Excellence in Steel Bridge Fabrication

by Ronnie Medlock, P.E.

Vice President of Technical Services at High Steel Structures, LLC

September 2nd, 2026 | 4:00 PM ET | BOWN 1003

Registration Site: Steel Bridge Engineering Seminar Series

Seminar Overview:  Fabrication is the step in the steel bridge design and construction process where the engineer’s design is made into the steel components that comprise the bridge. Fabricators cut, fit, weld, drill, bolt, clean, and coat plate and shapes into these components. To achieve excellence in fabrication, engineers need to understand how their design may or may not facilitate use of the best processes and equipment for these processes, particularly regarding welding. Further, recognizing that material is about half the cost of a steel bridge, engineers need to understand how it sourced to optimize its use and avoid costly waste. And, given the criticality of achieving projects that are on time, engineers must understand how fabricators schedule jobs and how the engineer's interactions with the fabricator can significantly impact whether a project is on time. This presentation describes these dynamics of fabrication and how steel bridge projects can best be designed and managed to facilitate the best quality, cost, and schedule for the bridge.

Presenter Bio:  Ronnie Medlock is vice president of technical services, High Steel Structures LLS, in Lancaster, PA. Ronnie has BS and MS degrees in structural engineering from the University of Texas at Austin and is a licensed professional engineer. Ronnie worked for the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) from 1988 to 2006 in steel bridge fabrication and structural design. In 2006, Ronnie joined High Steel, a steel bridge fabricator, where he oversees quality control and acts as chief technology officer. Ronnie is very active and frequently presides over numerous committees within AASHTO, AISC, AISI, AREMA, AWS, NSBA, and TRB, including the AASHTO/NSBA Steel Bridge Collaboration, which he co-founded in 1997. Roonie was awarded an AISC Lifetime Achievement Award in 2020 and is part of the Academy of Distinguished Alumni of the Maseeh Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering of the University of Texas at Austin since 2021. More recently, he received the AISC 2025 T.R. Higgins Lectureship Award in recognition of his contributions to the Federal Highway Administration’s Bridge Welding Reference Manual.