Larry A. Fahnestock

About

Larry A. Fahnestock holds a B.S. in civil engineering and architectural engineering from Drexel University, an M.S. and Ph.D. in civil engineering from Lehigh University. He has been a faculty member in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Illinois since 2006. His research interests include earthquake engineering, steel structures, seismic building design, structural stability, connection behavior, bridge performance under service and extreme loading, and progressive collapse mitigation. His projects employ large-scale laboratory experiments, field monitoring, and numerical simulations, supported by grants from organizations such as the National Science Foundation, American Institute of Steel Construction, Illinois Center for Transportation, Illinois Tollway, and DARPA. Dr. Fahnestock has held various academic positions at Illinois, including Associate Dean for Facilities and Capital Planning, Director of the Newmark Structural Engineering Laboratory, and Chair of the Structures Group. He has also served as an Education Innovation Fellow and an invited professor at Ecole Polytechnique Montreal. His professional activities include memberships in the American Institute of Steel Construction, the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute, and the Structural Stability Research Council, where he served on the executive committee and as chair. He is a licensed professional engineer in Illinois and California and has received numerous awards…

Research topics

• Mathematics
• Engineering
• Structural engineering
• Civil engineering
• Materials science
• Composite material

Selected publications

• Field Behavior of Integral Abutment Bridges under Thermal Loading

  Journal of Bridge Engineering · 2021 · 25 citations

  Senior authorCorresponding

  Integral abutment bridges (IABs) have become popular with departments of transportation throughout the United States due to their lower maintenance and construction costs and longer service life. Nevertheless, IAB design and construction vary widely across the country, and not all aspects of IAB behavior are fully understood. Research has previously been conducted on IABs, but primarily with a focus on substructure behavior. However, recent studies have shown that IAB superstructures may develop…

  DOI

• Experimental Parametric Characterization of Bolted Angle Connection Behavior

  Journal of Structural Engineering · 2020 · 19 citations

  Senior authorCorresponding

  This article describes an extensive experimental program that was conducted to characterize comprehensively the nonlinear sectional force-displacement response of bolted steel angle semirigid connections. A total of 139 tests were performed to investigate the influence of angle thickness, position of the column bolts, bolt grade, and bolt pretension. The effect of loading sequence was also examined by applying static and dynamic monotonic and cyclic loading. The observed behavior and failure mod…

  DOI

• Field and Numerical Evaluation of Lateral Bending in Skewed Steel I-Girder Bridges during Deck Placement

  Journal of Bridge Engineering · 2023-12-05 · 8 citations

  article

  Steel I-girder bridges are subjected to unique loading conditions when they are under construction, and, in particular, lateral bending of skewed bridges during deck placement is of interest. Proper evaluation of skew effects on girder lateral bending stress in precomposite steel superstructures under concrete dead load is necessary for ensuring safety and economy in design for construction-stage loading. To provide new data on bridge response during deck placement, strains at selected cross sec…

  PublisherDOI

• Construction and Live Load Behavior of a Skewed Steel I-Girder Bridge

  Transportation Research Record Journal of the Transportation Research Board · 2022-07-14 · 8 citations

  article

  As part of a long-term monitoring project, a two-span continuous steel I-girder bridge (skewed 41° with seat-type abutments) was instrumented and evaluated in the field during construction and after the bridge was in service. This paper discusses data from when the first stage (of a three-stage sequence) was constructed and initially opened to traffic. Girders and cross-frames were instrumented with strain gauges using a data acquisition system with a high sampling frequency (up to 20 Hz). Data…

  PublisherDOI

• Synthesis of Bridge Approach Slab Behavior, Design, and Construction Practice

  Practice Periodical on Structural Design and Construction · 2022-05-18 · 8 citations

  article1st authorCorresponding

  Elimination of expansion joints between the bridge deck and approach slabs in an integral abutment bridge (IAB) decreases the potential for water and salt damage to a bridge’s superstructure and bearings. However, the lack of expansion joints in an IAB can lead to complex interactions between the superstructure/approach slabs and the substructure, which may have unintended consequences. In particular, cracking and settlement of structural concrete approach slabs have occurred at IABs in Illinois…

  PublisherDOI

Recent grants

• Innovative Self-Centering Braces for Advanced Seismic Performance

  NSF · $149k · 2009–2012

• NEESR: Reserve Capacity in New and Existing Low-Ductility Steel Braced Frames

  NSF · $716k · 2012–2017

• Collaborative Research: Frame-Spine System with Force-Limiting Connections for Low-Damage Seismic Resilient Buildings

  NSF · $840k · 2019–2026

Frequent coauthors

• James M. LaFave

  University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

  45 shared

• Eric M. Hines

  23 shared

• Richard Sause

  22 shared

• James M. Ricles

  Lehigh University

  19 shared

• Robert Tremblay

  17 shared

• Cameron R. Bradley

  Tufts University

  16 shared

• Christopher Stoakes

  Engineering Arts (United States)

  15 shared

• Joshua S. Steelman

  14 shared

Awards & honors

• ASCE Raymond C. Reese Research Prize (2009)
• AISC Faculty Fellowship (2009)
• University of Illinois Campus Distinguished Promotion Award…
• ASCE Walter L. Huber Civil Engineering Research Prize (2014)
• Fellow of the Structural Engineering Institute of ASCE (2017…

Similar researchers at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

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