With the five-year bachelor of science and master of engineering degree available for Tri-State University’s civil and mechanical engineering students beginning last year, the first civil engineering master degree candidate presented his project on Friday, April 18, in the university’s Fawick Hall.

Adam Garvin presented his infrastructure review of a historic Allen County, Ind. road bridge over 120 years old. Garvin’s TSU professor, Dr. Doug Schmucker, had challenged his civil engineering students to analyze infrastructure this year in response to the Aug. 1, 2007 I-35W bridge collapse in Minneapolis, Minn.

Garvin explained in his presentation that two analyses were conducted on the Hamilton Road Bridge: a load rating analysis and fatigue life evaluation. The bridge is a wrought-iron, eight-panel Pratt-style truss bridge constructed by the Smith Bridge Company in 1883. The single-lane bridge spans approximately 120 feet and carries light vehicular traffic for the surrounding rural communities.

The project allowed him to familiarize himself with industry tools. “A big part was for me to get more familiar with the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) code, but also they have a load and resistance factor rating manual I could apply to the bridge,” Garvin said. “Since the bridge is 125 years old, I figured it wouldn’t perform to today’s standards. It didn’t have the present-day capacity; it is still suitable to carry light rural traffic, which it does today.”

An on-site inspection provided information on the basic structure and conditions affecting the bridge components, including corrosion, light vehicle impact, and member distortions typical of a bridge of this age. The report and presentation documented the conclusions of the analyses as they relate to the ability of the bridge to continue in service.

The analyses followed procedures set forth by AASHTO and the Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT), and focused on the primary trusses. Such efforts are a critical component of federal and state efforts to continually review the status of its civil infrastructure, the importance of which was brought back to the public by the Minneapolis bridge collapse, Garvin said.

He appreciates his status as TSU’s first MSCE graduate, as well as the timeframe for completion. “It’s a pretty cool feeling, an honor in a way that I’m the first in this hopefully long history of a program here,” he said. The ability to complete the dual degrees “kept me here instead of going elsewhere for graduate studies, along with the quality of the professors here,” he said.

The one-year master’s degree put him on target to become a professional engineer in three years. He will head to Indianapolis for his first job two weeks after TSU’s May 5 commencement.