The two-day conference, Steel Bridge Design and Construction for the New Millennium, held November 30 through December 1 in Baltimore, Maryland was an enormous success.  The goal of the conference was to bring together representatives from all corners of the steel bridge world, including designers, fabricators, owners, and academia to discuss innovations in design, construction methods and materials for the 21^st century.  The breakdown of the participants shown below indicates how many people were in attendance from each sector.

The conference began with presentations by Anthony Kane, William Dowd, and Dennis Mertz speaking of the current trends in steel bridge practice both in the US and around the world and how these trends will carry into the next century.  John Hooks then spoke on the availability of Federal Sponsorship for the implementation of innovative bridge programs.

The focus then narrowed in on some of the coming innovations, which can be expected.  Ken Price presented various bridge systems that are adaptable for U.S. Practice.  The advantage of using integral abutments and joint-less bridges was presented by Vasant Mistry.  Atorod Azizinamini introduced a new pier detail for multiple span bridges that is made simple for dead load while being continuous for live.  Joseph Yura spoke on general guidelines for the design of cross frames, while Robert Nickerson pointed out many instances where great savings could be realized using economical details.

The emphasis of the conference was placed on the use of high performance steels.  William Wright started this off with a talk that provided answers to the question of why use High Performance Steel.  John Fisher added to this by presenting the advantages the toughness of High performance steel offers to fatigue design and Ed Power gave a cost comparison of steel bridges designed using conventional steel and high performance steel.  Ralph Anderson outlined the latest changes in the AASHTO Bridge Codes related to high performance steel.

One advantage HPS gives over its high strength predecessors is increased weldability.  John Barsom spoke about this weldablity while Duane Miller spoke on the development of consumables for HPS.  While on the topic of welding, Krishna Verma presented new developments and future promises in the Electroslag Welding Technique.

The discussions on high performance steel was concluded with lessons from construction and fabrication of high performance steel bridges in service presented by Scott Kopp.  Tom Macioce detailed Pennsylvania’s experience and future plans for high performance steel, as did Ed Wasserman for the state of Tennessee.

The confernence was brought to a close with a panel discussion, Lessons From Design, Fabrication and Construction of High Performance Steel Bridges Currently in Service and a Look at the Past, Present and Future of Steel Bridges.