STUDENT STEEL BRIDGE COMPETITION 2013 RULES 1 MISSION The mission of the Student Steel Bridge Competition (SSBC) is to supplement the education of civil engineering students with a comprehensive, student-driven project experience from conception and design through fabrication, erection, and testing, culminating in a steel structure that meets client specifications and optimizes performance and economy. The SSBC increases awareness of real- world engineering issues such as spatial constraints, material properties, strength, serviceability, fabrication and erection processes, safety, aesthetics, project management, and cost. Success in inter-collegiate competition requires application of engineering principles and theory, and effective teamwork. Future engineers are stimulated to innovate, practice professionalism, and use structural steel efficiently. WELCOME ASCE and AISC support and encourage the equitable opportunity for participation by all interested and eligible individuals in the Student Steel Bridge Competition without regard to race, ethnicity, religion, age, gender, sexual orientation, nationality, or physical challenges. Bridge teams should be inclusive and open and fair to all interested and eligible participants. SPONSORS Organizing sponsors of the Student Steel Bridge Competition are  American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC)  American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Co-sponsors are  American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI)  Bentley Systems, Inc.  Canadian Institute of Steel Construction (CISC)  DS SolidWorks Corp.  James F. Lincoln Arc Welding Foundation  National Steel Bridge Alliance (NSBA)  Nelson Stud Welding  Nucor Corporation  Steel Structures Education Foundation (SSEF) 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS page 1. Introduction 4 2. Executive Summary 5 3. Problem Statement 6 4. Eligibility 7 5. Rule Changes 9 6. Safety 9 7. Scoring 10 8. Schedule of Competition 13 9. Dimension and Support Specifications 14 10. Material and Component Specifications 17 11. Construction Regulations 18 12. Load Tests 25 13. Equipment Provided by Host 32 14. Interpretation of Rules 34 15. Judging 34 16. Appeals 34 17. Index of Definitions 37 APPENDIX Site and Bridge Diagram 38 Lateral Loading Diagram 39 Vertical Loading Diagram 40 Any revisions to the rules in this document are incorporated in clarifications that are published at the bridge competition web site, http://www.aisc.org/steelbridge. Revisions and clarifications do not appear in this document but are considered formal addenda to the Rules. 3 Section 1 INTRODUCTION Students design and erect a steel bridge by themselves but may seek advice from faculty and student organization advisers. Students gain maximum benefit if they fabricate the entire bridge themselves. However, because appropriate shop facilities and supervision are not available at all universities, students may use the services of a commercial fabricator provided that they develop the work orders and shop drawings, and observe the operations. Students are encouraged to maximize their involvement in fabrication. Safety is of primary importance. AISC and ASCE request that competitors, advisers, hosts, and judges take all necessary precautions to prevent injury to competitors, judges, host personnel, and spectators. This document describes the competition and states the rules for competitions conducted during 2013 at both conference and national levels. It is available at http://www.aisc.org/steelbridge, together with revisions, clarifications, other information, and the form for submitting requests for clarifications. Information at this site takes priority over any other source except as noted herein. The rules are changed every year to enhance the competition and ensure that competitors design and build new bridges. The rules are intended to be prescriptive but may require some interpretation. The procedure for requesting clarification of the rules is described in section 14, “Interpretation of Rules.” Competitors, judges, and host personnel are encouraged to read this Rules document thoroughly from beginning to end and then review the Competition Guide at http://www.nssbc.info. That site also is the source of the official scoring spreadsheet which generates forms for recording data. Judges should be familiar with these forms prior to the competition. Members of the Student Steel Bridge Rules Committee are  Michael F. Engestrom, Technical Marketing Director, Nucor-Yamato Steel  Nancy Gavlin, S.E., P.E., Director of Education, AISC  Jennifer Greer-Steele, ASCE Committee on Student Activities Corresponding Member  Frank J. Hatfield, P.E., Professor Emeritus, Michigan State University  John M. Parucki, Structural Steel Consultant  Brian Raff, Marketing Director, NSBA  Don Sepulveda, P.E., Executive Officer, Regional Rail, Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority  Ping Wei, Director of Educational Activities, ASCE  James C. Williams, P.E., Professor, University of Texas at Arlington 4 Section 2 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Civil Engineering students are challenged to an inter-collegiate competition that includes design, fabrication, and construction of a scaled steel bridge. Participating students apply engineering principles and theory, and gain practical experience in structural design, fabrication processes, construction planning, organization, project management, and teamwork. The rules of the competition simulate a request for proposal that requires a scaled model to demonstrate the efficacy of competing designs. Section 3, “Problem Statement,” relates the rules to realistic challenges encountered in bridge design and construction. Standards for strength, durability, constructability, usability, functionality, and safety reflect the volumes of requirements that govern the design and construction of full-scale bridges. Criteria for excellence are represented by the award categories of stiffness, lightness, construction speed, display, efficiency, and economy. Competition judges and the