I know, I know, alt.building.construction, but I've found that y'all know as much about this stuff as those folks, and I feel like nobody who reads this group would possibly have the gall to post a reply on point unless they knew for a flat-ass outright fact what they were talking about.
Background: A friend of mine is working for the Army who is doing a construction project for the Border Patrol in southern California. This project mainly involves building box culverts, runoff slabs and road beds. According to my buddy, these structures are built to interstate highway specifications, even though a 5/4 ton pickup is the heaviest vehicle these roads will probably ever see.
The Plot Thickens: A Chief Warrant Officer (a surveyor by trade) told this crew, who was putting in a steel rebar mat, that only every third joint be tied together. This raised some discussion among members of the crew, one of which swore that OSHA required that every joint be tied. This, to me, sounds like a dumb-ass thing to say. ANSI maybe, but not OSHA. Further, he swore that the joints could not be welded, as the welding process weakens the steel. Also completely ridiculous as far as I can tell, in the context of the concrete system.
I told him (my buddy) that local building codes vary (and are all subject to the building inspector) but the only reason rebar gets tied or welded together in a concrete system is to hold it in place until the 'crete gets poured over it. 8 hours after the pour, that little piece of wire has done its job. I further told him that perhaps welding rebar may weaken the steel at that point, but does not have a significant effect on the overall strength of the concrete system.
The Question Itself: Is there an online (or other) resource that describes the building codes for interstate highways? I DAGS and wound up with the UBC (Uniform Building Code) and hundreds of places online that would sell me a copy for about $200, but I'm not willing to pay that to prove I'm right about this. All of my knowledge comes from old-timers and the not-infinitesimal experiences I've had in dealing with concrete and concrete contractors.
Thanks, y'all.
-Phil Crow