Submission: September 08, 2021
Registration: September 08, 2021
Language: English
Location: USA
Prizes: Please see details below
Type: Bridge Competition
NSBA is introducing an exciting new award for 2022: the Bridge of the Year! Our panel of expert judges will choose three finalists from all the projects entered in the Prize Bridge Awards. The 2022 World Steel Bridge Symposium in Denver (March 23-25) will open with live presentations from the teams behind those three finalists, outlining what makes their bridges so noteworthy. The judges will confer, and we’ll announce the winner of the inaugural Bridge of the Year competition at the end of the conference!
The art of designing and building beautiful, efficient, economical, and sustainable steel bridges has been practiced for more than a century. The American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC) launched its Prize Bridge Competition in 1928 as a way to showcase the beauty of steel bridges.
Since the Sixth Street Bridge won the first competition in 1928, more than 300 bridges have won first place in a variety of categories, and at least an equivalent number of bridges has received a merit or honorable mention award for finishing as runner up. Overall, this competition has recognized more than 600 bridges of all sizes from all across the United States.
Today’s competition recognizes bridges on a biennial basis, with winners receiving recognition during the North American Steel Construction Conference/World Steel Bridge Symposium. Keeping with tradition, bridges are eligible for the competition based on the date they first opened to traffic.
How it works:
The best bridges are built by teams, and any member of the project team may submit a bridge for consideration.
A panel of industry professionals judge the entries in six categories:
- Short span – No single span greater than 140 ft.
- Medium span – Longest span equal to or greater than 140 ft. but less than 400 ft.
- Major span – One or more spans greater than or equal to 400 ft.
- Movable span
- Rehabilitation – Projects that work on an existing structure without replacing primary members. New structures built on an existing alignment should be entered by span length.
- Special purpose – Bridge that does not fit any of the above categories. Examples include bridges for pedestrians, pipelines, and airplanes.
The judges consider each bridge in terms of innovation, economics, aesthetics, design, and engineering solutions. They may move submitted bridges between categories if they think a project is better suited to a category that’s different than the one in which it was entered.
At their discretion, judges may also offer special commendation to projects that feature Accelerated Bridge Construction (ABC) techniques and a full range of sustainable attributes.
Eligibility
Any team member from an eligible bridge project may submit it for award consideration.
Eligible bridges must:
- be built of structural steel produced and fabricated in the United States
- be located in the U.S., defined as the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and all U.S. territories)
- be completed and opened to traffic between January 1, 2020, and September 8, 2021
Each bridge may be entered in only one category.
