## 5 Summary and Conclusions  
Modern industry necessitates innovative technologies that prioritize labor safety during construction, reduce fabrication and erection durations, and minimize overall project costs. In response to these needs, a novel solution was developed to enhance fabrication and erection characteristics. The fundamental concept of this innovative structure entails the compression load on the girder's flange being supported by two bearing blocks while the tension load is transferred by the hinge part connected by pins at both ends of the lower flange of the steel girder. Through a combination of numerical simulations and experimental evaluations, the performance of this hinge connection structure, designated as the speedBridge steel girder segment, was evaluated. It is important to note that the study was limited to a single test because of prevailing conditions; however, plans are in place to conduct further experiments to ensure reliability. Nevertheless, to augment reliability within the specified conditions, finite element analyses were performed to elucidate the load transfer mechanisms. The study yielded the following key findings:  
1. The speedBridge demonstrated the ability to achieve a plastic rotation of 5% rad without fracture. The test specimen exhibited initial stiffness consistent with elementary beam theory for a simply supported beam. Notably, the maximum load reached approximately 1600 kN, corresponding to 110% of the plastic moment of the beam. Following the attainment of the ultimate load, the load-carrying capacity diminished near a displacement of 225 mm because of lateral torsional buckling in the girder. 2. Compared with a single-segment girder, the entire girder exhibited stiffer initial load-displacement behavior and demonstrated more stable ductile behavior until succumbing to lateral torsional buckling failure under the ultimate load. Additionally, the ultimate load, at 1600 kN, surpassed the plastic moment of the girder, indicating an over-strength of approximately 10% or greater. 3. The failure modes of the specimen were primarily observed as yielding in the beam section. It was concluded that the pin plates, upper pins, and lower pins possess adequate strength and stiffness until the beam section reaches a fully plastic range. Local buckling was observed on the top flange, while global buckling occurred on the outer side of the connection part. However, these instances of local and global buckling had a negligible impact on the structural capacities of the speedBridge. No  
Figure 13: Stress distribution of FE model. (**a**) Overall; (**b**) Male connector; (**c**) Female connector; (**d**) Cut view of pin and connectors; (**e**) Pin. plastic deformation occurred around the connection pin or connector parts, and the connecting pin remained undamaged. * Finite element analysis was conducted to comprehend the load transfer path, and the results demonstrated that the hinge connection exhibited sufficient stiffness and strength exceeding the bending capacity of the beam under tension without any signs of the failure modes considered during the design procedure. [PERSON]-[PERSON] conducted the FEA and contributed to the analytical framework. [PERSON]-[PERSON] contributed to the detailed design of the test setup and specimen. [PERSON]-H.K. contributed to the fabrication of the test specimen. [PERSON]-Y.P. contributed to the conceptualization of the product. [PERSON]-Y.K. coordinated the research results of the collaborators during the writing of the manuscript and led the setting of the overall direction. All authors contributed to modifying this manuscript. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript. This paper was supported by the Changwon National University Research Fund in 2024. Not applicable. Data Availability StatementData are within the article. The authors thank the anonymous reviewers and editors for their valuable and constructive suggestions for improving this article.