PMSS Project Details

Project ID:	FHWA-PROJ-08-0045
Project Name:	Guidelines for the Load and Resistance Factor Design and Rating of Riveted and Bolted Gusset-Plate Connections for Steel Bridges
Status:	Active
Contact:	Last Name: Ocel First Name: Justin Telephone: 202-493-3080 E-mail: justin.ocel@dot.gov
Organization:	Federal Highway Administration - Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center (TFHRC)
Office:	Office of Infrastructure Research and Development
Team:	Bridge and Foundation Engineering Team
Roadmap/Focus area(s):	Infrastructure Research and Technology Strategic Plan and Roadmap
Project Description:	Recent failures of gusset plate bridge connections and the current National urgency to properly design and rate gusset truss connection points to the need for further analytical and experimental investigations to verify and/or modify existing procedures, and to provide guidance to the bridge engineers for the proper design and rating of riveted and bolted gusset-plated connections. In addition, the lack of uniformity and best practices in the design and load rating of gusset connections results in confusion, unknown safety hazards, and possibly unnecessary checks. There is a pressing urgency to develop safe guidelines and procedures to help bridge owners design and load rate steel bridge gusset connections. These guidelines must be verified to ensure that connections are not only properly designed and rated but most importantly without imposing unnecessary burdens. The new guidelines are expected to assure the safety of new and existing bridges and simplify design and rating to avoid unfavorable failure modes.
Laboratories:	Structures Laboratory
Start Date:	October 1, 2008
End Date:	December 1, 2011
Funding Amount:	$2,000,000.00
FHWA Program Name:	High-Performing Steel Bridge
Goals:	The primary objective of this study is to develop guidelines, specifications, and examples for the load and resistance factor design and rating of gusset connections.
Project Type:	Onsite and Offsite
Background Information:	This project was created specifically to address one of the National Transportation Safety Board's recommendations to the Federal Highway Administration and the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials after the conclusion of the I-35W collapse investigation.
Test Methodology:	The study will entail advanced finite element analyses of varying bridge gusset connection types, configurations, loadings, and failure modes to verify or modify existing procedures, or develop new design and rating procedures; large-scale experimental investigations to validate the findings of the finite element analyses; and based on the analytical and experimental investigations, develop recommendations for optimal connection configurations to maximize the resistance of gusset connections and minimize the possibility of unfavorable failure modes.
Other Information:	The study is jointly sponsored and funded by the Federal Highway Administration and the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials-sponsored National Cooperative Highway Research Program, which provided $500,000. The Federal Highway Administration covered the balance.
Partners:	Data not yet available
More Information URL(s):
Fieldtest:	Data not yet available
Expected Benefits:	The benefit would be more reliable design and load rating procedures of steel bridge gusset-plated connections founded in targeted experimental and analytical research, rather than extrapolation of data from similar details.
Deliverables:	Name: Final National Cooperative Highway Research Program Report. The report number will be assigned after submitting. Product Type(s): Techbrief Description: This report will document the methodology of the entire research project, including all the data, findings, and interpretations of those findings. Audiences: Researchers, State highway agencies Secondary Audiences:
Related URL(s):
Project Findings:	Data not yet available
FHWA Topics:	Roads and Bridges--Design Roads and Bridges--Structures Research/Technologies--FHWA Research and Technology Research/Technologies--Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center (TFHRC)
TRT Terms:	Infrastructure Bridges Research Load Factor Gusset Plates Steel Bridges Truss Bridges Buckling
FHWA Disciplines:	Design Structures
Subject Areas:	Bridges and other structures Maintenance and Preservation Research