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Abstract
The goal of the American Society of Civil Engineering (ASCE) steel bridge competition
is to design, fabricate, and construct a steel bridge to span a length of 20 ft. The bridge is loaded
under prescribed conditions and its performance (vertical and lateral deflection) monitored.
Another capstone design team completed the steel bridge design. Fabrication of the various
bridge component, consisting of 4 columns, 16 beam sections, 5 cross members, and 8 lateral
braces, was completed at the USI Applied Engineering Center. A variety of equipment was used
in the fabrication process, including the water jet, manual and robotic welding equipment, and
both CNC and manual milling. Training on proper equipment use was completed as needed to
complete bridge fabrication. The regional competition was held at Milwaukee School of
Engineering on March 31, 2017. The steel bridge was successfully constructed in the allotted
time, but was disqualified due to failure of a tack weld during assembly. Details of the failure
will be described and guidance for future competitions will be provided.