complete until 1919. It collapsed two times in this duration once in 1907 killing 75 workers and second time in 1916 killing 13 workers. In this report I will emphasize on the first collapse.

Initially, suspension bridges before 1940 were made of piers, towers, wires, anchorages, and roadways. Piers were the main foundation for the suspension bridges. There usually were two of them, which were made out of cement and were entrenched in ground underneath the body of water that the bridge was spanned across. Towers were built on top of the piers to provide a means of connection for the roadways and wires. Wires were connected to the towers, roadways, and anchorages to provide tension support for the weight of the bridge. The anchorages were large cement platforms that were planted into the ground on either side of the land so that the wires could be connected to it. Lastly, the roadways were the main point of the suspension bridge. They usually were wide enough to provide four lanes of traffic and stretched from one side of the bridge to the other. This was the basic design of the suspension bridges

In Washington, the Interstate 5 bridge, which crossed the Skagit River, collapsed last month. The damage of this accident included two cars broke and three persons injured. According to officials, the bridge fell into the river after the large truck hit a beam. The bridge had a risky condition called facture critical. The U.S has a lot of bridges; however, nearly two thousand bridges were built between the middle of 1950s and the 1970s, so those ones are obsolete bridges. In addition, back then, the government cut corners in bridge buildings to cost reduction. Although gas and diesel taxes attempted to allocate to restored the bridge, the government cloud not collect money enough to repair the bridge because people began to use efficient vehicle.

This interview will provide a firsthand look from Ray LaHood who was the secretary of transportation during the first Obama administration. This looks at the political views and constraints around rebuilding roads and bridges. There are around 70,000 bridges and thousands of miles of roadways that need repair. One of the main issues is, politicians do not want to spend

Within the United States Department of Transportation exists an agency called the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) which was created on October 15, 1966. The FHWA supports State and local governments in design, construction, and maintenance of the Nation’s highway system. The Administration’s mainly responsible for making sure that the highways and roads continue to be among the safest and most technologically available in the world. The FHWA core highway topics are: environmental, federal and Indian lands, highway funding, international, research and technologies, roads and bridges, road users, safety, and road operations and congestion. In order for the FHWA to cover all those topics mentioned earlier the administration has many offices one of which is the Office of Operations.

America has 5,540 deficient bridges alone, according to the American Society of Civil Engineers’ Infrastructure Report Card. Every four years, ASCE provides America with an assessment including recommendations, condition, and needs for the nation’s infrastructure. In a basic A-F format, the Report Card is graded in eight main categories: capacity, condition, funding, future need, operation and maintenance, public safety, resilience, and innovation. This report card, since 1998, has given the nation a steady D, only rising to a D+ in the 2013 report. The Report states that there is a need of 3.6 trillion dollars in investments by 2020 to raise the grade up to a B. Funding America’s infrastructure is of major controversy and debate. Starting

What are the old covered bridges of Madison County? Way back in Madison County, down back roads there lies an old piece of history, there lies the old covered bridges. An aroma of longstanding wood hangs in the air, the paint is blemishing, and the floorboards are groaning, but the timeworn bridges still stand. In the 19th century, many covered bridges were assembled. They were created to cover and shelter the roadway, and it was cheaper to replenish the boards of the roof and walls, then the compact beams of the bridge. Six covered bridges linger in Madison County, Iowa. These bridges received fame from Clint Eastwood’s movie, which utilized one of the bridges. These old covered bridges are an essential

To alleviate the road hazards in Minnesota, the road safety experts conducts routine safety inspections. The safety inspector examines the highway and construction signs roads, bridges, and obstructions may block the motorist’s view. The state of Minnesota is vulnerable to a variety of potential hazards. These hazards, both natural and man-made causes that threaten loss of life and property. Minnesota has several mitigations plan to widen lanes, replace the ore docks on southbound bridge and repaved some

The bridge has a very well designed ‘sustainability’ concept, relying on upcycled materials to complete the bridge. These upcycled materials consist of the wood, the fishing net, the oil barrels and the plastic shielding for the barrels. These materials can be used for functional roles in the design, such as platforms, floatation, safety lines across hand rails, and so on. The bridge’s sustainability concept can be further supported by the ease of replacing materials, and not throwing them in the bin. The materials such as wood, plastic and pieces of metallic bolts and nuts can be recycled and reused for other purposed such as furniture, storage or completely recycled back into a molten form for the metallic objects.

Our transportation system, quite arguably, may embody our most vital system, as Infrastructure and Democracy clarifies, “access is the hallmark of a great infrastructure” (Jones, Reinecke). By great contrast, our roads remain a current issue. 42 percent of America’s urban highways remain congested, costing the United States 101 billion dollars in wasted time and fuel each year. Also, the32 percent of roads, in poor or mediocre condition, cost the average traveler $324 per year (American Infrastructure Report Card). Unfortunately, updating the highway systems seems longer than it may seem, as the Government Accountability Office (GAO) estimates that from proposal to completion most highways will need nine to nineteen years to fix (Leduc, Wilson 129). In addition to the roads, our bridges are failing just as much. One of every nine bridges within the United States is categorized as structurally deficient. The average bridge 42 years old, and in order to eliminate the bridge renovation backlog, our country would need to invest twenty and a half billion dollars until 2028 (American Infrastructure Report Card). However, in 2013, the United States only invested 12.8 billion dollars in bridge reconstruction and repair (American Infrastructure Report Card). Also, our countries transit

Because of advancements in today’s technology in construction field, many types of bridges are being constructed depending on the requirement and their suitability for the situations.

Abstract: Advancement in recent years on the efficiency of glass fiber-reinforced polymer (GFRP) in production and cost benefits have increased their use as alternative means to steel rebar in bridge deck bases. The purpose in applying rebar is to increase the tensile strength of concrete. Considering the versatility of bridges there are many factors that need to be analyzed when choosing whether to use steel rebar or GFRP material such as: cost, tensile strength, and weather resistance. Stress-strain graphs were calculated, graphed, and analyzed to determine the yield tensile strength and stiffness of steel rebar and GFRP. Data collected from alkaline bath tests were graphed and analyzed to determine the thermal and corrosion resistance of each material. Costs per square inch of each material were also compared as well as each materials quality and life expectancy. The results of the conducted test analysis found the GFRP to have greater thermal resistance, lower cost, and higher life expectancy than the steel rebar, however the steel rebar’s stiffness was found to be about six times larger than the GFRP’s. These results suggest that the advancements in GFRP can provide longer lasting bridge structures and will change the future of construction and restoration of bridges.

One of the primary mechanical fasteners that are currently used to connect structural steel members and to transfer loads between the components are structural bolts (Phares et al 2016). Now a days, various types of structural bolts are used in construction activities. But, the ASTM A307, ASTM A325, and ASTM A490 bolts the most common three types of structural bolts. Among the most common three types of structural bolts, ASTM A307 bolts are considered low-strength bolts, while ASTM A325 and ASTM A490 bolts are regarded as high-strength bolts (Kulak et al. 2001). As the main reasons of using structural bolts are to securely connect the structural members together and to transfer the loads to different members safely, the utilisation of structural bolts and their jointing techniques are a critical aspects of all the structures made of steel (Phares et al 2016). The success of a bolted connection of any structural members also depends significantly on the adequate tightening characteristics of bolts (Phares et al 2016). Therefore, the main objective of this research is to explore the various tightening characteristics of a high strength structural bolts made of high tension steel (alloy).