UHPC Tours

On Tuesday, July 19, Symposium attendees will have the option to attend one of four tours. These tours will provide the attendees with the opportunity to see in-service bridges constructed from UHPC and to see current cutting edge research on future potential uses of UHPC. Details of the four tours are listed below.
UHPC Tour No. 1: The Bridges of Wapello County (duration ~6.5 hours)
UHPC Tour No. 2: The Bridges of Wapello County plus ISU Research Lab (duration ~9 hours)
UHPC Tour No. 3: ISU Research Lab and UHPC Symposium Student Competition (duration ~5 hours)
UHPC Tour No. 4: The Bridges of Wapello and Buchanan Counties (duration ~9.5 hours)
Attendees will select a first choice and a second choice tour during on-site registration and provide a contact telephone number. Each tour is limited to 50 participants. Every attempt will be made to accommodate first choice preferences, but in the event a tour fills up, the organizers will re-assign attendees to their second choice. All re-assigned attendees will be notified about the reassignment prior to Tuesday morning.
All tours leave from the Des Moines Downtown Marriot along 7th Street. Please arrive approximately 10 minutes prior to the stated departure time to allow time for verification of attendees and boarding. Appropriate attire, including closed toed shoes, is recommended for these field and lab tours.

UHPC Tour No. 1: The Bridges of Wapello County (duration approximately 6.5 hours)
While the bridges of Madison County, Iowa became famous through an eponymous novel, movie, and Broadway musical, Wapello County, Iowa has a few bridges that are quite famous in the engineering community due to their cutting edge use of ultra-high performance concrete and numerous publications in engineering journals. The tour starts with a stop at the Wapello County Engineer’s office to view a mockup of the UHPC waffle deck used on the Little Cedar Creek Bridge. From there, Brian Moore, the Wapello County Engineer, will take attendees on a guided visit of the actual Little Cedar Creek Bridge. Next, attendees will visit the Mars Hill Bridge, famous for its cutting edge use of UHPC bulb tee girders. After one last stop at the County Engineer’s office, the tour returns to Des Moines.

The tour departs the Des Moines Downtown Marriot at 7:30 AM, and returns to the hotel at around 2:00 PM. Box breakfasts and lunches will be provided for all attendees. Please note any dietary restrictions when registering. We will do our best to accommodate dietary restrictions but cannot make any guarantees.

Please note that the tour includes approximately 1.5 hours of driving each way between Des Moines and Wapello County. Information on the bridges will be presented on the bus during part of this time. Wi-Fi with internet access and power outlets at the seats will be available on the bus.

UHPC Tour No. 2: The Bridges of Wapello County plus ISU Research Lab (duration approximately 9 hours)
The tour begins with a stop at the Town Engineering Building on the Iowa State University campus in Ames, Iowa. Hosted by Sri Sritharan, Professor of Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering and author of numerous research papers on ultra-high performance concrete, attendees will be presented with information about on-going research and then taken on a tour of the structural engineering research laboratory to view several on-going UHPC research projects. Research topics that attendees will be exposed to include using UHPC for wind turbines, thin bonded bridge overlays, bridge elements, and field-cast connections.

The tour then departs for the Wapello County Engineer’s Office where Brian Moore, County Engineer, will present a mock-up of the UHPC waffle deck used on the Little Cedar Creek Bridge. Brian will then take attendees on a tour of the actual Little Cedar Creek Bridge followed by the Mars Hill Bridge with its UHPC bulb tee girders.

The tour departs the Des Moines Downtown Marriot at 8:00 AM and returns to the hotel around 5:00 PM. Box breakfasts and lunches will be provided for all attendees. Please note any dietary restrictions when registering. We will do our best to accommodate dietary restrictions but cannot make any guarantees.

Please note that the tour includes approximately 45 minutes of driving between Des Moines and Ames (ISU), 2 hours of driving between Ames and Wapello County, and finally 1.5 hours of driving back to Des Moines. Information on the bridges will be presented on the bus during part of this time. Wi-Fi with internet access and power outlets at the seats will be available on the bus.

UHPC Tour No. 3: ISU Research Lab and UHPC Symposium Student Competition (duration approximately 5 hours)
The tour takes place entirely on the Iowa State University Campus in Ames, Iowa. It begins with a one-hour presentation and tour of the structural research engineering laboratory in the Town Engineering Building, hosted by Sri Sritharan, professor of Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering and author of numerous research papers on ultra-high performance concrete. Attendees will learn about on-going research on the use of UHPC for wind turbines, thin bonded bridge overlays, bridge elements, and field-cast connections, and tour the laboratory.

Next, attendees will have the opportunity to view the posters for the First International Interactive Symposium on UHPC student competition and interact with the student participants. The winners of the competition will be announced at the evening’s Conference Dinner. Finally, attendees will have about an hour for a self-guided tour of the ISU campus before returning to Des Moines.

The tour departs the Des Moines Downtown Marriot at 9:00 AM and returns to the hotel around 2:00 PM. Box lunches will be provided for all tour attendees. Please note any dietary restrictions when registering. We will do our best to accommodate dietary restrictions but cannot make any guarantees.

Please note that the tour includes approximately 45 minutes of driving each way between Des Moines and Ames. Wi-Fi with internet access and power outlets at the seats will be available on the bus.

UHPC Tour No. 4: The Bridges of Wapello and Buchanan Counties (duration approximately 9.5 hours)
This tour provides the opportunity to see the most in-service UHPC bridges. The tour begins in Buchanan County at the Jakway Park Bridge, which uses UHPC Pi girders to span Buffalo Creek. The next stop will be the Mud Creek Bridge, the first North American implementation of a UHPC thin bonded overlay, completed in early 2016.

The tour then proceeds to Wapello County, where attendees will visit the Little Cedar Creek Bridge with its UHPC waffle deck, followed by the Mars Hill Bridge and its UHPC bulb tee girders. Brian Moore, the Wapello County Engineer, will be at the bridge sites to provide detailed information and answer any questions.

The tour departs the Des Moines Downtown Marriot at 7:15 AM and returns to the hotel around 5:00 PM. Box breakfasts and lunches will be provided for all tour attendees. Please note any dietary restrictions when registering. We will do our best to accommodate dietary restrictions but cannot make any guarantees.

Please note that the tour includes significant drive time, including approximately 2.5 hours between Des Moines and Buchanan County, 2 hours between Buchanan and Wapello Counties, and 2 hours between Wapello County and Des Moines. Information on the bridges will be presented on the bus during part of this time. Wi-Fi with internet access and power outlets at the seats will be available on the bus.