Research Report: eSPAN140 Performance Assessment of Jesup South Bridge

eSPAN140 is a complimentary web-based design tool which provides customized steel solutions for bridges up to 140 feet. Working with the authors and with members of SSSBA, the Secondary Roads Department of Buchanan County, Iowa, headed by Brian Keierlieber, P.E., agreed to be the first owner agency to utilize eSPAN140 to design and construct a short span steel bridge, specifically the new V-65 Jesup South Bridge in Jesup, Iowa.

Various members of SSSBA volunteered time, materials, and expertise to assist in delivering the first documented short-span bridge designed using eSPAN140. In addition, the demonstration served significant research objectives: data collected from field investigations during deck casting as well as during live load testing will serve as analytical benchmarks for future analytical studies in short-span steel bridge behavior.

Jesup South Bridge in Buchanan County, Iowa

The scope of this report is to discuss the development of eSPAN140 and its associated design standards along with how eSPAN140 was utilized during its first documented application, the V-65 Jesup South Bridge. In addition, a comprehensive overview of the experimental and analytical testing program is provided, along with a presentation of testing results. As discussed in the report, it is clear that eSPAN140 is quite capable of producing efficient and economical solutions in the short-span range. For this project, eSPAN140 provided all the necessary parameters for county engineers to refine and synthesize an effective short-span steel bridge design.

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For More Information:

Karl E. Barth, Ph.D.
Co-Leader, SSSBA Bridge Technology Center
Jack H. Samples Distinguished Professor at West Virginia University
Email: Karl.Barth@mail.wvu.edu

Gregory K. Michaelson, Ph.D., P.E.
Co-Leader, SSSBA Bridge Technology Center
Assistant Professor, Department of Civil Engineering at Marshall University
Email: michaelson@marshall.edu