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Starting in just a few weeks, San Antonio will become the epicenter of all things steel bridge, as the Texas city plays host to the 2009 National Steel Bridge Alliance (NSBA) World Steel Bridge Symposium. From Nov. 17-20, state bridge engineers, erectors, design engineers, fabricators, construction professionals, and professors from around the world will connect at this once-every-two-year event to network, attend technical sessions, participate in bridge-related workshops, and discover what 50 exhibitors have to offer.
 

A time-lapse look at girder erection for the Kicking Horse Bridge in British Columbia,
featured on NSBA's website

Workshops and Training
courtesy NSBA

Keynote Address
This year’s keynote addresses the Genesis & Development of the Network Arch Bridge Concept and will be presented by its innovator, Per Tveit, from Agder University in Norway. The network arch, recently introduced to the U.S., is a structural form offering advantages in structural efficiency, safety, and constructability. Tveit will outline how the inclined hangers with multiple intersections make the network arch bridge act like a truss, with only axial compressive and tensile forces, limited bending moments and shear forces.

Also presenting is Theodore Zoli, vice president and bridge technical director of HNTB Corp., who recently won a $500,000 grant from the T. MacArthur Foundation (commonly known as a “Genius Grant”) for his work on bridge design and security reinforcement. Zoli is the first bridge engineer to be recognized by the foundation. He’ll discuss three case studies of the network arch for three distinct applications

• a pedestrian bridge in a high seismic area; and
• a long span vehicular crossing of the Ohio River and for a multi-span rail bridge in the Northeast United States.

The following pre-conference workshops are an official part of the NSBA World Steel Bridge Symposium. Please refer to the registration form on the NSBA website to see workshop fees and confirm your registration. Pre-registration is required.

Accelerated Construction Technologies Workshop
Wednesday, November 18 • 8:00 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.
As our nation's highways and bridges experience ever climbing traffic counts and "rush hour" becomes a day-long event, it is becoming increasingly important to perform bridge construction and/or maintenance work in a manner that minimizes impact on traffic flow and enables contractors to ”Get in, Get out and Stay out.” Less time spent in the work zone offers many benefits:

• minimizes traffic impacts of bridge construction projects
• improves construction zone safety
• makes construction less disruptive for the environment
• improved quality in the finished project

Presentations will address various contracting strategies, staging techniques, construction methods and the use of prefabricated bridge elements to achieve accelerated bridge construction.

Prefabricated Bridge Elements and Systems Workshop
Tuesday, November 17 • 1:30 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Prefabricated bridge elements and systems (PFBES) are becoming increasingly important as a tool to facilitate accelerated bridge construction. PFBES may be manufactured on-site or off-site, under controlled conditions, and brought to the job location ready to install. Using prefabricated bridge elements and systems moves work out of the right-of-way, thereby reducing or eliminating the need for lane
closures, detours, and use of narrow lanes. Prefabrication of bridge elements and systems can be accomplished in a controlled environment without concern for job-site limitations, which increases quality and can lower costs. This workshop will present various PFBES and feature examples of successful application of PFBES in steel bridge projects.

AISC Certification: The Importance and the Process
Wednesday, November 18 • 8:00 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.
The importance of having a quality system in place in today’s steel construction industry is incredibly significant. Yet often times it is not always clear what goes into developing a quality system and how an organization’s quality system is evaluated.
This presentation, geared toward both American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC) Certified and Non-Certified structural steel fabricators, will focus on the Standard for Bridge and Highway Metal Component Manufacturers Certification program that AISC introduced earlier this year, as well as its Major Steel Bridge and Simple Steel Bridge Certifications. Participants will learn about required documentation and procedures and how to create, execute, and audit a quality management system to meet AISC program criteria.

Technical Sessions
In addition to the workshops listed above, WSBS attendees can attend 15 technical sessions featuring 50 presentations that feature steel’s long-life, low maintenance costs, quick erection, and environmentally sound attributes.