SLU scholar em'bracing' the big picture

It’s not always easy to see the big picture at first, but Li Hui did just that.

The Louisiana University at Lafayette visiting assistant professor just wrapped up a two-year project, “R27-140: Effectiveness of Exterior Beam Rotation Prevention Systems for Bridge Deck Construction,” during the completion of his doctoral degree in civil engineering at Saint Louis University.

Here Hui and a team of researchers took a closer look at why exterior beams rotated during bridge deck construction.

In their analysis, researchers discovered that bridge deck finishing machines, used to complete the deck, were actually adding too heavy of additional loads, causing exterior girders to rotate and beams to twist.

“This rotation can affect the stability of the bridge during construction, and it can also affect the taxpayers, causing many maintenance problems in the future,” Hui said.

So the team got to work, examining 11 bridges across the state of Illinois in the two-phase project.

In the first phase, researchers evaluated current bridge-bracing systems commonly used throughout Illinois.

But Hui and the team didn’t stop there.

They also wanted to develop an optimum bracing approach to limit rotation.

In phase II, project No. R27-179, Hui put his nose to the grindstone along with all of the other researchers, finally putting their conceptualizations into practice.

And boy, did all that hard work pay off!

“(In) applying the findings of this research, the bridge deck will have less cracks in the future,” Hui said. “People will have a more comfortable feeling when driving (over) bridges.”

And with less repairs needed, it’s obvious to see how Illinois taxpayers will benefit from the fruits of Hui’s labors.

“Less cracks in bridges means less money that IDOT (Illinois Department of Transportation) has to spend on repairing them,” he said. “So they can save this money and spend it on other bridges in more critical situations.”

With the completion of such a huge accomplishment, one would think Hui would be ready to sit back and relax.

But there’s no rest for the wicked, and the Xian, China native is a far cry from R&R in Lafayette, Louisiana. He’s busy passing on his love of research to the next generation of civil engineers.

“I hope my research can benefit them,” Hui said. “I hope I can benefit someone else (with his research) to have opportunities and continue to expand this research.”