UE Civil Engineering Senior Design Project Goes Down the Wabash
January 18, 2005

Students involved in this project were planning to map out a design to strengthen the bridge so that it could be used as a part of the national “Rails to Trails” program. Parts of the old rail bridge, built in 1882 succumbed to the flood waters on Tuesday, but the project will go on, said Civil Engineering Associate Professor Chris Gwaltney.

The project originally was designed to map out significant repairs that would need to be done. “The scope of the project changed significantly overnight (last) Tuesday when the Wabash flood waters swept away the pier and two of the steel trusses with it. The western most span is still hanging onto the western pier, but the second span has vanished completely under the flood waters,” Gwaltney said.

The seniors visited the site (last) Wednesday afternoon to determine the extent of the damage and were amazed at the force of the raging river and what it had done to the bridge that they had surveyed only a few weeks before the collapse. Amy Lochmondy, the UE senior design project manager and Gwaltney, the project faculty advisor, met Thursday afternoon to discuss the change in the scope of work for the project.

The project now will incorporate the design of a new pier rather than renovation of the existing one. The structural team will also be forced to analyze the stresses in the steel truss as it is lifted from the bottom of the Wabash.

Pictured (l-r) are UE students Jason Mathias, Brittney Harlan, David Haas, civil engineering assistant professor of civil engineering Mark Valenzuela, and students Mohamed Al-Ameri, Julie Elpers, and Amy Lochmondy (the project manager for the group). Not pictured are: assistant professor of civil engineering Al Zeiny, associate professor of civil engineering Chris Gwaltney and student Kerry Hall.