AbstractA cost optimized design method of steel bridge girders is studied by using the specifications of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation (AASHTO) Working Stress Design (WSD) method and Load Factor Design (LFD) alternates. Here, cost trade‐offs for the steel plate (e.g., the base price plus extras for size, grade, testing and inspection, etc.), stiffeners and splicing are weighed throughout the entire span to minimize the objective function.The method is then applied to a set of over 30 steel bridge structures which collected from various state bridge inventories in order to obtain optimal cost configurations for both WSD and LFD methods. These results are analyzed by a linear regression model to define relationships between cost differences and bridge lengths. From these comparisons, conclusions are drawn to provide the guidelines. It is believed that effective application of these guidelines should lead to more economical designs, especially under the LFD metho
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