ABSTRACT
Expert system shells, the Personal Consultant Easy (EASY) and the LEVEL 5 OBJECT (L5O) are used. The connection between the optimization techniques and the expert shells makes it possible to find the best solution among several alternatives. The Rosenbrock Hillclimb procedure is used in L5O and five single-objective and seven multiobjective optimization techniques are used in EASY. The benefits of these systems in the optimum design of belt-conveyor bridges are shown. In an example the main truss girder of a belt conveyor bridge is designed with different heights and different numbers of columns to find the optimal topology. The Eurocode 3 standard is used for the structural analysis.
