UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
DEPARTMENT BULLETIN No. 1259 
Washington, D. C. 
October 9, 1924 
STANDARD SPECIFICATIONS FOR STEEL HIGHWAY BRIDGES 
ADOPTED BY THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF STATE HIGHWAY OFFICIALS AND 
APPROVED BY THE SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE FOR USE IN FEDERAL-AID 
ROAD WORK. 
CONTENTS. 
Page. 
Division I— Materials. -. 1 
Structural, rivet, and eyebar steel 1 
Eyebars -.. 2 
Steel forgings 3 
Wrought iron 3 
Steel castings 3 
Gray-iron castings 4 
Malleable castings.. 4 
Phosphor-bronze 4 
Page. 
Division II — General construction. 4 
Steel structures ' 4 
Painting steel structures.. 15 
Division III— Design 18 
G ener a 1 features 18 
Loads 20 
Unit stresses 25 
Distribution ofloads : 26 
Structui-al steel design 27 
DIVISION I. MATERIALS. 
SECTION 1. STRUCTURAL, RIVET, AND EYEBAR STEEL. 
All structural, rivet, and eyebar steel shall conform to i. General, 
the requirements of the Standard Specifications for 
Structural Steel for Bridges, Serial Designation A7-21, 
of the American Society for Testing Materials, with 
subsequent amendments and additions thereto adopted 
by the society, and supplemented by the following 
paragraphs : 
Test specimens of structural, rivet, or eyebar steel f^^^^^^aracter of 
shall show a fracture having a silky or fine granular 
structure throughout with a bluish gray or dove color, 
and shall be entirely free from granular, black, and 
brilliant specks. 
Finished rolled material shall be free from cracks 
flaws, injurious seams, laps, blisters, ragged and imperfect 
edges, and other defects. It shall have a smooth, uni- 
form finish, and shall be straightened in the mill before 
shipment. 
Material shall be free from loose mill scale, rust pits, 
or other defects affecting its strength and durability. 
When full-sized tests of built-up structural members 
and eyebars are required by the contract the contractor 
3. Defects 
' material. 
4. Full - sized 
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