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NEWSA

s 2005 begins, the Universityof Massachusetts campus willhave two pieces of historyconnecting walkways forcampus pedestrians.

The Adaptive Use Bridge Project isan on-campus program through whichengineering students learn how to moveand refurbish truss bridges from differentlocations in New England. The bridgesare then reconstructed as part of the land-scape to improve pedestrian pathsaround campus.

Alan J. Lutenegger, Ph.D., a professor

and department head of the College ofEngineering at UMass, started the pro-gram in the fall of 2001. It is the only pro-gram of its kind in the country to date.

The goal of the project is to restore fiveto six of the iron and steel truss bridges,while giving engineering studentshands-on experience.

We want to preserve engineering his-tory, we want students to have the oppor-tunity to do something meaningful forcivil engineering, and we want toenhance the campus by putting up

bridges for pedestrians, said Luteneg-ger.

Truss bridges, commonly found inwestern Massachusetts, are usually onelane, small bridges that run across riversand streams. They have characteristicX structures, which are made fromlinks and are connected by joints.

The 42 steel 1906 Warren Truss PonyBridge was the first bridge brought to thecampus. The bridge is originally fromVermont.

We had to piece it all back together,

said Lutenegger. The bridge was cleaned

and re-painted a burgundy color inhonor of the school colors of its newhome.

Its great that he [Lutenegger] canfind a project that people can volunteerto do and not only is it beneficial to us[engineering students], but also to peopleon campus, said Michael Goodman, asenior and civil engineering student.Goodman spent his summer interningwith Lutenegger, refurbishing old

bridges and testing pieces of the struc-tures in labs.

We are doing a lot of lab work and alot of comparisons, and seeing thestrength of the old bridges, said Good-

man.

Most of the student volunteers comefrom the Department of Civil and Envi-ronmental Engineering and the Student

Chapter of the American Society of CivilEngineers on campus, where Luteneggerrecruits during chapter meetings.Although the project seems to mainlyattract engineering students, Luteneggerencourages anyone who is interested to

become involved.Building the bridges requires dedica-

tion, however. The project is done outsideof class time, often on Friday afternoons.Like Goodman, some students chose toparticipate over the summer as well.

Lutenegger says that having the proj-

ect outside of class keeps it lighter and

Steel Bridge

January 2005 Modern Steel Construction

N AT ION AL S TE EL B RI DGE A LL I AN CE

Adaptive Use BridgeProject Rebuilds Historic Bridges On Campus

The following item is based on an article by Allie Bahn, Collegian Correspondent (University of Massachusetts).

Bridge No. 1

Bridge No. 2

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highlights those students who are trulypassionate about their field.

During fall and spring, the bridgesare built and worked on outside in a littlefield at the west end of campus. In thewinter, new pieces for the bridges aremade indoors.

By spring 2005, Luteneggers goal is

to have three bridges completed on cam-pus. He hopes the project will run for atleast ten years, and that a total of eight

bridges will be reconstructed for use onbike paths and running or walking trailsall over campus.

The Adaptive Use Bridge Project ismade possible through cash donationsand in-kind services, equipment, andmaterials.

NSBA 2005 World Steel

Bridge Symposium Call

for Papers

The organizers of the National SteelBridge Alliance (NSBA) 2005 World Steel

Bridge Symposium, to take placeNovember 29 December 2 in Orlando,FL, are interested in papers that dealwith all aspects of steel bridge designand construction. Papers will berequested based on acceptance ofabstracts of 500 words or less. The dead-line for abstracts has been extended to

January 31, 2005. Authors will be notifiedof acceptance by February 11 and com-pleted papers must be received forreview by May 27.

For more information on submittingan abstract, please visit:

www.nsbaweb.org.The World Steel Bridge Symposium

brings together design engineers, con-struction professionals, academicians,transportation officials, fabricators, erec-tors, and constructors to discuss andlearn state-of-the-art practices forenhancing steel bridge design, fabrica-tion, and construction techniques.

The Symposium is co-sponsored byNSBA and the Federal Highway Admin-istration. For more information about theWorld Steel Bridge Symposium, see the

ad on page 24.

January 2005 Modern Steel Construction