Rules Committee take the role of the owner and have the authority to accept and reject entries. The safety of competitors, judges, host personnel, and spectators is paramount. Risky procedures are prohibited. Load testing is stopped if sway or deflection exceeds specified limits, or if collapse is deemed imminent in the opinion of the judges. Bridges that cannot be constructed and loaded safely are withdrawn from competition. In addition, the rules identify and penalize construction errors that represent accidents in full-scale construction. The rules of the competition accommodate a variety of designs and allow innovation. Designers must consider carefully the comparative advantages of various alternatives. For example, a truss bridge may be stiffer than a girder bridge but slower to construct. Successful teams analyze and compare alternative designs prior to fabrication using value analysis based on scoring criteria. The Student Steel Bridge Competition provides design and construction planning experience, an opportunity to learn fabrication procedures, and the excitement of networking with and competing against students from other colleges and universities. 5 Section 3 PROBLEM STATEMENT The new Hill Music Hall and Marian Paroo Memorial Library sparked revitalization of the River City waterfront, with restaurants, theaters, and luxury condominiums scrambling for space in the old brick warehouses. The resulting vehicle traffic now exceeds the capacity of city streets. Therefore, the River City Development Corporation (RCDC) is requesting design/build proposals for a bridge to provide direct access from suburbs across the river. Accelerated Bridge Construction (ABC) is mandated in order to minimize travel delays and financial losses to waterfront businesses caused by disruption of traffic during construction. As an attractive signature structure for the redeveloped waterfront, the new bridge will provide clearance for tour boats, and will cantilever over the historically significant billiard parlor. RCDC specifies steel because fast erection is essential to ABC, and because steel’s durability and high level of recycled content contribute to exceptional sustainability. The high strength to weight ratio of steel assures an efficient structure, and prefabricated deck panels expedite ABC. The congested urban site restricts location and size of the staging area, and the dimensions and weight of equipment and transported material are limited by narrow, thinly paved streets. Navigation must not be restricted by construction barges or permanent abutments in the river. However, a permit has been obtained for a temporary cofferdam. The scope of the bridge contract does not include foundations, approaches, deck panels, or the cofferdam. Your company’s proposal is among those that the RCDC has deemed responsive, and winning the contract would be a step toward leadership in ABC. Each competing firm is requested to submit a 1:10 scale model to demonstrate its concept. Models will be erected under simulated field conditions and will be tested for stability, strength, and serviceability using standardized lateral and vertical loads. The RCDC has selected a panel of engineers to judge the models by multiple criteria including durability, constructability, usability, stiffness, construction speed, efficiency, economy, and attractiveness. The contract will be awarded to the company whose model satisfies specified requirements and best achieves project objectives. Any attempt to gain advantage by circumventing the intent of the competition as expressed by the Rules, including this Problem Statement, will be grounds for rejecting the model and terminating the company’s eligibility. 6 Section 4 ELIGIBILITY 4.1 LEVELS OF COMPETITIONS There are two levels of competition: conference and national. Conference competitions are held in conjunction with ASCE annual student conferences. Outstanding performance in conference competitions qualifies eligible teams for the national competition. 4.2 CONFERENCE COMPETITIONS 4.2.1 Only one bridge per college or university may compete in an ASCE student conference, and a college or university may compete in only one ASCE student conference. 4.2.2 The ASCE student organization that is hosting a conference may invite guest teams, which are teams from colleges or universities that do not have ASCE student organizations, or from official ASCE student organizations that are assigned to different conferences. Conference assignments are listed in the ASCE Official Register. 4.2.3 A team shall consist only of undergraduate and graduate students in good standing with their ASCE student organization. This requirement is waived for guest teams. 4.2.4 The official scoring spreadsheet shall be used, and all teams (including guest teams) shall be listed on that spreadsheet. The official scoring spreadsheet may be downloaded from http://www.nssbc.info. 4.2.5 The host student organization shall promptly submit the completed official scoring spreadsheet for a conference competition to [email protected]. Teams from that conference will not be invited to the National Student Steel Bridge Competition (NSSBC) until the spreadsheet is received. 4.3. NATIONAL COMPETITION 4.3.1 A team is not eligible to be invited to compete in the NSSBC if it is (1) a guest team as defined in 4.2.2, or (2) from an organization that is not in good standing with ASCE, or (3) from an organization that has not satisfied ASCE requirements regarding participation in its conference, or (4) ruled to be ineligible to complete its conference competition. ASCE requirements for good standing and for conference participation are reprinted in 4.4 but are subject to change. 7 4.3.2 The maximum number of eligible teams from a conference that will be invited to compete in the NSSBC is based on the number of teams at that conference that competed (that is, presented bridges and staged them for timed construction) but not including guest teams as defined in 4.2.2. (1) Only the single best scoring eligible team will be invited from a conference in which two, three or four non-guest teams competed. (2) The two top scoring eligible teams will be invited from a conference in which five to ten non-guest teams competed. (3) The three top scoring eligible teams will be invited from a conference in which eleven or more non-guest teams competed. 