Short Span Steel Bridge Alliance to host free webinar

Washington, D.C. — The Short Span Steel Bridge Alliance (SSSBA) will host a free one-hour webinar on “Innovative, Cost-Effective Options for Short Span Steel Bridge Design” on Tuesday, May 12, 2015 from 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. EDT. The webinar is being held in cooperation with the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) and the American Galvanizers Association (AGA) as part of Infrastructure Week 2015. It will be conducted by Greg Michaelson, Ph.D., Professor at the Weisberg Division of Engineering at Marshall University.

Infrastructure Week 2015 is a national outreach being conducted May 11-15 to build awareness of and educate policymakers and citizens about the infrastructure challenges in the United States. Now in its third year, Infrastructure Week highlights the critical importance of investing in and modernizing America’s infrastructure systems and the essential role that infrastructure plays in the economy. AISI is an affiliate member of Infrastructure Week 2015.

In this webinar, Dr. Michaelson will discuss innovative press-brake formed tub girder technology for short span (140 feet or less) bridges, a promising modular unit that allows accelerated construction and reduced traffic interruptions. The system meets the need for Accelerated Bridge Construction while offering an economical and competitive design solution. The first two projects to utilize this new technology will be constructed this year in Iowa and West Virginia.

Dr. Michaelson will also discuss eSPAN140, a free, web-based tool that delivers customized preliminary short span steel bridge designs in three steps and under five minutes. eSPAN140 was developed by SSSBA partners with input from the National Association of County Engineers Structures Committee, the Federal Highway Administration, and the AASHTO T-14 Technical Committee for Structural Steel Design. eSPAN140  provides a “one-stop shop” for steel fabrication and erection details for standard designs for rolled beam, plate girder, corrugated structural plate, and corrugated steel pipe structures.

This webinar is being presented as a special addition to AGA’s Galvanize It! webinar series and is approved for continuing education units (CEUs), learning units (LUs), and professional development hours (PDHs).

Register at www.galvanizeit.org/education-and-resources/education/educational-seminars/webinar-series.