The Bridge Enginerd
About
Clear bridge engineering, worked out in full. Free design tools that show every calculation, a forum for real practice questions, and videos that explain the why behind the code.
Why this exists
Bridge design software gives answers; it rarely shows how it got them. Spreadsheets get passed from engineer to engineer until nobody remembers where a number came from. The Bridge Enginerd is built the other way around: every result is traced back to the AASHTO article, the input and the arithmetic, so you can check it, learn from it and trust it.
What you'll find here
Design tools
Twelve free calculators: prestressed girders, rolled steel beams, deck slabs, load rating, distribution factors, bearings, section properties and more.
Open the tools →Hand calculations
Every tool walks through each step with the formula, the numbers put in, the result and the code clause, and prints as a free explanation calc.
Discussions
A forum for bridge and structural engineering questions, from load rating and LRFD design to inspection and construction.
Join the discussion →Videos
Walk-throughs of the same topics on YouTube, for when it's easier to watch the calculation than read it.
Watch on YouTube →How the tools are built
- Methods come from the published sources, mainly the AASHTO LRFD Bridge Design Specifications (10th Edition), the AASHTO Manual for Bridge Evaluation and the MoDOT Engineering Policy Guide, cited on every page.
- Each calculation is checked against hand calculations and published worked examples, with automated tests that run on every change.
- The hand calculations come from the same numbers as the results, so what you read is exactly what was computed.
- Where a check is a judgment call or an owner's practice differs, the page says so.
The tools are for preliminary design, checking and teaching. A licensed engineer remains responsible for any design that relies on them. See the terms.
Who's behind it
Nirav Khanal
Founder, The Bridge Enginerd
- Engineer Intern (E.I.), Missouri
- MS Civil Engineering (Structural), UMKC
- Structural designer
Nirav is an Engineer Intern (E.I.) in Missouri and a structural designer working in bridge design. His work covers superstructure design of prestressed concrete NU and I-girder bridges to AASHTO LRFD and MoDOT standards, more than 200 routine and complex Missouri bridge load ratings in AASHTOWare BrR, and bridge and culvert inspection in the United States and Nepal. His graduate research at the University of Missouri–Kansas City compared LFR and LRFR rating thresholds.
He started The Bridge Enginerd to make the calculations behind bridge design easier to see, check and learn, for students, young engineers and anyone who has ever stared at a spreadsheet and wondered where a number came from.
Get in touch
Found something that looks wrong, or want a tool that isn't here yet? Email niravkhanal@gmail.com or start a thread in Discussions.