A series of navigational locks and dams along the nation’s inland waterways provide the ability to transport large tonnages of materials and goods efficiently over long distances. These facilities are operated and maintained by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and form a vital part of the transportation economy of this country. The lock miter gates, which are large steel structures that open and close to allow passage of vessels while maintaining required water pools at the dams, are critical components in this transportation system. Most of these miter gates are fabricated with welded steel plates using either horizontally framed or vertically framed designs. Cracking damage has become an increasing maintenance problem on these fabricated steel miter gates. The objective of this Engineer Technical Letter is to enhance and generalize the previously developed analytical methodology for fatigue crack evaluation with the goal of developing this methodology for miter gate fracture, fatigue, reliability, and repair.
