 Beyond the Bridge Blueprint: Navigating Instructor-Led Trainings
Engineering Stability Through Analysis, Design, Evaluation, and Modeling
At Federal Highway Administration's (FHWA) National Highway Institute (NHI), we are thrilled to offer seven courses on the engineering of building bridges. NHI is constantly refining our understanding and expertise to ensure that our instructor-led training (ILT) in engineering, analysis, design, evaluation, and modeling provides participants with the knowledge they need to excel. The courses are constructed for participants with a background in engineering, project management, or design. Specifically, we invite State DOT bridge and structure engineers, practicing bridge engineers, designers, consultants, reviewers, maintenance engineers, management engineers, and load rating engineers who have achieved the necessary pre-training competencies to apply. Pre-training competencies include a Bachelor of Science degree in civil engineering, working knowledge of the American Association of State Highway Transportation Officials (AASHTO) load and resistance factor design (LRFD) methodology, or the AASHTO standard specifications for highway bridges. NHI's ILTs are taught by highly knowledgeable subject-matter experts who are the best in their field. Each course establishes different competencies, which we detail below, but participants who complete the courses will contribute to the stability, longevity, and strength of bridges throughout our Nation.
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Image Source: Joe Gough / Adobe Stock
Fortifying Strong Designs
The LRFD for Highway Bridge Superstructure ILT (130081) is a four-day updated course combining instructor-led discussions and workshop exercises for participants learning the LRFD methodology for steel and concrete highway superstructures. Participant exercises and example problems demonstrate overall design, detailing, and construction principles for bridge superstructure bolstered by hands-on experiences in LRFD design and detailing. Participants will demonstrate and apply current AASHTO LRFD specification articles to various bridge design issues and best practices.
Rating Integrity
NHI's Load and Resistance Factor Rating (LRFR) of Highway Bridges ILT (130092) course provides novice and experienced bridge engineers with the fundamental knowledge from the most recent AASHTO LRFR specifications on bridge ratings. Participants will use LRFR specifications to enhance bridge safety and identify the next steps ensuring transition to a new methodology for load rating of concrete and steel superstructure bridges. Completing this course will enable participants to explain, demonstrate, calculate, evaluate, and identify the performance and methodology of the state-of-the-art LRFR system.
“Curving Strength”
The LRFD and Analysis of Curved Steel Highway Bridges ILT (130095) is a five-day course that applies the principles of LRFD to the structural analysis and design of skewed and horizontally curved steel 1-girder bridges, but also details box-girder bridges. In addition to the instructor-led discussions, participants will engage in workshop exercises testing theory, design procedures, guided walk-throughs of design examples, real-life case studies, and models. Participants will learn the latest innovations around bridge superstructure.
Elevate & Educate
A one-day seminar, hosted by NHI showcases information on the Cable-Stayed Signature Bridge ILT (130096) providing participants with an introduction to planning, design, and construction of long-span, cable-stayed bridges. The seminar features elements of cable-stayed bridges, their construction and maintenance considerations, and analyses needed to design these highly redundant structures including special aerodynamic studies. This seminar engages participants through instructor-led presentations, discussions, Q&A, group activities, and walkthrough examples. Successful completion of the seminar helps participants describe, identify, compare, and define superstructure types, alternatives to those types, approaches to erecting steel and concrete cable-stayed bridges, and the testing and evaluation of those structures.
Image Source: Nathan / Adobe Stock
Striving for Structural Stability
NHI's Engineering for Structural Stability in Bridge Construction ILT (130102) is a three-day course to train participants on the behavior of steel and concrete girder bridges during construction, identification of vulnerabilities, and engineering methods to investigate the structure's strength and stability at each critical stage. Participants will discuss the practicality and adaptability of topics including but not limited to load criteria, final design conditions, transformative loads, blueprinting, erection engineering plans, procedures, and submittals. This course provides valuable experience and understanding of the structural evolution of bridges.
Forging Resilient Bridges
The Design and Evaluation of Bridges for Fatigue and Fracture ILT (130122) is a two-day course covering fatigue and fracture, analysis, design, evaluation, repair, and retrofit of steel bridges. Course instruction features three modules discussing a general introduction to bridges, the fundamentals of fatigue and fracture in steel bridges, and the approach, analysis, repair, and retrofit of a steel bridge suffering from fatigue and fracture. Completing 130122 enables participants to examine a steel bridge for signs of deteriorating infrastructure, analyze methodologies for correcting the problem, and strategize for the repair and retrofit of highway structures.
Image Source: Michael Vorobiev / Adobe Stock
Concrete Craftsmanship Analysis
NHI's Strut-and-Tie Modeling (STM) for Concrete Structures ILT (130126) course promotes the STM specification providing engineers with a simplistic analysis and design tool for deep concrete bridge elements. The bridge engineering community uses the STM to improve the bridge design state-of-design best practices and provide participants with the current and most efficient practice for constructing and analyzing the concrete foundations of bridges. Successful completion of this course will ensure participants can implement STM correctly in modeling and analysis and recognize serviceability considerations like structural defects, shear stress, and diagonal cracking.
The sustainability, longevity, and preparedness of our Nation's infrastructure depends on people like you. By enrolling in these NHI courses, you're not just learning about bridges, you are building a path for yourself to a more successful career and contributing to a vital piece of the American story. See the course links below to contribute to that story today!
Courses:
If you have questions about this or any other NHI training, please contact NHI at nhicustomerservice@dot.gov or 877.558.6873.
NHI: Training Transportation Professionals Since 1970.
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