Research

Bartlett

DR. BARTLETT’S research interests are in code calibration and structural reliability, evaluation and rehabilitation of existing structures, especially bridges, and the design of new concrete structures.

Reliability-Based Criteria for Bridge Design & Evaluation

In collaboration with MKM Engineering Ltd., Edmonton, he determined unique load and resistance factors for the Confederation Bridge to achieve the stringent target reliability levels and design life required. This included deriving the mathematical formulation for the reliability calculations, and calculating the load and resistance factors for all ultimate limit state load combinations except those involving earthquake, wave, or ice. More recently, in collaboration with the Boundary Layer Wind Tunnel Laboratory, he computed new wind load factors for the new Canadian Highway Bridge Design Code (CHBDC), that accommodate advances in the state of long-span bridge engineering practice.

During his seven years as a consulting engineer with Buckland and Taylor Ltd., Vancouver, he was Project Engineer for the research and subsequent code writing that was the basis of Clause 12 of CSA Standard S6-88 for the evaluation of existing highway bridges in Canada, and is also the basis of the evaluation criteria in the new CHBDC. He has since prepared provisions for the CHBDC which address the conversion of actual measured in-place material properties of concrete, structural steel, and reinforcing steel to equivalent specified strengths for use in conventional resistance equations with customary resistance factors.

Building Code Calibration

His consulting and research projects have: (1) reviewed the resistance factor for steel structures designed using CSA Standard S16.1 and the American Institute of Steel Construction LRFD Specification; (2) derived companion action load factors and load combinations for the 2005 edition of the National Building Code of Canada; and, (3) reviewed the resistance factors for concrete structures designed using CSA Standard A23.3.

Structural Design

Reinforced Concrete Textbook Cover

Michael Bartlett is J.G. MacGregor’s sole co-author of Reinforced Concrete: Mechanics & Design, First Canadian Edition, published by Prentice-Hall Canada Ltd in 2000. This 1042 page book is rapidly being adopted as the standard Canadian text for reinforced concrete design courses at the undergraduate and graduate levels.

Canadian Civil Engineering History

As Chair of the CSCE National History Committee, Dr. Bartlett has:

Co-supervised a University of Calgary History Intern to research indigenous aspects of CSCE National Historic Sites (summer 2023)
Led initiative to revise online descriptions of 78 CSCE Historic Civil Engineering Sites. (2020) Revised descriptions comprise 55,000 words, 450 images, 240 links to online documentation
Authored 136 This Week in Canadian Civil Engineering History blurbs for the CSCE weekly eBulletin (2020 – present.
Written three successful nominations of individuals to receive the W. Gordon Plewes Award for “noteworthy contributions to the study of the history of civil engineering in Canada.” (2018-2022)
Participated in the designation and plaque unveiling of 15 Historic Civil Engineering Sites (2016 – 24).