Steel Bridge Design Handbook: Structural Steel Bridge Shop Drawings

Federal Highway Administration2012PDFTech ReportGatti, WalterUnited States. Federal Highway Administration. Office of Bridge TechnologyHDR EngineeringUnited States. Federal Highway Administration. Office of Bridge TechnologyUnited StatesSteel bridgesBridge designStructural designFabricationFHWA-IF-12-052The preparation of shop drawings is a very specialized process with its own language and methods. The drawings and data for fabrication are developed from information presented on the contract drawings. These drawings contain the basic bridge geometry, pier and sub-structure locations and design, as well as the sizes of all material, weld and bolt sizes and the basic connection information. Fabrication, thus the shop drawings, must adhere to all the applicable specifications and the information on the contract plans. With this in mind, the detailers, shop drawing producers, must have experience, knowledge and ability to translate contract information into shop drawings. Steel bridge fabrication is a field unlike any others such as building construction, therefore most detailers who prepare steel bridge shop drawings specialize in bridges, and very few of them detail buildings or other steel structures. This document contains the history, present practices, and illustrations of the fundamentals of shop detail drawings for steel bridges, and is not intended to cover every type of bridge structure. The purpose is to familiarize engineers, detailers and other individuals involved with steel bridge fabrication on the preparation and use of shop detail drawings.96