The Student Steel Bridge Capstone (SSBC) project is where students are tasked to build a scale model bridge at 21' long for the Intermountain Southwest Symposium (ISWS). The ISWS competition hosted by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), with the competition created and judged by the American Institute of Steel Construction. The project will require a scale model bridge that will undergo a speed building competition along with a vertical and lateral load test completed at the ISWS April 11th-13th, 2024. Additionally, students are tasked to develop a proposal and report regarding design process for the scale modeled bridge.
The project is based on a hypothetical 1.25 mile bridge that will be built in Ruston, Louisiana. The scale model will be constructed with considerations to the project location and environment.
The constraints of this project has been identified in the American Institute of Steel Construction rule book for the Intermountain Southwest Symposium hosted by the American Society of Civil Engineers. Additional constraints are considered under the NAU ABET Capstone requirements for completing the project.
Learn moreThis project has been distributed into nine tasks in order to effectively implement and create a bridge for the Intermountain Southwest Symposium and for the Northern Arizona University Civil Engineering Senior Capstone.
Task 1: Project Background Research
The projects' first task includes research into the AISC competition details, different available materials, connections, and truss designs for the project.
Task 2: Preliminary Analysis and Design
The project will consider all different design elements and develop a decision matrix to analyze different options to optimize categories of stiffness, weight, constructability, and aesthetics. This task will evaluate all available materials, development of alternative connection design, and develop a final decision matrix considering all structural configurations for the bridge.
The purpose of this task is to design the final bridge design determined in Task 2 and undergo 3D Modeling and analysis. This task will determine the bridge's strength under AISC-13 limits for code, serviceability analysis to determine if deflections will remain under AISC rules, and that all connections increase the stability and strength of the bridge.
Final Design File
Task 4: Bridge Production
The purpose of this task is to generate shop drawings from the finalized 3D model. Fabricators will be contacted to begin coordination between the design team to finalize final shop drawing products. An element of this step is to involve student mentees to understand the shop drawings and how to construct the bridge.
Shop Drawing File
Task 5: Assembly
Prior to competition, the project team will conduct initial assembly to confirm all elements of the bridge have been fabricated accurately and adjust the design if problems are identified. After all modifications have been made, the team will conduct repeated assembly to become efficient in the construction of the bridge.
Task 6: Competition
The team will be responsible for transportation and construction of the bridge for the ISWS competition hosted by the American Society of Civil Engineers at the host school University of Utah. The team will then construct the bridge and participate in the vertical and lateral load testing determined at the event. All members include mentees will be involved with construction. The team will also be responsible for presentations at the event along with the speed and load competition.
Task 7: Project Deliverables
The team will be responsible for NAU Capstone deliverable including the 30%, 60%, 90%, and Final Report deliverables. These will be accompanied by the final website and presentation. All final documents can be found in the link below.
Final DocumentsTask 8: Project Management
To manage the project efficiently, the project team has identified schedule, resource, and meeting management. The project will follow schedule as determined below and manage resources to confirm all costs are maintained. Meetings will be conducted to ensure all tasks are completed and the project follows all requirements with the technical advisor, grading instructor, client, and internal team meetings. .
Task 9: Impact Analysis
This project will consider all social, environmental, and economical impacts the project causes. The project will consider social and environmental impacts based on the fictional location of Lincoln Parish Park (Ruston, Louisiana) provided in the AISC rules . Economical impacts will be evaluated by ensuring all the bridge is designed and constructed with limited waste.
Our services for the project includes the expected hourly work completed by the staffing team, along with various products required to complete the project. The Ponderosa SteelJacks along with some of our sponsors will fund the scale bridge model project with all materials and travel required to complete and compete in the International Southwest Symposium. The cost of services below show the personnel costs, travel costs, subcontracting costs for welding, and other miscellaneous costs associated with the supplies and equipment for the project.
In order to determine whether the project should be implemented, and impact analysis was conducted to determine the environmental, economic, and social impact of the project. The team identified two alternatives, one being the implementation of the bridge, and the other not implementing the bridge.
See our full Impact analysis hereThis site was created with the Nicepage