DESCRIPTION:
The course promotes the philosophy of the LRFD design platform and establishes the motivation for LRFD as the reassurance that safe design practices are being applied where needed. For structural applications, the curriculum follows the AASHTO "LRFD Bridge Design Specifications," 3rd Edition, 2004 (AASHTO LRFD). However for geotechnical applications, the curriculum follows development work on AASHTO LRFD Section 10, Foundations, including the approved 2008 interim specifications. This course is a combination of instructor-led discussions and workshop exercises. It includes LRFD theory applied to design examples and illustrates step-by-step LRFD design procedures through a series of detailed process flowcharts. The training includes the extensive use of student exercises and example problems to demonstrate overall design, detailing, and construction principles addressed in the reference materials, and provides hands-on experience in the AASHTO LRFD design and detailing of bridge abutment and pier elements, deep and shallow foundation design, and earth retaining structures. Exercise and example problems are based on components of overall comprehensive bridge design examples using AASHTO LRFD and provide comparisons between ASD, LFD, and LRFD design methods where meaningful. The curriculum materials are comprised of a comprehensive reference manual, FHWA Publication No. FHWA NHI 05-094, lecture and workshop exercises intended to promote or enhance a working knowledge of the AASHTO LRFD specification, and a participant workbook for lecture notes and exercises. The curriculum material contains the following major topics: 1. Loads, load distribution, and load combinations 2. Principles of limit state designs 3. Geotechnical spread footing design (soil and rock) 4. Driven pile and drilled shaft design (soil and rock) 5. Substructure design and detailing for a cantilever abutment and hammerhead pier OUTCOMES:
Upon completion of the course, participants will be able to:- Define AASHTO LRFD limit states and compute structural and geotechnical design loads
- Apply AASHTO LRFD criteria for design
- Integrate the AASHTO LRFD specification provisions into the host agency's current practice
- Integrate the geotechnical aspects of LRFD foundation design into LRFD structural design
TARGET AUDIENCE:
The target audience is bridge, geotechnical, or transportation engineers with 0 to 20 years of experience and responsible for the design and construction of bridge substructures on surface transportation facilities. |