Video tells story of first bridge built using eSPAN140

Washington, D.C. — In a video released by the Short Span Steel Bridge Alliance, participants in all phases of design and construction of the Jesup South Bridge in Buchanan County, Iowa, tell the story in their own words. The Jesup South Bridge was a demonstration project — the first bridge built using an eSPAN140 design.

The video features:

• Brian Keierleber, P.E., County Engineer, Buchanan County, Iowa – While self-described as “not real computer-literate,” he found eSPAN140 easy to use – and he’ll use it for future projects as well.

• Dennis Gonano, Director of Engineering, U.S. Bridge – Gonano provides a fabricator’s perspective on taking the eSPAN140 design and turning it into customized steel beams for the bridge. He also describes the benefits of hot-dip galvanizing.

• Randy Andrews, Bridge Foreman, Buchanan County, Iowa – While this was a bigger job than he and his local crew had undertaken before, they completed it on their own.

• Karl Barth, Ph.D., Samples Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, West Virginia University and a lead team developer of eSPAN140 – Over the lifetime of the bridge, instrumentation placed under it is measuring construction load effects and how it is meeting design code criteria.

• Greg Michaelson, Ph.D., former Graduate Research Assistant at West Virginia University and now a professor at Marshall University– Comments on the instrumentation being used.

• Robert Wills, Vice President, Construction, Steel Market Development Institute – The Jesup South Bridge project shows county engineers that safe steel designs can be put in place very simply and cost-effectively, giving them confidence to use eSPAN140 for their own projects.