Re: aluminum pedestrian bridge

Andrew,

As an afterthought you may find it advantageous to consider the
design of a truss where the handrails are the to chord and the kick plate
(or L) is the bottom chord. This design requires that you stabilize the
handrails in compression by connecting the vertical posts under the deck to
form a U; but it generally reduces the weight of the structure.

Regards,

H. Daryl Richardson

----- Original Message -----
From: "Andrew Kester" <akester74@gmail.com>
To: <seaint@seaint.org>
Sent: Friday, November 12, 2010 8:15 AM
Subject: aluminum pedestrian bridge

>I would like some opinions on this, please CC me if you would at
> akester74@gmail.com
>
> A client has asked us about a possible project. They are a steel and
> alum fabricator. It is a 30ft pedestrian bridge for golf carts and
> people, no vehicles, spanning over a canal. It is alum because its
> near the ocean. We have quite a bit of alum design experience, and
> have done small pedestrian bridges and docks out of wood for parks
> that we designed per AASTHO.
>
> I assume with this span we can straight span it with I-beams. Then it
> is a lot of detailing of handrails, lateral bracing for wind, etc. The
> only thing that gives me a little bit of pause is if they end up
> wanting some type of truss type bridge (probably not necessary at that
> span and loading, but maybe), and vibration analysis...
>
> Do you think this is something we can handle without having specific
> alum pedestrian bridge experience?
>
> Also, if you have specific experience with this type of structure and
> would like to possibly consult (no heavy lifting, guidance and maybe
> plan review), let me know privately.
>
> Thanks in advance for your input,
> Andrew
>
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