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This publication, "Aluminum's Potential: Bridge Construction," represents the proceedings of the session of the same title at the Alumitech 1994 Conference, held on October 26-29, 1994, at the Inforum in Atlanta, Georgia. The four papers that are included here provide a rather complete picture ranging from the excellent historical experience with aluminum bridges to the latest design concepts and software.

A. A. Trinidad's paper provides the historical perspective, highlighting the U.S. and overseas applications and performance of aluminum bridges and bridge decks starting in 1933. Trinidad covers a number of the major attributes of aluminum for bridges, including superior corrosion resistance and attractive life-cycle cost comparisons to conventional bridge construction.

Sanders and Abendroth focus on one aluminum bridge application, describing the erection, 30-year operating service, and the dismantling and evaluation of the Iowa State Turnpike bridge, noting its excellent performance throughout its life. Also included are reports on the excellent service performance and the results of field tests of the bridge sections following their dismantling at the end of the bridge service.

Prof. Torsten Hoglund deals with the development, engineering and verification testing of the Svensson/SAPA extruded plank design of bridge deck widely used in Sweden, illustrating the advantages of aluminum for applications where rapid replacements of deteriorated concrete decks are needed and for movable spans. The work described herein led to full approval of aluminum bridge deck designs in Sweden, and led to more than 35 installations over the past 10 years.

The publication concludes with Prof. Dimitris Kosteas' overview of the material's capabilities and of some valuable design tools available for aluminum structures. Of particular interest to readers will be the introductions to ALFABET, the aluminium data bank; the European Design Recommendations, ERAAS, with its Aluminium Structural Design software program; and the AlBriDa, Aluminium Bridge Database, covering the world's bridge installations (still in development).

This outstanding summary of papers on aluminum bridges and bridge decks applications and design is must reading for those interested in innovative and cost-effective solutions to bridge design, repair and replacement, and life-cycle performance issues.