The paper is focused on evaluation of the effect of quality of concrete and construction workmanship on the reliability of beams. The reliability analysis is performed for moments and shear forces in steel beams. The basic resisance parameters considered in this study are bias factor and coefficient of variation. The calculated reliability indices indicate that bias factor is the most critical parameter that determines the structural performance.

The objective of this research is to verify the code–specified girder distribution factors (GDF) for continuous steel girder bridges by field testing. it is found that the analysis results are not conservative, and in some instance, the analytical results underestimate the actual GDF’s, which can lead to a groundless notion of safety. As a result, it is found that GDF’s specified in AASHTO LRFD should be used with careful reservation.