Short Span Steel Bridges 
NCSPA Establishes Student Scholarship Opportunities
The following information was provided by the National Corrugated Steel Pipe Association.
The National Corrugated Steel Pipe Association (NCSPA) announced the launch of the NCSPA Education and Research Institute (NERI) and the establishment of three new scholarship opportunities for the 2023-2024 academic year.
Under the oversight of the NCSPA Education Subcommittee and Regional Presidents Council, the NCSPA will award three separate scholarships in the amount of $1500 each:
- Robert E. Hall Memorial Scholarship for excellence in design engineering, materials science, and resiliency.
- Donald L. Bibey Memorial Scholarship for Diversity to minority students who have been traditionally underrepresented in the field of engineering.
- Doyle F. Johnson Memorial Scholarship for excellence in water quality and sustainability.
Eligibility
Students must be entering their junior, senior, fifth, or master’s degree year, in the Fall of 2023 to qualify for the general scholarships. In addition, a student must be a U.S. citizen pursuing a Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in engineering or in an accredited land-surveying program to qualify.
Application Deadline
All scholarship applicants must submit complete applications directly to the NERI office by February 15, 2023.
What are buried steel bridges?
Buried steel bridges provide an economical choices for bridge replacement or bridge rehabilitation.
They essentially are a corrugated steel pipe or structural plate pipe systems that is “buried” with backfill to carry loads through soil-structure interaction. This means the bridge structure itself and the backfill soils surrounding the structure interact with each other to support the loads. In effect, the backfill material is part of the bridge.
Because of this interaction, the bridge structure is typically lighter, and there can be significant savings in structure costs.
There are also many cases where buried bridges can carry heavier loads than traditional bridges because of the benefits of spreading vehicle loads through the fill. Buried bridges do not require abutments; and unless foundation soil conditions are poor, do not typically
require deep foundations.An additional benefit with buried bridges is that they can be tailored to site conditions and geometric requirements. The design includes inputs for site soils and backfill, meaning that locally available materials can often be used in construction and the structure can be tailored to fit the needs of the site and the owner’s requirements.
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