Best management practices for storage of historic metal truss bridges.

PDFTech ReportGA-14-1205Truss bridgesMetal bridgesHistoric bridgesBest practicesStorage facilitiesEvaluationHistoric preservationGeorgiaGeorgia. Department of Transportation. Office of ResearchWhite, Donald W.Teizer, JochenFang, YihaiNguyen, Thanh V.Jarriell, RyanGeorgia Institute of Technology. School of Civil and Environmental EngineeringUnited States. Federal Highway AdministrationUS Transportation CollectionAs part of a 2002 agreement with the FHWA, GDOT has committed to consider storing metal trussbridges of historic value in lieu of demolition, until a recipient could be located. This research addresses the mosteffective processes for storage of historic metal truss bridges until a reuse can be determined. The design andmaterial integrity of the bridge must be retained. The report first reviews the conditions leading to the decision toreplace a historic bridge including the determination of the feasibility for reuse, discusses the cases in whichmetal truss bridges are commonly stored in situ versus being removed and stored at an off-site location, thenaddresses the early tasks to be undertaken once the decision has been made to store a bridge. These activities arereferred to broadly as the evaluation and stabilization of the bridge. This is followed by an assessment of bestpractices in the areas preservation, documentation, marketing, disassembly, transportation, and cost estimation asthese pertain to storage. The research concludes with a case study that analyses the marketing and storage of ahistoric metal truss bridge in Griffin, Georgia, which was replaced in 2012