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    <copyright>Copyright © 2026. National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.</copyright>
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    <managingEditor>tris-trb@nas.edu (Bill McLeod)</managingEditor>
    <webMaster>tris-trb@nas.edu (Bill McLeod)</webMaster>
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      <title>An Innovative Technology To Prevent Wind-Induced Fatigue Cracks In The Astoria-Megler Bridge</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/2594025</link>
      <description><![CDATA[The Astoria-Megler has experienced fatigue cracks in many of the long vertical members of its truss. These cracks required expensive remediation. Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) has unsuccessfully attempted to stiffen the structural members to prevent additional cracks from forming.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Thu, 28 Aug 2025 15:43:01 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/2594025</guid>
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      <title>Innovative Precast Concrete Truss Using Adaptive Shape Memory Prestressing System</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/2250305</link>
      <description><![CDATA[The ever-growing demand for making transportation infrastructure more durable and sustainable requires serious efforts to reduce carbon emissions associated with the concrete and steel used in transportation infrastructure. Almost half of the CO2 emission in the construction industry is related to steel and cement production. Cement alone is the source of about 8% of the world's CO2 emissions, and concrete is the second most used substance by mass after water. One way to achieve sustainability is by optimizing the materials used in transportation infrastructure. Taking precast concrete (PC) prestressed bridge components as an example, the geometric configurations of PC bridge girders have not significantly changed over the last several decades. Part of this could be attributed to the constraints imposed by the prestressing system and how the prestressing force is applied, which has not changed much over the years. This research will help address this issue by studying the application of an innovative Adaptive Prestressing System (APS) in a geometrically optimized (truss) PC system. The new APS can apply localized prestressing in any direction without mechanical tensioning or special hardware, which is ideal for prestressing short diagonal or vertical members of a PC truss. Additive manufacturing (3D printing) technology advancements make casting concrete trusses more feasible. Reusable, durable 3-D printed molds can be used in precast plants to construct trusses with various complex geometries. This research will investigate the APS technology to overcome the issue of cracking in lightweight PC trusses. APS utilizes shape memory alloys (SMAs); a class of smart metallic material that can remember their original shape by heating after being excessively deformed. APS is based on utilizing the permanent force associated with the shape recovery of the deformed SMAs to prestress members subjected to tension in a truss that are hard to prestress using conventional methods. The research will include experimental testing and numerical simulation of reduced-scale PC truss structures with APS placed in tension members that are hard to prestress using conventional methods. ]]></description>
      <pubDate>Mon, 18 Sep 2023 21:56:33 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/2250305</guid>
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      <title>Initial Analytical Investigation of Cantilever and Butterfly Steel Overhead Sign Trusses with Respect to Remaining Fatigue Life</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/1736392</link>
      <description><![CDATA[The objective of this study is to evaluate an estimate of the remaining life in cantilever and butterfly steel overhead sign trusses based on American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) Load and Resistance Factor Design (LRFD) specifications and to develop automated C# software that performs the following:
(1) Utilizes the Kansas wind speed database established during the earlier project (KSU-17-4) by extending it to every county in the state of Kansas.
(2) Computes the equivalent static wind loading for the fatigue analysis based on the galloping-induced cyclic loads, natural wind gust pressure and truck-induced gust pressure.
(3) Develops an interface to model cantilever and butterfly sign trusses in STAAD Pro.
(4) Drives STAAD Pro to analyze the various types of overhead sign trusses and generates the stress ranges corresponding to every structural component.
(5) Evaluates the remaining fatigue life for each steel component based on the damage accumulation accounted for through ratios of actual to ultimate cycle repetitions (Minor rule).]]></description>
      <pubDate>Tue, 01 Sep 2020 13:15:44 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/1736392</guid>
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      <title>Monitoring Vibrations on Jefferson City Truss Bridge</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/1372829</link>
      <description><![CDATA[The objective of the research was to determine the frequency and cause of resonant vibrations of vertical truss members on bridge A4497 over the Missouri River in Jefferson City, Missouri. Instrumentation to monitor the vibrations of four vertical members was installed on the bridge and monitored for 42 days. Weather data available from the weather station at the Jefferson City Memorial Airport were used to analyze weather conditions causing resonant vibrations of the four vertical members. 
Eleven vibration “events” were found where vertical members vibrated with higher than normal acceleration. The researchers also analyzed historical weather data to determine how frequently the resonance vibrations were occurring. The research team concluded that the frequency of resonant vibration events was likely 0.25 or fewer events per day. The vibrations were caused by average winds from the west-northwest, northwest, or southwest of approximately 17 mph or greater, based on monitoring results. 
Recommendations stemming from the research are as follows:
•	The effect of the vibration events on the durability of the vertical truss members should be analyzed further to determine if a retrofit is necessary. The data provided through the field monitoring should be used in the analysis.
•	Other vertical members of similar lengths should be monitored to determine if they are also affected by resonant vibrations.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Tue, 27 Oct 2015 11:43:27 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/1372829</guid>
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