4.3.3 Teams are not invited to compete in the NSSBC as guests. 4.3.4 Only one bridge per college or university may be entered in the NSSBC. 4.3.5 A team must consist only of members who are or were students in good standing with their ASCE student organization during all or part of the academic year leading up to the NSSBC. 4.4 ASCE NATIONAL COMPETITION ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS ASCE requirements for good standing and for conference participation, as they existed in July, 2012, are reprinted in this sub-section (4.4) but are subject to change. The current version is at http://www.asce.org/studentorgs/competition-eligibility/. ASCE has sole authority for determining and enforcing these requirements; questions should be sent by e-mail to [email protected]. “In order to facilitate broader participation by ASCE Student Organizations in Student Conference activities, the ASCE Committee on Student Activities (CSA) stresses the importance of the conference as an event that is much more than a qualifying round for national competitions and highlights the required events at a conference. As such, the following qualifications are required of all ASCE Student Organizations in order to participate in an ASCE-sponsored National Competition. An ASCE Student Organization must:  Be in good standing with ASCE (annual report and annual dues submitted and received by ASCE prior to the start of the Student Conference). 8  Attend and participate in their assigned Student Conference as shown through their school's: a) Good faith participation in the Student Conference Business Meeting (i.e. on time attendance by at least one student representative); b) Good faith participation in the Student Conference Paper Competition (i.e. submission and presentation by at least one member of the ASCE Student Organization); and c) Meeting any additional requirements of Student Conference participation set by the Student Conference at the previous year's business meeting or in their written and approved by-laws, standing rules, or constitution. Note: The concrete canoe design paper/oral presentation does not count as an entry into the Student Conference Paper Competition.” Section 5 RULE CHANGES The following items in this section (5) identify some of the major changes from the 2012 rules. Not all changes are included. Contestants, hosts, and judges are cautioned to read this entire document carefully and disregard rules and clarifications from previous years. (1) Scoring and penalties have been revised. (2) Bridge and site dimensions are different. (3) Interlocking connections that were acceptable last year, such as typical dovetails, tees, and those that lock by twisting, will be penalized this year. (4) Responsibilities are assigned to team captains. (5) Bridges that collapse or deflect excessively will be withdrawn from competition. Section 6 SAFETY Safety has the highest priority – risk of personal injury will not be tolerated. Sub-sections 9.2, 10.1, 11.2, and 11.3 of these Rules identify hazardous conditions and actions that will result in withdrawing a bridge from competition if not corrected. Judges will document these safety violations by checking appropriate boxes on the data entry forms. Judges also must comply with and enforce the safety regulations for load testing in sub-sections 12.1, 12.2, and 12.3. Sub-sections 12.4, 12.5, and 12.6 specify penalties for bridges that exhibit unsafe characteristics during load testing. Judges are empowered to halt any activity that they deem to be hazardous. If a bridge cannot compete safely, it must be withdrawn from competition. If the problem is not anticipated by the sub-sections listed in the preceding paragraph, the judge should write a brief description of the problem on the data form. 9 Section 7 SCORING 7.1 RECORDING DATA AND SUBMITTING SCORES Scoring data should be recorded for every team that competes, using judges’ data forms printed from the official scoring spreadsheet downloaded from http://www.nssbc.info. Data from those forms are then entered on the spreadsheet. After all scoring information has been collected for a team, the scoring official reviews data entry with the captain of that team. The team captain is given adequate time to verify the data before signing the form. The completed official scoring spreadsheet for a conference competition shall be submitted to [email protected] by the host student organization. Conference results are not final until the spreadsheet is submitted. Questions and comments regarding the spreadsheet should be sent to [email protected]. Judges’ data forms shall be retained by the host student organization for two weeks after the competition. 7.2 CATEGORIES OF COMPETITION 7.2.1 Categories of competition are display, construction speed, lightness, stiffness, construction economy, and structural efficiency. In addition, overall performance is rated. 7.2.2 Display 7.2.2.1 Display is the tie-breaker for all categories of competition. Judges shall not declare ties in display. The bridge is displayed exactly as it will be erected during timed construction. Display is judged by the following criteria 7.2.2.2 Appearance of bridge, including balance, proportion, elegance, and finish. Quality of fabrication, including welding, shall not be considered because some bridges may be fabricated professionally rather than by students. 7.2.2.3 Permanent identification of the bridge consisting of the name of the college or university exactly as shown on the ASCE student web site, http://www.asce.org/Content.aspx?id=14843. The name must appear on member(s) of the bridge in letters that are all, by measurement, at least one inch high, and must be formed from steel or applied to steel with paint or decals. A bridge that lacks appropriate identification will receive a very low display rating. 1 0