Innovation abounds in the steel bridge industry, but eight recent bridges rise above the rest.

The American Institute of Steel Construction and the National Steel Bridge Alliance are recognizing these eight bridges with 2024 Prize Bridge Awards--the structural steel industry’s highest design honor for bridges.

"Steel bridges have connected American communities for centuries," said NSBA Senior Director for Market Development Jeff Carlson, PE. "This year’s Prize Bridge Award winners continue that proud tradition and showcase the innovation--at all scales, from showcase bridges to local lifelines--that will keep Americans moving for centuries to come."

Gerdau has improved how it powers one of its biggest U.S. mills while making steel even more sustainable.

The company recently completed the construction of a solar farm next to its steel mill in Midlothian, Texas. The plant started providing power to the steel mill in summer 2023 and was built in partnership with 174 Power Global, a leading solar energy company, and TotalEnergies, a global multi-energy company.

Project teams across the country continue to push the boundaries with structural steel. This year, there are six projects that you need to know about.

They’re this year’s winners of the structural steel industry’s highest design honor: the Innovative Design in Engineering and Architecture with Structural Steel (or IDEAS²) Awards, presented by the American Institute of Steel Construction.

"In previous years, the jury has considered projects in budget-based categories, but innovation comes in projects of all scales and sizes," said AISC Senior Vice President Scott Melnick. "This year's jury set out to find the projects that take full advantage of the specific benefits like sustainability, cost, speed, reliability, and resilience that make structural steel the best choice for designers--and they succeeded."

Renowned engineering professor and researcher Wallace Sanders, PhD, died January 6. He was 90.

Sanders taught in the Iowa State University Department of Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering for 34 years until his retirement in 1998. He was a passionate advocate for engineering education, with an emphasis on steel bridge design. He had many roles during his Iowa State tenure: professor; associate professor; assistant and associate director of the Engineering Research Institute for 11 years; associate dean of the College of Engineering for three years; director of the Iowa Space Grant Consortium for four years; and interim assistant vice provost for research and graduate students.

At engineering firms, fabrication shops, and erectors across the country, new project managers are tackling novel challenges every day.

AISC’s new three-year Career Accelerator Program with Steel (or CAPS) is designed to help them hone their leadership skills while building valuable connections with other project managers throughout the structural steel industry.

Applications for the inaugural cohort are due February 15, 2024.

San Antonio is the place to be this March for everyone involved in the design or construction of steel buildings and bridges!

Register today to get the best price on the industry’s top education event, featuring more than 250 sessions full of must-have practical information that you can implement as soon as you get home, an exhibit hall packed with more than 280 innovations you need to know about right now, and a chance to network with thousands of the nation’s preeminent designers, fabricators, erectors, and educators! The 2024 NASCC: The Steel Conference, scheduled for March 20-22 in San Antonio, is expected to attract nearly 7,000 participants.

After 30 years of working in membership strategy, Charmaine Osborne knows what draws people in, what brings them together, and what keeps them around.

And she has brought that experience to her role as AISC’s new membership director, providing fresh insights on how AISC can connect with its members and best serve their needs.

Charmaine joins us from the American Society for Health Care Engineering of the American Hospital Association, where she spearheaded membership programs and served as chair of the Diversity and Inclusion Council. Just two weeks into her new role at AISC, Charmaine sat down with Kate Duby, AISC’s communications content specialist, to share her thoughts on membership, what she’s most looking forward to, and more.