Structural Design Office

The Structural Design Office is responsible for the preliminary design, final design, and detailing of structures and for the approval of Shop Drawings during construction, as well as structural solutions occasioned by changed conditions found during construction. It is responsible for the direction and oversight of a highly-skilled, experienced staff, as well as consultants employed by the TDOT.

On average, TDOT SDO produces designs for 120 bridges annually, of which 95 percent are by staff designers and the remaining five percent with the aid of consultants.

The bridge designs produced by TDOT SDO include both concrete and steel girder bridges over roadways, railroads, and waterways. Designs for retaining walls, box culverts, noise barrier walls, and other miscellaneous structures are also the responsibility of this office.

Some of the innovative ideas used by the Structural Design Sections include:

• continuous bridges with minimal or no expansion joints for concrete decks
• design and retrofit of bridges in high-risk earthquake zones to minimize damage
• bent caps designed integral with the superstructure
• pre-stressed concrete bridges made continuous for live loads
• post-tensioned bridges
• high performance Steel bridges
• high performance Concrete bridges
• Accelerated Bridge Construction (ABC) methods for delivery of bridge projects in traffic-sensitive areas