E – 1496 – FHWA Bridge Inspector’s Manual – Bridge Mechanics

The Federal Highway Administration’s Bridge Inspector’s Reference Manual (BIRM) is a comprehensive manual on programs, procedures, and techniques for inspecting and evaluating a variety of in-service highway bridges. BIRM serves as the basis of a comprehensive National Highway Institute training program in bridge-safety inspection. The present course is based on pp. P.2.1-P.2.36 of BIRM’s introductory section, Basic Concepts Primer, and treats the topic of bridge mechanics.

This course is based on the Basics Concepts Primer section, pp. P.2.1-P.2.36, of the Federal Highway Administration Bridge Inspector’s Reference Manual, Publication No. FHWA NHI 03-001, October, 2002, Revised December, 2006.

Learning Objectives

At the successful conclusion of this course, you’ll be able to identify and discuss:

• Bridge design loadings
• Bridge response to loadings
• Material response to loadings
• Mechanics of materials
• Bridge movements
• Design Methods
• Bridge ratings
• Span classifications
• Bridge roadway interactions
• Redundancy
• Foundations