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The Khan Lecture Series honors Dr. Fazlur Rahman Khan’s legacy of excellence in structural engineering and architecture, and is organized by Dan. M. Frangopol, Fazlur Rahman Khan Endowed Chair of Structural Engineering and Architecture, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, ATLSS Center, Lehigh University...click here for more information
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John E. Breen
Nasser I. Al-Rashid Chair in Civil Engrg., The University of Texas, Austin, TX
Friday, April 16h, 2010, 4:10 pm. Sinclair Laboratory Auditorium, Lehigh University
“The ABCD’s of Bridge Building: Affordable, Beautiful, Constructible, Durable”
The interrelation of aesthetics with overall bridge design, construction, and maintenance is presented. Beauty is highly desirable, but aesthetics must always be balanced with consideration of efficiency, constructability, and attention to durability. Examples show that great beauty is completely compatible with efficient, fast construction techniques and that beauty is greatly degraded if proper detailing is not provided for durability and control of staining. Rapid construction techniques are important and valuable, and they can be completely compatible with enhanced aesthetics and environmental sensitivity. A case study examines two attractive but different structural systems that were designed with different intents for blending with their surroundings. They differed in initial cost by a factor of 10, and the higher-cost structure also will require more intensive maintenance to preserve its appearance. The enigma of deciding “What price beauty?” is clearly illustrated in this comparison but can not be definitely answered because of the societal and political factors involved. The presentation concludes with a discussion of delay related user costs and the impact that they are having on choice of bridge structural systems such as in the Minneapolis I-35 bridge replacement...click here for more information
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