Central Region: Arkansas, Illinois, Minnesota

HDR's analysis of new and replacement bridges found that rolled steel beam bridges have a lower overall average cost than concrete I-beam and steel plate girder bridges. Steel plate girder bridge costs are still lower than or competitive with concrete I-beam even though they are frequently used for longer span or more complex bridges.

Costs for concrete I-beam bridges range more widely than costs for steel plate girder and rolled steel beam bridges, which have tight pricing ranges. As shown below, costs for concrete I-beam bridges can range from roughly $100/sq. ft all the way to about $580/sq. ft providing for price uncertainty.

 

 

A few notes on the Land of Lincoln:

• Illinois constructs about half of its bridges from steel.
• Some of those steel bridges include metalizing. Even with those associated cost increases, structural steel remains competitive with concrete.
• Concrete box beam bridges are mostly used on secondary routes in Illinois. That, and the exclusion of concrete deck costs, slightly skews the cost data.

 

 

 

 

 

Click above to view "Pricing Study of Recently Constructed Steel and Concrete Bridges" presented by Michael DeGregorio of HDR

For more information, please contact Tony Peterson, NSBA Bridge Steel Specialist for this region.

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