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