National Steel Bridge Alliance
A Century of American Steel Bridges
New Interactive Bridge Timeline
Did you know that the word "dinosaur" is younger than the oldest U.S. steel bridge that's still in service? A lot happened between 1838 and 1938--including the construction of more than 25,000 U.S. steel bridges that are still in service. Check out our new interactive timeline featuring a century of steel bridges throughout history!
Featured Prize Bridge Award Winner
Frances Appleton Pedestrian Bridge
The placement and overall geometry of the new bridge were carefully selected to comply with the ADA maximum slope requirements and avoid impacting large trees in the parkland as much as possible—and its width of 14 ft doubles that of the original bridge.
NSBA Guide to Navigating Routine Steel Bridge Design
AASHTO LRFD Bridge Design Specifications, 9th Edition
This guide is intended to complement the AASHTO LRFD Bridge Design Specifications (AASHTO LRFD BDS) and addresses the design of steel superstructures for "routine steel l-girder bridges." It illustrates which provisions of the AASHTO LRFD BDS are applicable to the design of these types of structures, and perhaps more importantly, which provisions are not applicable or are only partially or conditionally applicable.
If a given bridge somehow falls partially outside the limits of the definitions of a "routine steel l-girder bridge" or outside the exclusions of this scope, this guide may still provide value to designers. The purpose of this guide is to help engineers streamline the design process, avoid unnecessary or misguided effort, and simplify their approach to the necessary tasks associated with the design of a more routine steel l-girder bridge.
Note: This guide is best viewed in Adobe Acrobat.
Steel Span to Weight Curves
Need a quick estimate for steel bridge superstructure weight? Then look no further than the NSBA's "Steel Span To Weight Curves". They are a great way to compare various span arrangements and girder spacings on the back-of-an-envelope.
Steel Bridge Design Workshop
Thanks for making our Virtual Steel Bridge Design Workshop a great success! Video recordings and handouts from each of the sessions are now available.