Paper “Field and Numerical Evaluation of Lateral Bending in Skewed Steel I-Girder Bridges during Deck Placement” was selected as one an ASCE Editor’s Choice Paper for the month of February, 2024.

This paper studies the behavior of skewed steel I-girder bridges during deck placement, and it’s published in (ASCE) Journal of Bridge Engineering. It presents a study that evaluates skew effects on girder lateral bending stress in pre-composite steel superstructures under concrete dead load, which advances safety and economy in design for construction-stage loading.

Skewed steel I-girder bridges exhibit unique behavior during deck placement when the superstructure is in a pre-composite condition; lateral bending of skewed bridges during deck placement is of particular interest. The research was conducted through monitoring of two skewed steel I-girder bridges in the field, conducting complementary 3D finite element numerical simulations, and carrying out parametric studies on thirty-three bridges. Flange lateral bending stress was affected by skew largely locally near bridge midspan and mainly globally near bridge supports. AASHTO LRFD Specification C6.10.1 sufficiently provides a design suggestion of additional lateral bending stress for interior girders without refined analysis, except when considering highly skewed (> 45°) integral abutment bridges near their end support. However, the suggestions are not adequate for checking exterior girders near supports for several cases studied in this research. Consistent with AASHTO, it is suggested that a refined method of analysis capable of considering superstructure lateral load transfer should be carried out when a bridge is skewed more than 60°.