ECONOMICAL STEEL PLATE GIRDER BRIDGES.

Abstract

As a service to the bridge design profession, Bethlehem Steel has conducted hundreds of studies of steel plate girder bridges using its Preliminary Bridge Girder Optimization Program. The program is unique because it optimizes plate girder designs on the basis of least cost, not least weight. An evaluation of many study results leads to a number of guidelines which are offered in this paper. When applied by the bridge designer, these guidelines should result in economical steel plate girder designs for continuous composite bridges with span lengths of up to approximately 200 ft (61 m), representing a majority of the bridge population.