What are the Prize Bridge Awards?

The National Steel Bridge Alliance and the American Institute of Steel Construction sponsor this competition to celebrate industry achievements and to promote the innovative use of structural steel in the bridges that connect America’s communities.

The National Steel Bridge Alliance and the American Institute of Steel Construction recognize projects in several categories, defined by bridge size and function. Project team members are recognized for their contribution and achievement with plaques presented during a ceremony in front of their peers.

One of the submitted bridges will also be named the Bridge of the Year, with special recognition at the World Steel Bridge Symposium!

The new Owner of the Year award will specifically recognize the DOTs, counties, cities, tollways, and other bridge owners nationwide. The judges will consider factors such as using new technologies, innovative delivery or contracting methods, and incorporating new designs and research.

How it works:

The best bridges are built by teams, and any member of the project team may submit a bridge for consideration.

A panel of industry professionals judges the entries in six categories:

• Short span - No single span greater than 140 ft.
• Medium span - Longest span equal to or greater than 140 ft. but less than 300 ft.
• Major span - One or more spans greater than or equal to 300 ft.
• Movable span
• Rehabilitation - Projects that work on an existing structure without replacing primary members. New structures built on an existing alignment should be entered by span length.
• Special purpose - Bridge that does not fit any of the above categories. Examples include bridges for pedestrians, pipelines, and airplanes.

Each bridge may compete in only one category. All entries in all competition categories will be considered for Bridge of the Year and Owner of the year.

The judges may move submitted bridges between categories if they think a project is better suited to a category that’s different than the one in which it was entered. The judges consider each bridge in terms of innovation, economics, aesthetics, design, and engineering solutions.

At their discretion, judges may also present a Presidential Award for truly exceptional projects.

Who can enter:

Eligible bridges must:

• Be built of structural steel produced and fabricated in the United States
• Be located in the U.S., defined as the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and all U.S. territories
• Be completed and opened to traffic between September 9, 2021, and August 31, 2023.
• Any member of a project's team can submit it for a Prize Bridge Award. However, a fabricator, erector, detailer, or other firm eligible for AISC Full or Associate membership submitting a project themselves must be an AISC member in good standing at the time of entry.

How to enter:

• Complete the online entry form.
• Upload high-resolution photographs and drawings of the project as detailed below. You must include photo credit information, and you must accept the AISC photo policy to submit your entry.
• Include contact information for the project team

There is no fee to enter the competition.

The written descriptions and the images you submit should give the judges a sound understanding of the general characteristics of your bridge and the specific way in which it demonstrates innovation. These descriptions will also help AISC promote your project if it wins!

The entry form will ask you to consider the following:

• Engineering: What engineering challenges did the project team face?
• Unique attributes: What makes this bridge stand out?
• Innovation: What makes the design, fabrication, and/or construction of this bridge noteworthy? (E.g., advanced modeling techniques)
• Economy: Why is this bridge design well-suited to this situation?
• What are the unique attributes of the bridge?
• Did the fabrication or construction of the bridge require an innovative approach?
• How did this project advance the state of the art in the steel industry?
• What made this bridge type economical for this situation?
• Were there engineering challenges to be overcome?

If you are entering a pedestrian bridge that is an intrinsic part of an eligible building, we encourage you to enter it in AISC’s IDEAS² Awards competition.

Image Criteria

Your entry must include photographs and graphics that show off your project and provide an adequate basis for a sound and comprehensive evaluation of the bridge and its design.

NSBA recommends a selection of photos that show the completed bridge and the bridge during construction/fabrication. You may also submit technical drawings and renderings in PDF form.

At least one photo must clearly show the completed project.

A thorough image submission for a given project would include:

• At least one image showing the completed bridge
• At least one additional image showing the immediate context of the bridge’s environs (omit if the project's relationship to its environs is clearly defined in other images)
• At least one image showing fabrication
• At least one image showing construction
• At least one technical plan

Technical details:

• Images should be high-resolution (at least 300 dpi), at least four inches wide, and submitted as jpeg, tiff, or eps files.
• Images can depict the construction and erection processes as well as the finished project.
• You may submit a total of 20 images per entry.
• All images must include credit information in the filename. (Example: BrooklynBridge-creditJohnSmith.jpg)
• Submitted photographs and images used for exhibition or publication purposes will bear the customary photograph credit line provided, however, NSBA/AISC is not responsible for errors or omissions. NSBA/AISC reserves the right to use all submitted materials indefinitely to showcase the winning projects, feature innovation in the structural steel industry, and promote the Prize Bridge Award program. Submitting an entry to NSBA/AISC constitutes acceptance of this policy by firms, companies, and project photographers and indicates or confirms that these submitting parties have copyright ownership or express permission to submit them, that they grant NSBA/AISC a royalty-free, perpetual, non-exclusive license to publicly display, distribute, reproduce the submitted materials in any media, and that they agree to hold NSBA/AISC harmless from and against all claims of any nature arising in connection with the submittal of materials.

What you should know about entering:

• The 2024 competition entry period ends September 30, 2023.
• Entrants agree to abide by all rules and regulations of the 2024 Prize Bridge Awards program as defined in this document. Neither NSBA nor AISC is not responsible for errors or omissions in entries.
• Firms may submit multiple projects. Each entry will be considered separately. If multiple firms enter the same project, judges will evaluate the entries together; all submitting firms will be recognized should that project win.
• Award recipients may be asked to submit additional team member contact information.
• By entering, you grant NSBA and AISC permission to disclose information about the recipient of the award and the bridge, including budget and cost details.
• Firms that worked on submitted projects should expect to be asked for additional information and commentary about their projects by representatives of NSBA/AISC and the media. Members of the project’s steel team who are AISC members in good standing at the time of the announcement will be recognized; NSBA/AISC will recognize other firms on the project team at its discretion.
• Submitted photographs and images used for exhibition or publication purposes will bear the customary photograph credit line provided, however, NSBA/AISC is not responsible for errors or omissions. NSBA/AISC reserves the right to use all submitted materials indefinitely to showcase the winning projects, feature innovation in the structural steel industry, and promote the Prize Bridge Award program. Submitting an entry to NSBA/AISC constitutes acceptance of this policy by firms, companies, and project photographers and indicates or confirms that these submitting parties have copyright ownership or express permission to submit them, that they grant NSBA/AISC a royalty-free, perpetual, non-exclusive license to publicly display, distribute, reproduce the submitted materials in any media, and that they agree to hold NSBA/AISC harmless from and against all claims of any nature arising in connection with the submittal of materials.

Questions about anything you've read here?

Please contact Megan Erickson for assistance.