Bridges

This paper presents some of the innovations that will be included within the new joint Australian and New Zealand Bridge Design Standard for steel and composite construction AS/NZS 5100.6, which will be the first harmonised standard between Australia and New Zealand for the design of bridges. As Chairs of the Committees responsible for AS/NZS 5100.6 and AS/NZS 2327, the authors of this paper present the challenges faced from the introduction of concrete compressive strengths up to 100 MPa together with quenched and tempered steels with a yield strength up to 690 MPa. As well as introducing the structure of the new standard, an overview of the research work that was required to develop design rules to support the new material strengths is given which, inter alia, includes: resistance of headed stud connectors; resistance and buckling strength of composite columns; and fatigue resistance. Perhaps one of the most innovative aspects of this standard is the introduction of an appendix that provides conformity assessment requirements for steel products that are not sourced from either Australia or New Zealand. This appendix is underpinned by rigorous structural reliability analyses undertaken by Australian and New Zealand researchers, which included the authors of this paper.