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Shop Drawings

• Electronic Submission of Shop Drawings
• Items reviewed by the Bridge Division
• Research Project 5197 Implementation
  • 5197 Review Checklist
• Optional (Alternate) Designs
• Submittal Requirements for Metal Railing
• Presubmittal Checks
  • Submittal Checklist
• Hardcopy Requirements
• Shop Plan Review Contacts
• Field-Change-Order-Related Revisions
• Using Adobe Acrobat for Shop Plan Reviews
• Review Tips
• Terminology

Electronic Submission of Shop Drawings
The Bridge Division accepts eligible, electronically submitted shop drawings for review and Bridge Division approval. Eligible shop drawings conform to requirements identified in the Guide to Electronic Shop Drawing Submittal. Ineligible submittals are returned unreviewed. Note: We are currently studying the possibility of web-based submission of shop plans.

Items Reviewed by the Bridge Division
Submit to the Bridge Division only eligible documents; eligible documents are shop drawings that meet the following criteria:

• They have been designed by TxDOT's Bridge Division, by TxDOT districts if Bridge Division review has been requested by the district, or by a consultant if Bridge Division review has been requested by the district or if the consultant is under contract to the Bridge Division.
• They are for items identified by "1" - "5" in the Division Review Contact column of this table, or they are based on standard drawings dated before June 2004 for sealed expansion joints, armored joints, concrete piling, or concrete panels.

The TxDOT area engineer should communicate submittal requirements summarized in this table to the Contractor at or before the preconstruction meeting, based on who performed the structural design.

Research Project 5197 Implementation - Shop Plan Handling Exceptions
The Research Project 5197 Implementation page provides instruction on how to handle shop plan resubmittals and “modified” optional designs associated with the implementation of Research Project 5197 findings.

Optional (Alternate) Designs
As of September 10, 2009, per a Texas Board of Professional Engineers ruling:

• Any shop drawing sheet that contains structural design information that departs from contract plan design values must be sealed, signed and dated by an engineer registered in the state of Texas.
• Optional designs typically propose design values that vary from contract plan designs and therefore fall under this requirement.
• Similarly, and even though originally proposed and sanctioned by TxDOT, sheets containing 5197 based release strength reductions (“modified” optional designs) must also be sealed.
• Previously, only the cover sheet of the calculations that were required to accompany optional or alternate designs was required to be sealed.
• Now, the calculations cover sheet as well as the associated shop drawing detail sheets must be sealed.

Submittal Requirements for Metal Railing
Specification Item 450 requires shop-drawing approval as specified by contract plans. Submit shop drawings for curved railing to the Engineer of Record for approval of railing on horizontal curves meeting the following criteria:

Note: An asterisk (*) denotes rails not currently published as Standard Rail Drawings, but may appear in plans from past lettings.

Always check the applicable standard drawing for submittal criteria updates. For metal railing not requiring shop drawing approval, erection drawings showing section lengths, splice locations, rail post spacing and anchor bolt setting shall be submitted to the Engineer for approval.

Presubmittal Checks
Before submitting shop drawings for review, check the following:

• Each bridge component must be referenced to a placement layout with an orientation mark for placement and review.
• Each drawing should have sufficient information for correct fabrication and inspection without reference to any standard drawing.
• Each drawing must be legible at full scale on a monitor without zooming in (that is, 1-inch width on an 11 x 17 inch sheet is 1 inch on the monitor).
• Detailers should use drawing practices similar to those used in TxDOT standard drawings. Fonts must be no smaller than those used on TxDOT standard drawings.
• The first sheet of optional (alternate) design calculations and all affected shop drawing detail sheets must be sealed, signed and dated by an engineer registered in the state of Texas.

Please review the Submittal Checklist and Example Submittal.

Shop Plan Review Contacts
Send eligible shop plan submittals with PDF or DAT attachments directly to the reviewing office. Contact the area engineer or the district bridge engineer for information on the reviewing office. For more information, please contact us.

Terminology
Shop plan discussions include the following terminology:

• Shop drawing - Fabrication detail sheet prepared by fabricators for their manufacturing shop to use in fabrication of bridge components in compliance with contract plans and applicable TxDOT specifications and standards. Typically the Engineer of Record reviews shop drawings. Shop drawings become part of the as-built drawings for the completed structure.
• Working drawing - Forming detail sheet prepared for or by the contractor for form work, false work, shoring, or erection. Work detailed does not require review by the engineer of record. However, a Professional Engineer must sign and seal these drawings. Submittal is required, but approval is not required.
• Engineer - TxDOT's executive director or authorized representative. For shop or working drawing submittals, the engineer is usually the Area Engineer or District Bridge Engineer.
• Engineer of Record - The design engineer who signs and seals the bridge plans. The Engineer of Record is a Bridge Engineer with the district, Bridge Division, or a consultant. Review responsibility should be established during a pre-construction meeting.
• (MOD) - Modified standard. These are items detailed on TxDOT standard drawings that have been modified by a design engineer. They are distinguished by a (MOD) label in the title block and are subject to requirements for shop drawing submission and review by the Engineer of Record.
• (Alt Dsn) - Alternate design. Precast alternate designs for box culverts, junction boxes, and manhole/inlet items and any required calculations are typically submitted to the Engineer for approval. These designs are sealed by the fabricator's engineer and do not go through the usual shop plan review. Though commonly reviewed by TxDOT districts, these submittals are also reviewed by the Bridge Design Section at the request of the Engineer.