Design and Costs for Simple-Made-Continuous Rolled Steel Girder Bridges: Literature Survey

Abstract

The method of simple-made-continuous for steel bridges is becoming more popular throughout the United States because it enables significant cost savings. Specifically, the method allows one to avoid steel bridge girder splices and design the steel sections for the self weight and the weight of the slab as simply supported and then the addition of live load and remaining dead loads as continuous. This balances the moments between the positive and negative regions allowing for a prismatic section and even adds speed of construction since the field splices are not needed. In 2006, the Colorado DOT sponsored a study to (1) review current approaches to simple-made-continuous using standard rolled sections and (2) develop design charts for rapid sizing of steel bridge beams and cost estimation for simple-made-continuous. This paper presents a state-of-the-art review up until 2007 for this type of construction and focuses on several of the most recent and successful transportation department projects.